§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of (a) male offenders and (b) female offenders receiving custodial sentences in the most recent convenient year were from minority ethnic groups.
§ Mr. MellorThe information collected centrally on court sentencing does not include the ethnic origin of the offender; information is being collected on the ethnic origin of those received into prison department establishments but results are not yet available.
§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the ethnic breakdown of prisoners serving custodial sentences will be available.
§ Mr. HurdSuch information is not expected to become available before 1985 at the earliest. The initial method of collection of information on the ethnic origin of persons received into prison department establishments in England and Wales, which began on 1 March 1982, proved unsatisfactory. A revised procedure was introduced on 1 June 1984.