asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many inmates attempted or committed suicide (a) in prison or in detention centres and (b) in police custody in each of the past five years and to date; and if he will make a statement.

The information for prisons and detention centres is as follows:

	Suicide	Attempted Suicide
1980	1	8
1981	3	9
1982	3	4
1983	6	5
1984	5	9
1985(to 17/6/85)	5	12

Two persons committed suicide while in police custody in the period concerned, one in 1980 and the other in 1983. Information about each is given in the annual reports of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland for these years. Statistics of cases of attempted suicide while in police custody are not maintained centrally.