Prisons (Hansard, 25 January 1990)

§ 13. Mr. Boateng
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the number of mentally handicapped people held in prison in England and Wales.

§ Mr. Nigel Griffiths
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the number of mentally handicapped people held in prison in England, Wales and Scotland.

§ Mr. Mellor
On 30 September 1989, the latest date for which figures are available, a total of 329 inmates in the prison system in England and Wales were reported by prison medical officers to be mentally disordered as defined by the Mental Health Act 1983.

§ 14. Mr. Knox
To ask the Secretary of State for t he Home Department how many people were in prison at the most recent count.

§ Mr. Mellor
On Friday 19 January, 46,755 people were held in prison establishments in England and Wales. The prison population is now 2,146 lower than at the same time last year.

§ 100. Mr. Hayward
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current prison population; what it was one year ago; and what projections he has made for the prison population over the next five years.

§ 126. Mr. Janman
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current project prison population; what it was one year ago; and what projections he has made for the prison population over the next five years.

§ Mr. Mellor
The prison population in England and Wales on 12 January 1990 was 46,504. The corresponding figure for 13 January 1989 was 48,736, including those held in police cells. The figures are an estimated 1,500 lower than would otherwise be the case due to the usual seasonal fall in the population over Christmas and the new year. Projections of the prison population are published annually in spring, in a Home office statistical bulletin "Projections of long term trends in the prison population" (the latest was issue 11/89, dated 6 April 1989). A revised projection taking account of changes in the prison population in the first half of 1989 and the anticipated effects of further measures to divert offenders from custody agreed in current public expenditure plans is as follows: 865W

Projected prison population, England and Wales

Numbers

1990–91 51,600

1991–92 53,000

1992–93 54,600

1993–94 56,400

1994–95 58,200

Projected prison population, England and Wales
	Numbers
1990–91	51,600
1991–92	53,000
1992–93	54,600
1993–94	56,400
1994–95	58,200