HC Deb 08 February 1999 vol 325 cc84-7W
Mr. Clappison

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the total female prison population by category and in total(a) on 1 May 1997 and (b) at the latest available date. [69219]

Mr. George Howarth

The information requested is available for the last day of the month and is given for appropriate month ends in the table.

Population of females in prisons in England and Wales on 30 April 1997 and 31 December 1998, by type of custody
Type of custody 30 April 1997 31 December 1998
Untried 387 444
Convicted unsentenced 205 237
Sentenced:
Young offenders 249 310
Adults 1,734 2,051
Fine defaulters 9 3
Non-criminal prisoners 26 21
Total 2,610 3,066

Mr. Clappison

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list his current planning projections of the future female prison population. [69174]

Mr. George Howarth

The information requested is available in Home Office Statistical Bulletin 1/99 "Projections of long-term trends in the prison population to 2006" published on 20 January 1999. The Bulletin details three alternative scenarios which project a total female prison population by 2006 of:

  1. a) 3,900 (if custody rates increase by 1 per cent. and sentence lengths increase annually by 2 per cent.)
  2. b) 3,600 (if custody rates increase by 1 per cent. but sentence lengths remain at 1998 levels)
  3. c) 3,100 (if custody rates and sentence lengths remain at 1998 levels).

These projections take into account the effect of Home Detention Curfew which came into effect on 28 January 1999. A copy of the bulletin which shows in table 1 the projected female prison population under each scenario by year is available in the Library and on the Home Office Web Site http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/index.htm.

Mr. Clappison

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women were sentenced to imprisonment for offences involving possession, supply or trafficking of controlled drugs in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [69176]

Mr. George Howarth

The information is given in the table.

Receptions of sentenced females into prisons in England and Wales by principal drugs offence, 1992–1998
Offence 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 19981
Unlawful supply 63 70 72 136 144 186 227
Possession with intent 42 55 61 83 142 223 276
Possession 41 38 40 54 95 120 103
Unlawful import/export 128 132 112 122 187 210 216
Other drug offences 2 3 2 9 7 11 12
Total 276 298 287 404 575 750 834
1 Provisional figures.

Mr. Clappison

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women were held in prison in each member state of the European Union(a) in absolute terms and (b) in proportion to the size of their population for each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [69177]

Female prison population1 within the European Union, by member state, 1992 to 1997
Number of female rate per 100,000 general female
1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
England and Wales2,3 1,577 1,561 1,811 1,979 2,262 2,675 6 6 7 7 9 10
Northern Ireland 47 36 42 30 32 30 6 4 5 4 4 4
Scotland2 158 171 177 175 189 184 6 6 7 7 7 7
Austria4 338 341 335 345 367 413 8 8 8 8 9 10
Belgium2 404 348 385 382 378 360 8 7 7 7 7 7
Denmark 179 178 171 219 191 160 7 7 6 8 7 6
Finland5 102 111 112 127 141 134 4 4 4 5 5 5
France6 2,081 2,100 2,183 2,256 2,165 2,166 7 7 7 8 7 7
Germany — 2,803 2,712 2,698 2,768 3,212 — 7 6 6 7 8
Greece 282 300 327 — 187 209 5 6 6 — 4 4
Ireland (Eire) 30 34 36 36 48 13 2 2 2 2 3 1
Italy 2,508 2,775 2,347 2,172 2,098 2,034 9 9 8 7 7 7
Luxembourg 22 16 19 29 26 — 11 8 9 14 12 —
Netherlands7 322 339 391 — 424 491 4 4 5 — 5 6
Portugal 659 795 840 — 1,281 1,470 13 16 16 — 25 29
Spain8 3,200 4,300 3,997 3,865 — 4,002 16 22 20 19 — 20
Sweden 199 234 290 330 321 297 5 5 7 7 7 7
1 At 1 September
2 Average population
3 Includes prisoners held in police cells
4 At 31 August
5 At 1 January
6 Metropolitan and overseas departments
7 At 30 September
8 At 31 December

Source:

Calculated from data in the Council of Europe S. PACE using population estimates supplied by the ONS.

Mr. Flynn

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the population of female prisoners in each of the past 10 years; and what estimate he has made of the figures for each of the next five years. [69262]

Mr. George Howarth

Information on the average female prison population (up to 1997) is published in "Prison Statistics England and Wales" (table 1.4 of the 1997 edition), a copy of which is in the Library. Information on the projected female prison population by alternative scenarios is given in table 1 of Home Office Statistical Bulletin 1/99 "Projections of long term trends in the prison population to 2006" published on 20 January 1999, a copy of which is in the Library and on the Home Office Web Site http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/index.htm.

Mr. George Howarth

The available information is given in the table. It should be noted, however, that comparisons between penal statistics from different countries may be misleading due to differences in criminal justice systems, the types of sanctions available to the judicial authorities and the length of prison sentences imposed by the courts and served by offenders.

Information on the average female prison population in England and Wales is given in the table. The figures are for the central scenario—higher and lower scenarios are possible.

Average population of females in prisons in England and Wales, 1989–1998 (actual) and 1999–2004 (projected)
Year Average population (Actual) Year Average population (Projected)
1989 1,767 1999 3,200
1990 1,597 2000 3,400
1991 1,561 2001 3,500
1992 1,577 2002 3,500
1993 1,561 2003 3,500
1994 1,811 2004 3,500
1995 1,979 — —
1996 2,262 — —
1997 2,675 — —
1998 3,105 — —