§ Mrs. Anne CampbellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the largest group of offenders currently serving sentences in British prisons. [39742]
§ Miss WiddecombeResponsibility 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 from Richard Tilt to Mrs. Anne Campbell, dated 31 October 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking what is the largest group of offenders currently serving sentences in British prisons.
The latest provisional information is for 30 September 1995. On that date the offence group with the largest number of sentenced offenders in Prison Service establishments in England and Wales was for violence against the person. 8,700 people were held after sentence for offences of violence against the person. This figure excludes all prisoners for whom an offence is not recorded (five per cent of the total prison population). Information on the prison population, broken down by offence is published annually in "Prison statistics, England and Wales" (table 1.7 of the 1993 edition, Cm 2893), a copy of which is in the Library of the House.