§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the present number of(a) men and 551W (b) women who have escaped from prisons in England and Wales and were still at liberty on 31 October; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggReliable information is not available for the period before 1981. Of those adult prisoners who escaped from within a closed prison between 1 January 1981 and 30 September 1988 (the latest date for which figures are currently available), 52 men and one woman were recorded as being unlawfully at large on 30 September. A further 140 men and 17 women who absconded from within open prisons were also recorded as being unlawfully at large at that date. All such escapes are of course reported to the police immediately.