Prison Populationedit

1Prison Population: In the UK (Please not: unless otherwise stated ‘UK’ in this section of the report represents England and Wales only) prison population is increasing. It remained ‘relatively stable in the 1980s and early 1990s (between 40,000 and 50,000).’ (Social Trends36) A notable increase in the prison population in the UK occurred in the 1990s, with the prison population rising to almost 74,000 by 2004, this represents an increase of 67 per cent since the year 1993 (Social Trend 36). Please see the item 1:1. Item 1:1 Average prison1 population

Average prison1 population

England & Wales

England & Wales

Thousands

Total2

Sentenced

Remand

1980

43.1

36.0

7.1

1981

43.4

36.0

7.4

1982

43.8

35.9

7.8

1983

43.8

35.5

8.3

1984

43.3

34.3

9.0

1985

46.3

36.3

10.0

1986

46.9

36.6

10.3

1987

49.0

37.5

11.4

1988

50.0

38.2

11.8

1989

48.6

37.9

10.7

1990

45.6

35.3

10.3

1991

45.9

35.0

10.9

1992

45.8

35.0

10.8

1993

44.6

33.3

11.2

1994

48.8

35.8

13.0

1995

51.0

39.0

12.0

1 Includes prisoners held in police cells.

1996

55.3

43.0

12.2

2 Includes non-criminal prisoners.

1997

61.1

48.4

12.7

Source: Home Office

1998

65.3

52.2

13.1

1999

64.8

51.7

13.1

2000

64.6

52.7

11.9

2001

66.3

54.1

12.3

2002

70.9

57.2

13.7

2003

73.0

59.0

14.0

2004

74.7

61.1

13.6

Remand Sentenced Total2 Thousands

Remand

1 Includes prisoners held in police cells. 2 Includes non-criminal prisoners. Source: Home Office

(Source: Social Trends36)

In the graph we can see how the prison population began to increase at a faster rate in the mid 1990s. A second increase in the rate of growth of the prison population occurred in the latter part of the 1990s. The exact prison population in January 07 was 79,619 compared with 75,920 for the same month in 2006 (NOS, 2007), an increase of 3,699 prisoners in one year. This represents a 4.6 per cent increase or the equivalent to almost 5 prisons the size of HMP Chelmsford being required to house this population increase (HOS,2007). Item 1:2 shows a precise breakdown of the prison population, by type and sex of prisoner for January 2006 and compares them with figures for January 2007 (latest figures available).

All population in custody, of which

71,849

4,527

76,376

75,708

4,528

80,236

All population in prison, of which

71,536

4,384

75,920

75,241

4,378

79,619

Remand

12,553

976

13,529

12,126

841

12,967

57,924

3,355

61,279

61,562

3,485

65,047

1,059

53

1,112

1,553

52

1,605

61,301

3,876

65,177

64,050

3,908

67,958

Prisons Police cells SCHs STCs

untried convicted unsentenced

Under sentence Fine defaulter Less than or equal to 6 months Greater than 6 months to less than 12 months 12 months to less than 4 years 4 years or more (excluding Indeterminate sentences) Indeterminate sentences

Non-criminal prisoners All adult population in prison, of which

Remand

10,034

839

10,873

9,568

730

10,298

50,286

2,991

53,277

53,045

3,128

56,173

981

46

1,027

1,437

50

1,487

untried convicted unsentenced

Under sentence Fine defaulter Less than or equal to 6 months Greater than 6 months to less than 12 months 12 months to less than 4 years 4 years or more (excluding Indeterminate sentences) Indeterminate sentences

Non-criminal prisoners

(NOS, 2007) Chart 1:3 shows government forecasts for the prison population up until the year 2013. The population is expected to pass the 100,00 mark around the year 2012, eventually reaching 105,00 in 2013 (using the med projections).

Figure 2.3 is a chart representing the UK prison population, per 100,000 general population and compares it with other countries: