asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Scotland of Asthal on 9 October (WA 94) concerning the imbalance in the number of men and women in prison, whether they have any evidence concerning any difference between men and women in their propensity to commit crime.[HL8116]

Information on the extent and nature of offending in England and Wales, including those aged 10 to 65, is published in the Home Office Research Study 275, Offending in England and Wales: First results from the 2003 Crime and Justice Survey, copies of which are available in the Library ofthe House and the Home Office website at: www.homeoffce.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/hors275.pdf.

The results from the 2003 survey show that overall, among people aged 10 to 65, males were almost twice as likely to report committing an offence in the last year as females (13 per cent versus 7 per cent). Separate figures are not available for adults.