HC Deb 01 July 1986 vol 100 cc449-50W
Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many men have received prison sentences for non-fulfilment of maintenance payments to former marital partners and children following broken marriages in each year since 1979.

Mr. Mellor

Receptions of those committed to custody by magistrates for non-payment of wife or child maintenance are published annually in "Prison Statistics, England and Wales" (table 6.2 of the issue for 1984. Cmnd. 9622). Provisional figures for receptions of males in 1985 are 698 for wife maintenance and 37 for child maintenance. The corresponding figures available for those committed by county courts are given in the table.

Receptions of males committed by county courts to custody in Prison Department establishments in England and Wales for non-payment of wife or child maintenance, 1979 to 1985
Type of Committal—Numbers
Wife maintenance* Child maintenance
1979 13 1
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984 31 1
1985† 5 12
* Including wife and child maintenance.
† Provisional data.

Not available; the information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.