Written question asked by Neil Gerrard (Labour) on Thursday, 18 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 22 March 2010. It was answered by Lord Beamish (Labour) on Thursday, 25 March 2010 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Ex-servicemen: Prisoners

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what methodology his Department used to estimate the number of veterans in prison in England and Wales; whether (a) reservists, (b) people serving before 1979, (c) people whose date of birth was unavailable, (d) persons whose first name was unavailable, (e) under 18 year olds, (f) females who had changed their name following marriage and (g) persons with aliases were included in his Department's estimate; and what the prison population was on the date on which the data on veterans in the prison system were extracted.

Answer: I refer the hon. Member to the answers given by the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Garston (Maria Eagle) on 2 March 2010, Official Report, columns 1067-68W.

Secondary information