§ Mr. AmessTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of offenders under the age of 17 years(a) detained and (b) imprisoned for each of the last five years; and if he will express the figures as a percentage of the total number of prisoners detained and imprisoned for each of the years.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggThe readily available information is given in the table. It is derived from chapters 2, 3, 4, 5 of "Prison Statistics, England and Wales, 1986" (Cm. 210), copies of which are in the Library.
(2) if he will show for each county or police force area (a) the number of 14-year-olds in prison establishments and (b) that number expressed as a proportion of the relevant age group.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggThe home address of persons held in prison department establishments in England and Wales is not recorded centrally. The readily available information is given in the tables. There were no 14-yearold females held or males held on remand.
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Sentenced mules aged 14 held in Prison Department establishments in England and Wales on 30 September 1987: by offence group, ethnic origin and establishment type Number of persons1 Offence group White Guyanese African West Indian, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi Chinese, Arb, mixed origin All persons Remand centre Detention centre Remand centre Detention centre Remand centre Detention centre Remand centre Detention centre Violence against the person — 3 — — — — — 1 4 Sexual offences — — — — — — — — — Burglary 1 16 — — — 1 — 1 19 Robbery — 1 — — — — — — 1 Theft, handling, fraud and forgery — 2 — 1 — — — — 3 Drugs offences — — — — — — — — — Other offences 1 3 — — — — — — 4 Not recorded — 1 — — — — — — 1 Total 2 26 — 1 — 1 — 2 32 1 The numbers are those recorded centrally and are approximate: detailed checking of individual cases would involve disproportionate cost.
Sentenced males aged 14 held in Prison Department establishments in England and Wales on 30 September 1967: by offence group and number of previous convictions Number of persons1 Offence group Number of previous convictions 0 1–2 3–5 6–10 11 and over Not recorded All persons Violence against the person 1 — 1 — — 2 4 Sexual offences — — — — — — — Burglary 2 5 5 3 — 4 19 Robbery — — — — — 1 1 Theft, handling, fraud and forgery — 1 2 — — — 3 Drugs offences — — — — — — — Other offences — — 1 — — 3 4 Not recorded — — — — — 1 1 Total 3 6 9 3 — 11 32 1 The numbers are those recorded centrally and are approximate: detailed checking of individual cases would involve disproportionate cost.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has on which other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development or European Community countries place 14-year-olds in prison institutions.
§ Mr. John PattenComprehensive reliable information is not readily available. From such information as we have, some form of custodial sanction appears to be available for 14-year-old offenders in the following member countries of the OECD or the European Community: Canada, France, the German Federal Republic, Greece, the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United States. The member countries where such sanctions appear not to be available are Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Spain and Sweden. We have no information about the remaining countries.