§ Mr. George HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the projected prison population for England and Wales for(a) 30 June 1996, (b) 30 June 1997, (c) 30 June 1998 and (d) 30 June 1999. [13279]
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§ 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 A. J. Pearson to Mr. George Howarth, dated 5 February 1996:
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question asking for the projected prison population of England and Wales for 1996–99.
The latest long term prison population projections were published in Home Office Statistical Bulletin 4/95 'Projections of the Long Term Trends in the Prison Population to 2002', a copy of which is available in the Library of the House. The next update of the long term projections is due to be published in spring 1996.
Revised short term projections that cover a period of 18 months were produced in October 1995, based on an assessment of current trends. The population is expected to be about 52,700 by June 1996.