§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what variations exist between the average daily prison population in western states in the Council of Europe; and what assessment he has made of the 313W reasons for these variations, with particular reference to Scotland. [1414]
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonTable 1 shows the latest comparable available information on the average daily prison population—and rate per 100,000 population—in the western states in the Council of Europe. Table 2 shows the information for the constituent countries within the United Kingdom.
Table 1: Prison population as at 1 September 19931 Number Rate per 100,000 population Austria 7,099 91.0 Belgium 7,203 72.1 Cyprus 188 30.0 Denmark 3,702 71.0 Finland 3,132 61.8 France 51,134 86.3 Germany 65,838 81.0 Greece 6,524 68.0 Iceland 103 38.9 Italy 50,794 89.0 Luxembourg 425 107.5 Netherlands 7,843 51.0 Norway 2,607 60.0 Portugal 10,904 111.0 Republic of Ireland 2,108 59.8 Spain 45,711 114.9 Sweden 5,794 66.0 Switzerland 5,627 81.0 Turkey 31,304 51.6 United Kingdom 53,435 91.8 Source: Council of Europe Sourcebook.
1Some countries were unable to provide this information as at 1 September 1993 therefore the exact date used varies between countries.
Table 2: Prison population as at 1 September 1993 Number Rate per 100,000 population England and Wales 45,633 89.0 Northern Ireland 1,902 118.0 Scotland 5,900 115.0 The figures in table 1 include all categories of prisoners, that is untried remanded in custody, convicted awaiting sentence, sentenced and civil prisoners. Comparisons of these figures must be treated with caution. There are a number of reasons for variations in the rate per 100,000 population across member states, such as different legal systems, sentencing policies and disposals available, variable use of custodial remand,
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Number of long-term care residents in residential care homes for the elderly as at 31 March each year 19832 19842 19852 19862 19872 19882 19892 3 19893 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 Local Authority 8,717 8,901 8,985 9,161 9,302 9,324 9,118 8,576 8,854 8,547 7,494 7,701 7,380 Registered1 4,649 4,998 — — — — — — — — — — — Private — — 910 1,417 1,969 2,737 3,317 3,200 3,236 3,635 3,606 3,690 3,631 Voluntary — — 4,266 4,134 4,136 4,032 4,134 3,970 4,139 3,929 3,796 3,720 3,721 Total 13,366 13,899 14,161 14,712 15,407 16,093 16,569 15,746 16,229 16,111 14,896 15,111 14,732 1 Prior to 1985 it is not possible to separate Registered data into Private and Voluntary Homes. 2 Figures include short-term care residents (e.g. holiday and respite care). 3 1989 data has been given on both the old and new basis to aid comparison. different ages of criminal responsibility and different ages of entry into the prison system. The Council of Europe "Sourcebook" does not cover these issues in detail.