§ Mrs. Helen JacksonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women with children under five years of age are in prison at the present time.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythResponsibility 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 Mrs. Helen Jackson, dated 28 February 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about how many women with children under five years of age are in prison at the present time.No information is held centrally on this subject. However, a census of mothers in prison is being undertaken by the Home Office Research and Planning Unit and the findings will provide information on the number of women with children under five years of age. It is expected that preliminary results will be available in June and a full report in September.
§ Mrs. Helen JacksonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women are in Her Majesty's prisons in Britain currently one year ago, and five years ago; and what percentage this is of the total prison population.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythResponsibility 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 Mrs. Helen Jackson, dated 28 February 1995:
544WThe Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking how many women are in Her Majesty's prisons in Britain currently, one year ago, and five years ago; and what percentage this is of the total prison population.The total number of women, and the percentages of the total prison population, on 17 February 1995, and at the end of January in the years 1994 and 1990 in England and Wales and Scotland are given in the attached table.
The number of women in prison in England, Wales and Scotland, and the percentage of the total prison population Date Number of women Percentage of total prison population3 17 February 1995 2,117 3.8 January 19941 1,808 3.5 January 19902 1,811 3.5 1 The population for England and Wales is for 31 January 1994, and for Scotland is for 28 January 1994. 2 The population for England and Wales is for 31 January 1990, and for Scotland is for 26 January 1990. 3 Total population includes persons held in police cells.
§ Mrs. Helen JacksonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the number of female prisoners and the percentage of the total figures in each European Union country.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythThe countries of the European Union are covered by the statistics collated by the Council of Europe. The latest available information is given in the table. An article, "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.
Female prison population in each of the countries of the European Union as at 1 September 19931 Country Number Proportion of prison population Belgium 348 4.8 Denmark 178 4.8 France 2,100 4.1 Germany 2,803 4.3 Greece 300 4.6 Ireland 34 1.6 Italy 2,775 5.5 Luxembourg 16 3.8 Netherlands 339 4.3 Portugal 795 7.3 Spain 4,300 9.4 United Kingdom 1,896 3.6 1 Provisional figures.