§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why, for over 30 years, his Department was able to give full details of the numbers of persons in prison on remand awaiting trial but is now unable to provide the information; and to what extent this is a result of the use of computers and other electronic aids.
§ Mr. MayhewFull details on persons held in prison department establishments on remand awaiting trial are available only on the individual files held in establishments and in this respect the position has not changed during the past 30 years. The cost of extracting information from these files in order to answer parliamentary questions is usually disproportionate. Less detailed information is held centrally on both computerised and other files, and such information is used to answer parliamentary questions in so far as this can be done without incurring disproportionate costs.