Female Fine Defaulters (Hansard, 20 February 1996)

§ Miss Widdecombe

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 from Richard Tilt to Mr. Hugh Bayley, dated 20 February 1996: The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking, how many women have been sentenced to prison for non payment of (a) a fine, (b) a debt to a statutory body or (c) a debt to a public utility in each of the last 10 years. The available information on the number of female fine defaulters and non-criminal prisoners received into Prison Service establishments in England and Wales from 1985–94 is published in "Prison statistics, England and Wales 1994", Cm 3087, Tables 6.3 and 7.3, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House. Provisional information for 1995 shows that 1,401 female fine defaulters were received into Prison Service establishments in England and Wales. There were 85 receptions of females for non-criminal non payment offences, all for non payment of community charge, council tax or rates. Information relating to debt to a statutory body (apart from persons committed to custody for non payment of community charge, council tax or rates) and to a public utility is not separately identified and is included with "Other debts" in 1995; there were no female receptions under this category.