§ Miss FookesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners were mentally ill on the most recent convenient date; and what breakdown of these figures by ethnic grouping is available.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggOn 31 March 1988, the most recent date for which information is available, there were 235 inmates held in prison establishments, who, in the opinion of prison medical officers, were suffering from mental disorder of a nature or degree which would satisfy the criteria in the Mental Health Act 1983 for detention in hospital for medical treatment. One hundred and ninety seven of these inmates were mentally ill. There is no available record of the ethnic origin of these prisoners.