HC Deb 22 March 1990 vol 169 cc743-5W
19. Mr. Ron Brown

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people are currently serving a prison sentence in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Mellor

On 31 January 1990 there were about 36,250 sentenced prisoners in prison service establishments in England and Wales. This is 1,625 fewer than a year earlier.

85. Mr. Quentin Davies

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.

Mr. Mellor

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given earlier to my hon. Friend the Member for Devon, West and Torridge (Miss Nicholson).

75. Mr. Batiste

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of the population of England and Wales is currently in prison; and what are the figures for Germany, France, Italy, and Holland.

Mr. Mellor

The latest information, for 1 September 1988, published by the Council of Europe is shown in the table. The prison population per 100,000 inhabitants in England and Wales has subsequently fallen to 93 on 31 January 1990.

The Council of Europe publishes information on the prison population in member states twice a year in its "Prison Information Bulletin", copies of which are held in the Library. An article on "International comparisons of prison populations" by Collier and Tarling (Home Office research bulletin No. 23 pages 48 to 54) showed that the figures for different countries are unlikely to be strictly comparable, because the definitions of prisons and prisoners vary from one country to another, reflecting different legal and administrative systems. Examples of differences in the definitions are the inclusion or exclusion in a country's figures of juvenile offenders and mentally disordered offenders.

Prison population per 100,000 inhabitants in selected member states of the Council of Europe on 1 February 1988.
Member state Prison population per 100,000 inhabitants
England and Wales1 100
West Germany 85
France 81
Italy 60
Netherlands 40
1 Includes those held in police cells.

67. Mr. Knox

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were in prison at the most recent count.

81. Mr. Yeo

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the total number of people in prison.

Mr. Mellor

On Friday 16 March, there were 47,115 people held in prison service establishments in England and Wales. This represents a fall of 2,722 people since the same time last year.

60. Mr. Battle

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in implementing the recommendations of the report of the prison department working group in the management of vulnerable prisoners.

Mr. Mellor

Prison rule 43 and young offender institution rule 46 were amended with effect from 18 December 1989 in accordance with recommendations of the working group. Instructions and guidance based on other recommendations are to be issued shortly.