§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners have been held in police cells so far in the current year; what was the average length of time spent there; what types of prisoner were held; and for what reasons they were detained.
§ Mr. BrittanFigures are not kept of prisoners on remand or just sentenced who are kept overnight in police cells for normal operational reasons such as the distance of the court from a prison or remand centre. Otherwise, up to 27 March 1980, 130 sentenced prisoners had been held in police cells on average between 24 and 48 hours: 125 male young prisoners because of the likelihood of industrial action at Wormwood Scrubs prison and five male adult prisoners because of lack of accommodation there. In addition, one sentenced male adult prisoner had been held in police cells since the beginning of 1980 in the interest of justice.