Written question asked by Mark Oaten (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 22 July 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 11 October 2004. It was answered by Paul Goggins (Labour) on Monday, 11 October 2004 on behalf of the Home Office.

Home Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many young offenders aged 18 to 21 have been moved between prisons on overcrowding drafts (a) this year and (b) in each of the last five years. - Inc figures and fact that information not recorded centrally.

Answer: Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many young offenders aged 18 to 21 have been moved between prisons on overcrowding drafts (a) this year and (b) in each of the last five years. [187230] Paul Goggins: This information on overcrowding drafts is not available, as the reasons for transfers are not recorded centrally. Altogether there were around 13,000 inter-prison transfers of young prisoners (aged 18 to 20) in 2003-04. As this figure refers to all movements in this period, it may include some young prisoners who were transferred more than once during this period. It is not possible to identify how many of these transfers were on overcrowding drafts, although the considerable majority will have been the result of normal sentence planning procedures. Information on inter-prison transfers of young prisoners in previous years was not centrally recorded and is not available.

Secondary information