§ Mr. Maclennanasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will (a) state the total increase in the average daily number of prisoners between 1980 and 1985, expressing this also as an average percentage rise in each year, (b) publish the comparable figures for the period 1970 to 1979 and (c) give his Department's latest estimate for the growth in size of the prison population between 1985 and 1994.
§ Mr. MellorThe average population of prison department establishments in England and Wales increased between 1980 and 1985, by about 4,000, an average annual increase of 1.8 per cent. Between 1970 and 1979 the average population increased by about 3,200, an average annual increase of 0.9 per cent. The increase in the average population between 1985 and 1994 is projected to be between 6,600 using a demographic model and 12,700 using a non-demographic model. Further details are given in "Projections of Long Term Trends in the Prison Population to 1994" (Home Office statistical bulletin 5/86).