HC Deb 13 April 1994 vol 241 cc166-7W
Ms Ruddock

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the estimated number of remand prisoners who have been awaiting trial(a) for more than three months, (b) for more than six months, (c) for more than 12 months and (d) for more than 18 months.

Mr. Maclean

The latest available provisional data are for 31 December 1993 and are in the table.

Inmates recorded as being untried held in custody on 31st December 1993 by time on remand
Number
For over 3 months up to and including 6 months 1,960
For over 6 months up to and including 12 months 1,020
For over 12 months up to and including 18 months 170
For over 18 months 190
Not all these defendants will have been in continuous prison custody since their first remand. This period excludes any time spent in non-Prison Service establishments—for example, police cells—before reception on remand into a Prison Service establishment; it includes inmates who are awaiting trial and those being tried.

Ms Ruddock

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many remand prisoners were being held in police cells on the most recent date for which figures are available.

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 A. J. Butler to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 13 April 1994: The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about the number of remand prisoners being held in police cells. On 5 April 1994, the latest date for which complete information is available, 274 remand prisoners were held in police cells.

Ms Ruddock

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the ethnic composition of the remand population in prison at the latest available date.

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 A. J. Butler to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 13 April 1994: The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question asking what was the ethnic composition of the remand population in prison at the latest available date. The latest available information is for 31 December 1993 and is given in the table. The ethnic breakdown of the remand population is based on the Census of Population ethnic coding classification which was introduced in prisons in October 1992.

Remand population in Prison Service establishments in England and Wales on 31 December 1993 by sex and ethnic origin1
Ethnic origin Males Females Total
WHITE 8,654 293 8,947
BLACK African, Caribbean, other 1,245 74 1,319
SOUTH ASIAN Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani 275 7 282
CHINESE AND OTHER Other Asian, other Chinese, not recorded2 201 14 215
ALL PERSONS 10,375 388 10,763

Number of persons remanded on bail
Thousands
1988 1989 1990 1991 1992
Indictable offences 277.2 271.0 304.6 314.7 321.8
Summary (non motoring) offences 48.7 69.9 76.0 72.8 71.0
Summary motoring offences 38.2 51.7 61.3 65.0 65.9
Total 364.0 392.6 441.9 452.5 458.7

Persons remanded on bail as percentage of total remanded
1988 1989 1990 1991 1992
Indictable offences 87 87 88 88 89
Summary (non motoring) offences 95 93 94 94 94
Summary motoring offences 96 95 95 95 96
Total 89 89 90 90 90