HL Deb 18 March 1996 vol 570 cc89-90WA
Baroness Masham of Ilton

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What was the average prison population of adult females in 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995 respectively; how many of these were on remand; and how many were serving sentences of (a) under 12 months, (b) 12 months or more but under four years, and (c) four years or more; and

What was the average prison population of adult males in 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995 respectively; how many of these were on remand; and how many were serving sentences of (a) under 12 months, (b) 12 months or more but under four years, and (c) four years or more.

Baroness Blatch

Responsibility for these matters 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 Baroness Masham of Ilton from the Director of Finance of the Prison Service, Mr. Brian Landers, dated 18 March 1996.

Lady Blatch has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Questions asking what was the average prison population of adult males and females in 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995 respectively; how many of these were on remand; and how many were serving sentences of (a) under 12 months, (b) 12 months or more but under four years, and (c) four years or more.

The information requested is given in the attached tables.

Average prison population1 2 of adult male and female prisoners in England and Wales1992–95
Adult males
Type of prisoner 1992 1993 1994 1995
Remand
Untried 5,825 5,816 6,797 6,247
Convicted unsentenced 1,249 1,813 2,151 1,935
All Remand 7,074 7,629 8.948 8,182
Sentenced3
Less than 12 months 3,652 3,893 4,541 4,979
12 months less than 4 years 11,076 9,600 10,485 11,488
4 years and over (including life) 14,167 13,697 14,314 15,506
All Sentenced 28,894 27,189 29,340 31,973
All adult males 36,264 35,328 38,858 40,713

Adult females
Type of prisoner 1992 1993 1994 1995
Remand
Untried 226 238 303 285
Convicted unsentenced 92 89 113 117
All Remand 318 327 416 402
Sentenced3
Less than 12 months 183 226 265 301
12 months less than 4 years 404 375 448 488
4 years and over (including life) 470 397 425 489
All sentenced 1,057 998 1,137 1,277
All adult females 1,380 1,356 1,581 1,703
1 Includes prisoners held in police cells.
2 Components may not add to totals because they have been rounded independently.
3 Includes persons committed in default of payment of a fine. The sentence length breakdown has been partly estimated from previous sentence bands, which were; up to 18 months; over 18 months and up to 4 years; over 4 years.