asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many certificates or unruliness were made in respect of boys in 1971, 1974 and 1975 and how many in respect of girls for the same years.

A young person aged 14–16 who is awaiting trial may be remanded in custody to a prison or remand centre in England and Wales only if a court certifies that he is so unruly that he cannot safely be committed to the care of a local authority. The number of young persons so received into custody in the years in question were as follows:

		1971	1974	1975
Males	…	1,839	3,647	3,700
Females	…	96	242	276

In addition a young person in this age group who has been convicted and is awaiting sentence may be received into custody if he has been committed to the Crown court with a view to a sentence of borstal training or if he is made the subject of an unruly certificate. I regret that the available information about the reception of convicted persons awaiting sentence does not distinguish between the numbers in these two groups.