§ Mr. Berminghamasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what, for the latest available, was the total remand population in England and Wales;
(2) for the latest date available what was the total remand population for the south-east region.
§ Mr. MellorThe latest available information is for 31 December 1986, when the remand population is seasonally low. On that date about 10,010 untried or convicted unsentenced prisoners were held in prison department establishments in England and Wales of whom about 3,710 were held in the south east region of the prison department.
§ Mr. Berminghamasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he is taking to seek to reduce the remand population.
§ Mr. MellorOur measures to limit the untried prison population include: exploring the reasons why bail is objected to, or refused; giving the Crown prosecution service the duty of reviewing and presenting any police objections to bail; encouraging probation service experiments to see if the courts can usefully be given better information when deciding whether or not to grant bail; seeking to ensure that enough places are available in bail and other hostels; and introducing statutory time limits on periods in custody in criminal proceedings, which we shall apply from April 1987 in three police areas before extending them throughout England and Wales. The Lord Chancellor is taking further steps to tackle Crown court delays, finding more resources and introducing management measures to make the best use of them. Ultimately, it is up to the court to determine whether a person is kept in custody or not.