To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the average length of custodial sentence of female prisoners in Scotland in 1989.

Statistics on court disposals during 1989 are not yet available. Provisional estimates based on prison reception statistics indicate that in 1989 the average length of sentence of females received into the penal system on direct sentence was 118 days. Thee were no females received into penal establishments in 1989 sentenced to life imprisonment or indeterminate detention.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many prisoners were transferred from (a) Scotland to Northern Ireland and (b) Northern Ireland to Scotland in 1989; and under which section of the Criminal Justice Act 1961 such transfers were carried out.

One from Scotland to Northern Ireland and one from Northern Ireland to Scotland, both under section (27)1.