§ Mr. PikeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average time spent on remand in custody awaiting trial at the latest date for which figures are available; and what was the comparable figure 12 months previously.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggIn 1987 the average time spent on remand in custody awaiting trial was 56 days for men and 45 days for women, compared with 57 days for men arid 44 days for women in 1986 (Table 2.1 of "Prison statistics England and Wales 1987" (Cm. 547), a copy of which is in the Library). Provisional data for 1988 indicate very little change for males but a further increase for females.
§ Mr. SheermanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the present male and female prison remand population for England and Wales; and how many of those remand prisoners belong to an ethnic minority group.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggThe latest readily available information is given in the table.
Untried and convicted unsentenced population1 of prison service establishments in England and Wales on 31 December 1988' by type of prisoner and ethnic origin Untried Convicted unsentenced White 6,600 1,190 West Indian, Guyanese, African 1,200 140 Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi 220 30 Chinese, Arab, Mixed origin 180 30 Other, not recorded (including refusals) 610 100 Total 8,800 1,490 1 Provisional figures.
§ Mr. Ieuan Wyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons were remanded in custody in England and Wales during 1987 for an offence of criminal damage involving less than £2.000.
§ Mr. John PattenThe available information on those proceeded against for an indictable offence of criminal damage who were remanded in custody, which may be incomplete, is published in tables 8.8 and 8.10 of "Criminal statistics, England and Wales, 1987". Such figures will not include proceedings for single offences involving criminal damage of value £400 or less.