§ Miss LestorTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has on the percentage of the prison population, according to latest available figures(a) under the age of 21 years and (b) under the age of 18 years in (i) the United Kingdom, (ii) France, (iii) Germany, (iv) Italy, (v) Spain and the Republic of Ireland, (vi) Belgium, (vii) Denmark, (viii) Greece, (ix) Luxembourg, (x) the Netherlands and (xi) Portugal.
§ Mrs. RumboldThe information requested is published twice a year by the Council of Europe in its prison information bulletin. The latest information, for 1 September 1988, is given in the table and appears in table 1 of issue No. 12, a copy of which is held in the Library. The information for Denmark and West Germany is not available. The proportion of the prison population aged under 21 in England and Wales has subsequently fallen to 21 per cent. on 31 August 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 inclusion or exclusion in a country's figures of juvenile offenders and mentally disordered offenders.
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Proportion of prison population under selected ages held in the custody of the prison administrations of selected member states of the Council of Europe on 1 September 1988 Percentage Member state Proportion in age group Aged under 18 Belgium 1 Italy 1 England and Wales1 2 1 Aged under 21 France 12 Greece 6 Ireland 29 Luxembourg 5 Portugal 10 Spain 8 United Kingdom1 of which: 23 England and Wales1 23 Aged under 23 Netherlands 15 1 Includes those in police cells. 2 Proportion on 30 June 1988. Source: Council of Europe.