§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why the reports of the prison and probation departments of his Department are published separately; and if, in the interests of the proper co-ordination of information on the penal system, he will consider publishing a combined report for both departments in future.
§ Mr. BrittanWe do not have this in mind. An annual report on the work of the prison department is required to be laid before Parliament by section 5 of the Prison Act 1952. A report on the work of the probation department has not been published in its previous comprehensive format since 1976, but information about the probation service is published annually by the Home Office in " Probation and After-Care Statistics, England and Wales ".