HC Deb 08 May 1996 vol 277 cc158-60W
Mr. Pearson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of prisoners held on remand have received custodial sentences in each of the last five years. [28110]

Miss Widdecombe

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from A. J. Butler to Mr. Ian Pearson, dated 8 May 1996: The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about the proportion of prisoners held on remand who have received custodial sentences in each of the last five years. The available information on the proportion of remand prisoners in England and Wales subsequently receiving a custodial sentence is given in successive volumes of 'Prison statistics England and Wales' (Table 2.6 of the 1994 edition, Cm 3087), copies of which are in the Library. Information for 1995 is not yet available.

Mr. Pearson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the cost of remand prisoners to the Prison Service in each of the last five years. [28112]

Miss Widdecombe

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from A. J. Butler to Mr. Ian Pearson, dated 8 May 1996: The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about the cost of remand prisoners to the Prison Service in each of the last five years. Information is not available in the form requested as it is not possible to distinguish the cost of keeping different types of offender in custody when held within the same establishment. The average number of untried, unconvicted and unsentenced prisoners held in custody over the last five years is:

  • 1991–92: 10,630
  • 1992–93: 9,862
  • 1993–94: 11,235
  • 1994–95: 12,361
  • 1995–96: 11,200
The net operating cost per prisoner per year over the same period is:
  • 1991–92: £23,047
  • 1992–93: £25,759
  • 1993–94: £21,587
  • 1994–95: £22,128
  • 1995–96: Not yet available

Mr. Pearson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of prisoners held on remand, by region, in each of the last five years. [28107]

Miss Widdecombe

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from A. J. Butler to Mr. Ian Pearson, dated 8 May 1996: The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about the number of prisoners held on remand, by region, in each of the last five years. The requested information is given in the attached table.

Average population1 of remand prisoners in Prison Service establishments in England and Wales by county, 1991–1995
County 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991
Avon 257 283 226 172 181
Bedfordshire 151 174 132 127 151
Berkshire 128 132 133 111 161
Buckinghamshire 283 294 240 49 0
Cambridgeshire 0 1 0 0 0
Cheshire 116 130 130 58 67
Cleveland 220 227 254 106 0
Cumbria 0 0 0 0 0
Derbyshire 0 0 0 0 0
Devon 226 249 209 209 219
Dorset 116 127 102 118 133
Durham 453 513 478 506 573
East Sussex 199 203 193 212 274
Essex 211 233 201 220 251
Gloucestershire 135 151 116 93 108
Greater Manchester 581 485 275 301 200
Gwent 9 0 0 0 0
Hampshire 219 178 148 193 254
Hereford and Worcester 282 311 114 0 202
Hertfordshire 0 0 0 0 0
Humberside 328 443 408 270 341
Isle of Wight 16 16 10 6 5
Kent 390 441 376 367 373
Lancashire 689 751 717 507 542
Leicestershire 597 639 511 455 413
Lincolnshire 249 312 317 308 295
London 2,228 2,411 2,093 2,259 2,474
Merseyside 469 536 663 464 422
Norfolk 189 257 204 194 221
Average population1 of remand prisoners in Prison Service establishments in England and Wales by county, 1991–1995
County 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991
North Yorkshire 119 122 27 1 0
Northamptonshire 0 0 0 0 0
Northumberland 0 0 0 0 0
Nottinghamshire 0 0 0 0 0
Oxfordshire 143 154 124 98 0
Shropshire 149 202 218 170 229
Somerset 0 0 0 0 0
South Glamorgan 280 274 221 179 171
South Yorkshire 506 494 364 363 123
Staffordshire 260 264 239 216 29
Suffolk 0 0 0 0 0
Surrey 178 203 179 45 25
Warwickshire 0 0 0 0 0
West Glamorgan 165 160 176 148 146
West Midlands 278 286 369 413 402
West Sussex 0 0 0 0 0
West Yorkshire 487 576 489 433 494
Wiltshire 0 0 0 0 0
Total2 11,306 12,228 10,660 9,374 9,474
1 Excludes persons held in police cells.
2 The components may not add to totals because they have been rounded independently.

Mr. Pearson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current rate of suicides among(a) remand prisoners and (b) the rest of the prison population. [28111]

Miss Widdecombe

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from A. J. Butler to Mr. Ian Pearson, dated 8 May 1996: The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about the current rate of suicides among remand prisoners and the rest of the prison population. The number of self-inflicted deaths to date in 1996 is 25. Twelve of these were deaths of sentenced prisoners and thirteen were prisoners on remand. The inquests have not yet taken place into any of these deaths and I am therefore unable to confirm any verdicts.