To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many boys aged (a) under 15, (b) 15, (c) 16 and (d) 17 years are currently imprisoned in adult prisons in England and Wales. [67231]
The currently available information relates to the population on the last day of December 1998 and is given in the table. Young persons held in adult prisons are normally accommodated separately from adults.Persons aged under 15 years are not held in Prison Service establishments but are remanded to local authority accommodation. This information is published in a Department of Health publication entitled "Children accommodated in secure units" (reference A/F 97/21). This information is presented on a financial year basis with the last report covering the year ending 31 March
1997.
| Population of 15, 16 and 17 year old males in adult prisons on 31 December 1998 1 | |
| Age | Number |
| Under 15 | — |
| 15 | 25 |
| 16 | 57 |
| 17 | 254 |
| 1Provisional figures | |