HC Deb 27 November 1987 vol 123 cc367-8W
Mr. Fearn

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many unconvicted prisoners were held on remand on 1 November 1987; what estimate he has made of the corresponding figure on 1 November 1988; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. John Patten

On 31 October 1987 about 9,000 untried prisoners were held in prison department establishments in England and Wales. About 900 prisoners, many of whom were likely to have been untried, were held in police cells. Changes in the prison population vary considerably from month to month and it is not our practice to publish short-term projections which may quickly become out of date.