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Prisoners

Volume 482: debated on Tuesday 4 November 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people serving custodial sentences for each type of offence of (a) less than one month, (b) between one and three months, (c) between three and six months and (d) between six and 12 months were in prison on average at any one time in each of the last 10 years. (232310)

Figures showing the numbers of prisoners serving sentences in all prison establishments in England and Wales by offence group and in the sentence length bands requested can be found in the following table.

I refer also to the Offender Management Caseload Statistics, 2007, published on 30 October, copies of which have been placed in the House of Commons Library. This will provide additional context to the statistics supplied in the answer.

The breakdowns in the table for the years 2002-06 are further breakdowns of tables to be found in earlier editions of the Offender Management Caseload Statistics (table 8.12 for 2006) and Prison Statistics for England and Wales. Data are not available to provide equivalent further breakdowns for the years 1998 to 2001, and the statistics provided for these years are therefore taken from the annual published table in Prison Statistics for England and Wales.

The figures provided have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Immediate custodial sentenced population in prison establishments by sentence length and offence group

All sentence lengths

All within requested range

(a) Less than one month

(b) One month and less than three months

(c) Three months and less than six months

(d) Six months less than 12 months

2007

All

65,533

7,626

337

1,231

3,597

2,462

Violence against the person

17,616

1,458

54

209

767

428

Sexual offences

7,336

102

9

14

26

54

Robbery

8,747

264

41

53

88

81

Burglary

7,920

643

44

73

254

272

Then and handling

3,706

1,720

73

303

819

526

Fraud and forgery

1,738

477

5

25

160

287

Drug offences

10,613

231

20

35

82

94

Motoring offences

1,484

891

8

109

587

187

Other offences

5,991

1,761

74

397

789

501

Offence not recorded

383

80

8

15

26

32

2006

All

63,404

8,484

363

1,461

4,136

2,525

Violence against the person

16,215

1,608

66

257

862

423

Sexual offences

6,598

125

9

15

41

60

Robbery

8,415

215

37

37

67

75

Burglary

7,791

677

33

85

280

279

Theft and handling

4,125

2,077

71

398

996

611

Fraud and forgery

1,692

444

4

38

145

257

Drug offences

10,647

250

24

48

93

85

Motoring offences

1,920

1,305

9

190

879

227

Other offences

5,594

1,689

104

381

752

452

Offence not recorded

408

96

5

13

21

67

2005

All

62,179

8,234

391

1,491

4,127

2,225

Violence against the person

15,178

1,571

57

281

846

386

Sexual offences

6,185

127

13

10

47

56

Robbery

8,378

179

35

30

63

51

Burglary

8,082

600

44

73

274

209

Theft and handling

4,126

1,977

81

441

924

531

Fraud and forgery

1,454

393

4

42

139

208

Drug offences

10,661

251

34

39

92

86

Motoring offences

2,163

1,472

12

229

1.052

179

Other offences

5,289

1,517

103

336

637

441

Offence not recorded

664

148

8

10

53

77

2004

All

60,924

8,057

373

1,439

3,939

2,306

Violence against the person

13,974

1,406

81

234

696

395

Sexual offences

5,773

103

5

12

38

47

Robbery

8,448

184

29

39

62

54

Burglary

8,643

698

40

72

269

317

Theft and handling

4,404

2,046

87

431

922

607

Fraud and forgery

1,147

336

3

40

172

121

Drug offences

10,486

203

19

37

76

71

Motoring offences

2,403

1,619

19

277

1,140

184

Other offences

4,842

1,280

81

279

501

420

Offence not recorded

803

182

10

20

63

90

2003

All

59,393

8,178

337

1,469

4,163

2,209

Violence against the person

12,986

1,156

58

204

581

313

Sexual offences

5.540

91

5

16

30

41

Robbery

8,286

180

36

45

48

51

Burglary

8,816

700

38

75

282

305

Theft and handling

4,651

2,292

84

457

1,114

637

Fraud and forgery

1,022

284

6

37

156

85

Drug offences

10,330

253

28

37

86

102

Motoring offences

2,689

2,000

22

351

1,362

265

Other offences

4,186

1,038

56

225

438

319

Offence not recorded

886

185

6

21

65

93

2002

All

57,272

7,796

337

1,319

3,791

2,349

Violence against the person

12,212

1,079

45

162

511

362

Sexual offences

5,294

87

1

16

25

46

Robbery

7,522

214

48

38

58

71

Burglary

9,156

805

48

58

306

393

Theft and handling

4,739

2,299

94

461

1,077

667

Fraud and forgery

1,040

258

5

45

125

83

Drug offences

10,067

244

22

26

81

115

Motoring offences

2,259

1,674

17

293

1,140

225

Other offences

3,911

887

50

197

387

253

Offence not recorded

1,072

248

9

25

81

134

1

Up to and including 3 months

Over 3 months up to and including 6 months

Over 6 months less than 12 months

2001

All

54,169

8,542

2,428

3,958

2,156

Violence against the person

11,637

1,160

262

541

357

Rape

2,760

9

5

1

3

Other Sexual offences

2,304

72

9

30

33

Robbery

6,813

199

46

73

80

Burglary

8,515

765

106

299

360

Theft and handling

4,584

2,215

515

1,111

589

Fraud and forgery

1.020

283

59

145

79

Drug offences

9,068

262

73

92

97

Other offences

6,581

3,357

1,317

1,587

453

Offence not recorded

887

220

36

79

105

2000

All

53,093

8,792

2,049

4,338

2,405

Violence against the person

11,217

1,162

288

553

321

Rape

2,702

12

9

3

0

Other Sexual offences

2,388

112

18

46

48

Robbery

6,353

193

54

74

65

Burglary

8,982

898

135

372

391

Theft and handling

5,044

2,580

640

1,184

756

Fraud and forgery

1,016

282

69

127

86

Drug offences

8,473

324

78

117

129

Other offences

6,051

2,954

721

1,745

488

Offence not recorded

866

275

37

117

121

1999

All

51,293

7,380

1,650

3,540

2,190

Violence against the person

10,858

1,006

214

460

332

Rape

2,576

0

0

0

0

Other Sexual offences

2,370

122

9

38

75

Robbery

6,331

86

14

39

33

Burglary

8,780

791

97

334

360

Theft and handling

4,411

2,068

529

945

594

Fraud and forgery

1,104

283

44

142

97

Drug offences

8,169

279

45

100

134

Other offences

5,398

2,538

669

1,416

453

Offence not recorded

1,296

207

29

66

112

1998

All

52,159

7,610

1,500

3,599

2,511

Violence against the person

10,944

1,049

217

504

328

Rape

2,373

0

0

0

0

Other Sexual offences

2,422

124

13

55

56

Robbery

6,626

117

16

53

48

Burglary

8,656

770

101

287

382

Theft and handling

4,492

1,928

389

895

644

Fraud and forgery

1,199

321

59

130

132

Drug offences

7,893

409

41

157

211

Other offences

5,425

2,555

631

1,390

534

Offence not recorded

2,129

336

33

128

175

1 Data unavailable to provide further breakdown