§ Lord Hoosonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have any statistics showing the average time spent by persons on remand in England and Wales before they are tried, and how this figure compares with the average for the 235 nationals of other European Union member states currently held on remand in England and Wales.
§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Blatch):Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter to the Lord Hooson from Mr. A. J. Pearson, dated 23 November 1995.
Lady Blatch has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question asking for statistics showing the average time spent by persons on remand in England and Wales before they are tried, and how this figure compares with the average for the 235 nationals of other European Union member states currently held on remand in England and Wales.
Provisional information on the number of untried prisoners in Prison Service establishments in England and Wales on 30 June 1995 by length of time since 13WA first reception is given in Table 1. The equivalent information for non-UK European Union nationals is given in Table 2.
Table 1: Untried prisoners in Prison Service establishments in England and Wales by length of time since ,first reception1 on 30 June 1995 Time since first remand On 30 June2 Less than 3 months. 4,998 More than 3 months, up to and including 6 months. 1,644 More than 6 months, up to and including 9 months. 552 More than 9 months, up to and including 12 months. 504 Over 12 months. 252 Total 7,950
Table 2: Non-UK European national untried prisoners in Prison Service establishments in England and Wales by length of time since first reception1 on 30 June 1995 Time since first remand On 30 June2 Less than 3 months. 121 More than 3 months, up to and including 6 months. 51 More than 6 months, up to and including 9 months. 22 More than 9 months, up to and including 12 months. 21 Over 12 months. 18 Total 233 1 Awaiting trial. Time since first reception on remand into a Prison Service establishment. This includes any intervening time spent on bail, but excludes time spent in police cells beforehand. 2 Rounded estimates which therefore may not add to the totals.