asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons are currently serving prison sentences for homosexual offences with a consenting person under the age of 21 years but over the age of 16 years.

I regret that this information is not readily available. Information about the circumstances of offences for which prison sentences are imposed, including information about the ages of other persons involved, as distinct from the age of the offender himself, is not centrally recorded, and could be obtained only by a large number of individual inquiries, the cost of which would not be justified.