HC Deb 16 June 1994 vol 244 c661W
Mr. Cox

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of the prison population in England and Wales is serving a life sentence.

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 Derek Lewis to Mr. Tom Cox, dated 16 June 1994: The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking what percentage of the prison population in England and Wales is serving a life sentence. The latest available information is for 31 March 1994. On that date life sentence prisoners accounted for 8.8 per cent of the sentenced prison population in Prison Service establishments in England and Wales.