asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the size of the prison population for each of the next five years.

As indicated in the recent White Paper "The Government's Expenditure Plans" (Cmnd 6721—II), Chapter 9, paragraphs 12 and 13, it is assumed that the average daily population held in prison custody in Great Britain will rise in the period 1980–81 as follows:

1976–77	1977–78	1978–79	1979–80	1980–81
46,185,	46,605	47,045	47,515	48,065

The figures for England and Wales are:

41,160

41,480

41,820

42,190

42,640

Average numbers do not indicate the maximum numbers the prison system may have to hold at any given time. Actual numbers vary considerably over the year, as may be illustrated by the following figures for England and Wales in 1976–77: 42,808 on 31st July 1976; 40,391 on 31st December 1976; and 41,520 on 15th February 1977.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for each year in the period 1960 to 1975, what proportion of the total prison population of each of Her Majesty's Prisons were serving sentences of five years and over.

The following table gives the percentages for those prisons in England and Wales in which, on 30th June 1976, persons serving sentences of five years or longer comprised 1 per cent. or more of the population:

	Per cent
Albany	66
Ashwell	3
Askham Grange	5
Aylesbury	18
Birmingham	4
Blundeston	31
Bristol	21
Canterbury	2
Cardiff	2
Chelmsford	50
Coldingley	14
Dartmoor	31
Durham	3
Exeter	4
Ford	12
Gartree	96
Gloucester	16
Grendon	35
Holloway	3
Hull	98
Kingston-Portsmouth	100
Leeds	2
Leicester	9
Lewes	14
Leyhill	36
Lincoln	4
Liverpool	12
Long Lartin	95
Maidstone	60
Moor Court	3
Norwich	2
Nottingham	4
Oxford	3
Parkhurst	92
Pentonville	2
Preston	2
Reading	17
Shepton Mallet	2
Shrewsbury	8
Stafford	6
Styal	12
Sudbury	2
Swansea	6
Swinfen Hall	16
Verne	11
Wakefield	94
Wandsworth	11
Winchester	6
Wormwood Scrubs	31

There were 16 other establishments in which persons serving such sentences formed less than 1 per cent. of the population.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for each year in the period 1960 to 1975, what proportion of the total prison population were aged (a) 17 and under 21 years (b) 21 to 25 years (c) 25 to 30 years (d) 30 to 35 years (e) 35 to 40 years (f) 40 to 45 years (g) 45 to 50 years (h) 50 to 55 years and (i) 55 to 60 years.

The following table offers such relevant information as is readily available.

SENTENCED POPULATION OF PRISON DEPARTMENT ESTABLISHMENTS IN ENGLAND AND WALES ON 30TH JUNE: PERCENTAGES BY AGE
Age	1973	1974	1975
	Per cent.	Per cent.	Per cent.
17 to 20	22·7	23·7	24·8
21 to 24	20·7	19·9	19·7
25 to 29	19·2	18·3	18·3
30 to 39	20·1	19·8	19·2
40 to 49	9·2	9·2	8·8
50 to 59	3·6	3·7	3·6

The other Information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for each year in the period 1960 to 1975, how many long-term prisoners in total out of the prison population were serving sentences of five years or more.

The following table shows the number of persons in Prison Department establishments in England and Wales who on 30th June in each year were serving sentences of five years or more:

1973	4,356
1974	4,394
1975	4,499

I regret that information for earlier years is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.