HC Deb 26 July 1993 vol 229 cc630-1W
Mr. Callaghan

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the latest figures for the total prison population; and what those figures were in 1990, 1991 and 1992.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the prison service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Mr. D. Lewis to Mr. Jim Callaghan, dated 26 July 1993: The Secretary of State has asked me to write to you directly in reply to your Parliamentary Question about the latest figures for the total prison population and what those figures were in 1990, 1991 and 1992. The prison population was 44,901 on 23 July. The figures for 30 June each year between 1990 and 1993 are shown in the attached table.

Prison population, England and Wales: 1990–1993
Date Number of persons2
30 Jun 1990 45,466
30 Jun 1991 45,626
30 Jun 1992 46,832
30 June 19931 44,225
1 Provisional figure.
2 Includes prisoners held in police cells (943 in 1990, 872 in 1991, 1,346 in 1992 and none in 1993).