HC Deb 12 November 1990 vol 180 c37W
Mr. Hinchliffe

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current prison population as a proportion of adults imprisoned per 100,000 of the population in each European Community member state.

Mrs. Rumbold

The latest available information, for 1 September 1988, was published by the Council of Europe in table 1 of "Prison Information Bulletin No. 12", a copy of which is in the Library. The prison population per 100,000 inhabitants in England and Wales has subsequently fallen to 90 on 30 September 1990.

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 inclusions or exclusions in a country's figures of juvenile offenders and mentally disordered offenders.

Applications for asylum in the United Kingdom by Ghanaian citizens, and decisions
Decisions1
Applications received Granted asylum Granted exceptional leave Refused asylum or exceptional leave
1981 13 5 3
1982 407 12 28
1983 689 199 126 199
1984 337 73 59 157
1985 175 89 48 252
1986 220 72 49 40
1987 153 47 115 107
1988 170 39 113 58
19892 340 45 125 25
19902 (1 January to 30 September) 800 3 3 3
1 Decisions in a particular year do not necessarily relate to applications made in that year.
2 Provisional figures.
3 Reliable figures for 1990 are not yet available because of delays in recording.