§ Mr. Dewarasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many prisoners were admitted to Scottish prisons on remand awaiting trial for the latest year for which figures were available; what percentage this represented of the total number of admissions; what percentage of the 225W average daily prison population consisted of this category; and for how long they were held on average in prison prior to trial.
§ Mr. Harry Ewing:In 1977, 12,988 persons were received in custody on remand awaiting trial in Scottish penal establishments. The total figure for remand receptions—that is, those first received to await trial and those first received to await sentence—was 16,296. The number of receptions of persons under sentence was 17,540. As the figure for receptions under sentence includes some of the persons previously received on remand, it is not possible to express remand receptions as a proportion of total admissions.
The average daily population of penal establishments was 4,871 in 1977. On average 10.3 per cent, of this number were persons on remand awaiting trial. It is estimated that in 1977 the average period on remand awaiting trial was approximately 14 days.