HL Deb 21 June 1995 vol 565 cc22-4WA
Lord Harris of Greenwich

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many (a) men and (b) women were imprisoned for non-payment of rates, poll-tax or council tax in 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1994 respectively.

Baroness Blatch

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 to Lord Harris of Greenwich from the Director of Operations (North), HM Prison Service, Mr. A. J. Pearson, dated 21 June 1995:

Lady Blatch has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question asking how many (a) men and (b) women were imprisoned for non-payment of rates, community charge or council tax in 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1994 respectively.

Information for 1991 and 1992 is published in Prison statistics, England and Wales (Table 6.3 of the 1992 edition, Cm. 2581), an extract of which is attached. Provisional information for 1993 and 1994 is given in the attached table.

Table 6.3: Receptions into Prison Service establishments: by sex and type of committal, 1982–92
England and Wales
Non-criminal prisoners Number of persons
Type of committal 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992
All males and females 4,715 4,050 3,683 3,444 3,665 3,399 3,032 3,021 2,314 2,791 3,109
All males 4,543 3,863 3,532 3,331 3,586 3,320 2,949 2,917 2,238 2,680 2,968
Committed for nonpayment of:
Wife maintenance (including wife and child maintenance) 1,770 1,311 937 721 591 516 382 271 192 240 167
Child maintenance 68 42 31 38 51 18 17 12 51 58 80
Arrears under an affiliation order 261 157 121 91 57 70 36 33 27 20 3
Rates 446 432 393 363 351 336 253 181 172 198 188
Community charge * * * * * * * * 1 104 476
Other debts 107 71 76 73 66 65 59 55 69 73 37
In contempt of court 933 934 1,020 936 976 924 810 798 550 584 532
Persons held under the Immigration Act 19711 897 822 893 1,044 1,408 1,324 1,309 1,400 893 1,185 1,221
Others 61 94 61 65 86 51 48 68 95 78 36
Committal type not recorded * * * * * 16 35 99 188 140 228
All females 172 187 151 113 79 79 83 104 76 111 141
Committed for nonpayment of:
Child maintenance 3 6 1 — 2 — — — — — 1
Rates 37 29 27 21 15 14 11 16 22 30 24
Community charge * * * * * * * * — 9 28
Other debts 3 3 2 5 1 3 — — 2 2 —
In contempt of court 40 37 38 46 40 41 43 22 16 23 22
Persons held under the Immigration Act 19711 66 50 56 22 14 15 24 48 23 40 51
Others 23 62 27 19 7 4 4 16 8 2 4
Committal type not recorded * * * * * 2 1 2 5 5 11
1 The figures do not include persons received by detention centres by Immigration Service.

Receptions of non criminal prisoners into Prison Service establishments in England and Wales

for non-payment of rates or Community Charge, 1993–1994
Offence 19931 19941
Males Females Males Females
Non-payment of rates 173 21 98 16
Non-payment of community charge 1,249 177 1,173 188
1 Provisional figures.