asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research has been done into the effects of the introduction of half-sentence remission in local detention centres in reducing rates of reconviction.

Remission for those in detention centres who were aged 14 to 16 on sentence was increased from one-third to one-half in September 1975. Reconviction rates are published in the statistical tables issued annually with the report on the work of the Prison Department, but those for 1976 are not yet available.