HC Deb 17 July 1985 vol 83 c157W
Mr. Hancock

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) men and (b) women were being held on remand at the latest available date.

Mr. Mellor

The latest readily available information is given in the following table:

Population of untried and convicted unsentenced prisoners in Prison Department establishments in England and Wales on 31 May 1985: by age
*Number
Age Untried prisoners *Number Convicted unsentenced prisoners
Males Females Males Females
Aged under 21 2,510 60 640 20
Adults 5,440 240 930 80
All ages 7,950 300 1,560 100
* The figures are rounded and components do not always add to the totals, because they have been rounded independently.

Mr. Hancock

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average length of time people are held on remand for non-violent minor offences.

Mr. Mellor

Information is not available centrally on the average time spent on remand for different types of offences. The available information about the average time spent in custody relates to all untried and all convicted unsentenced prisoners and is published annually in "Prison Statistics, England and Wales" (table 2(g) of the latest issue for 1983, Cmnd 9363). Provisional estimates for males in 1984 were published in a Home Office Statistical Bulletin (Issue No. 8/85) on "The Prison Population in 1984".