asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many adults and young offenders in prison department custody on 30 June were imprisoned for (a) fine default and (b) maintenance defaults; and how many were imprisoned under the immigration laws.
[pursuant to his reply, 8 November 1979, c. 247]: The following table provides the information requested for fine defaulters. As the distinction between young offenders and adults applies only to sentenced prisoners, the information on maintenance defaulters and those held under the Immigration Act 1971 is divided between those aged under 21 years of age and those aged 21 or over.relating to prostitution, (
c) possession of cannabis, ( d) other drug offences, ( e) breach of a probation order, ( f) breach of a community service order, ( g) breach of a conditional discharge, ( h) breach of a suspended sentence, ( i) criminal damage,
( j) theft, ( k) handling of stolen goods, ( l) robbery, ( m) burglary, ( n) fraud, ( o) forgery, ( p) murder, ( q) other homicide and attempted homicide, ( r) wounding, ( s) assaults, ( t) cruelty to children, ( u) other offences of violence (to be specified), ( v) rape, ( w) buggery and indecency between males ( x) gross indecency with children, and ( y) other sexual offences, with details of these offences.
[pursuant to his reply, 8 November 1979, c. 247]: Information is not available in the form requested: several of the offences specified are not separately recorded centrally and separate statistics for adults and young offenders could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Provisional figures for those offences for which information is available are shown in the attached table.PERSONS SERVING SENTENCES IN PRISON DEPARTMENT ESTABLISHMENTS IN ENGLAND AND WALES ON 30 JUNE 1979: BY TYPE OF OFFENCE* All offences 35,702 Violence against the person: Murder 1,090 Other homicide and attempted homcide 664 Wounding 3,631 Assaults 522 Cruelty to children 23 Other violence against the person 578 Sexual offence: Buggery and indecency between males 293 Rape 577 Gross indecency with children 122 Other sexual offences 701 Burglary 10,352 Robbery 2,361 Theft, handling, fraud and forgery: Theft of a motor vehicle 47 Taking and driving away 2,545 Other thefts 5,481 Handling stolen goods 758 Fraud 1,313 Forgery 170 Other offences: Arson 328 Criminal damage 424 Drugs offences 772 Immigration Act 1971 25 In charge or driving under the influence of drink or drugs 136 Other motoring offences 524 Offences relating to prostitution 74 Drunkenness 124 Begging, sleeping out 10 Other 1,063 Not known 994 * Provisional estimates after correction for a misclassification of 90 criminal prisoners as non-criminal prisoners which affected the answers to three questions on 8 November 1979.—[Vol. 973, c. 245–46.]
asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people in prison department custody on 30 June were first, second, third, fourth, fifth and more than fifth time offenders.
[pursuant to his reply, 8 November 1979, c. 247]: Persons serving sentences in prison department establishments in England and Wales on 30 June 1979 by number of known previous convictions (1):
| No previous convictions | 2,090 |
| One previous conviction | 1,701 |
| Two previous convictions | 1,966 |
| Three previous convictions | 2,214 |
| Four previous convictions | 2,161 |
| Five or more previous convictions | 19,909 |
| No information available | 4,737 |
| Total sentenced population (2) | 34,778 |
245–46.]
(2) Excluding fine dafaulters for whom information on previous convictions is not generally recorded centrally.