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Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) prisoners and (b) remanded prisoners in England and Wales committed suicide in (i) 1991, (ii) 1992, (iii) 1993 and (iv) 1994. [4298]
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 A. J. Butler to Mr. Alex Carlile, dated 8 December 1995:
(16) The figures are for all self inflicted deaths which provide a more accurate
representation than restriction to inquest verdicts of suicide.
Mr. Jim Cunningham:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the suicide rate for (a) sentenced prisoners and (b) prisoners on remand in each year since 1990. [3516]
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about suicides in prisons in England and Wales.
Between 1 January 1991 and 1 December 1994 there were 191 self-inflicted deaths in prison in England and Wales. The attached table shows a breakdown of figures for each year for remand/unsentenced prisoners and sentenced prisoners.
Year Self-inflicted deaths--all prisoners Self inflicted deaths of remand/unsentenced prisoners Self inflicted deaths of sentenced prisoners
1991 42 16 26
1992 41 24 17
1993 47 26 21
1994 61 30 13
8 Dec 1995 : Column: 449
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 A. J. Butler to Mr. Jim Cunningham, dated 8 December 1995:
(17)Figures are provided for all self-inflicted deaths which provide a
more accurate representation than restriction to inquest verdicts of suicides. 2 As of 1 December 1995.
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question about suicide rates in the Prison Service since 1990.
Between 1 January 1990 and 1 December 1995 there were 298 self-inflicted deaths in Prison Service establishments in England and Wales. The attached table shows a breakdown of figures for each year for remand-unsentenced prisoners and sentenced prisoners.
Year Self inflicted deaths of remand/unsentenced prisoners Self inflicted deaths of sentenced prisoners
1990 27 23
1991 16 26
1992 24 17
1993 26 21
1994 30 31
1995(18) 25 33
Mr. Faber: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he intends to take against those who travel abroad to commit sex crimes against children. [5515]
Mr. Maclean: My right hon. and learned Friend announced on 12 July 1995, Official Report, column 600, that he would urgently examine the law of incitement and conspiracy. As a result of that examination, the Government propose, subject to a suitable legislative opportunity being found, to extend the scope of the law
8 Dec 1995 : Column: 450
of incitement and conspiracy. This extension would bring within the jurisdiction of the courts those who incite others or who conspire to commit sexual offences against children abroad.
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to prohibit the sale of electoral registers; and if he will make a statement. [4483]
Mr. Sackville: No; the electoral register is a public document, and it would not be practicable to restrict its availability to electoral purposes only.
Mr. Fry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to prevent the commercial use of the film from CCTV cameras without the permission of those being filmed. [3492]
Mr. Maclean: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to the hon. Member for Thanet, North (Mr. Gale) on 5 December 1995, Offiical Report column 207.
Ms Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners in England and Wales are currently serving (a) less than 12 months, (b) 12 months to three years, (c) three to four years, (d) four to 10 years, (e) 10 years or more and (f) life, broken down by (i) ethnic background and (ii) gender. [3660]
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 Ms Janet Anderson, dated 8 December 1995:
(18) Provisional figures.
8 Dec 1995 : Column: 449
8 Dec 1995 : Column: 451
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking for the ethnic breakdown of the current prison population, according to length of sentence and gender.
The information is shown in the attached table.
Sentence length Total White Black South Asian Chinese and other Asian Other/unrecorded
Males
Less than 12 months 6,533 5,828 446 152 53 54
12 months to less than 3 years 10,653 9,256 921 275 108 93
3 years to less than 4 years 3,992 3,304 500 116 30 42
4 years to less than 10 years 11,077 8,613 1,746 385 145 188
10 years to less than life 2,575 1,954 410 97 36 78
Life 3,145 2,724 242 117 30 32
Fine defaulters 395 359 25 7 1 3
Total 38,370 32,038 4,290 1,149 403 490
Females
Less than 12 months 343 294 37 2 1 9
12 months to less than 3 years 452 373 66 1 4 8
3 years to less than 4 years 133 90 37 2 0 4
4 years to less than 10 years 360 218 119 5 6 12
10 years to less than life 76 36 32 4 0 4
Life 117 99 7 6 0 5
Fine defaulters 19 17 2 0 0 0
Total 1,500 1,127 300 20 11 42
Ms Anderson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current sentenced prison population broken down by (i) ethnic background and (ii) gender in England and Wales. [3658]
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.