The
average remand population in 1999 was 12,520,
little changed from 1998. Females accounted
for 6 per cent of the average remand population,
continuing the gradual rise seen since 1993.
Untried
prisoners reduced to 7,950 in 1999, down from
8,160 in 1998 and 8,450 in 1997.
An
average of 4,570 previously convicted remand
prisoners were awaiting sentence in 1999,
a rise of nearly 900 since 1997.
The
rise in the convicted unsentenced population
and the fall in the untried population since
1997 is consistent with the effects of Plea
before Venue as allowed for in the Crime (Sentences)
Act 1997.
The
average time spent in custody in 1999 by male
untried prisoners was at the lowest level
seen during the last decade, at 46 days. Female
untried prisoners spent an average of 35 days
in custody.
The
total number of convicted unsentenced receptions
during 1999 was at an all-time high of 45,900,
6 per cent higher than the previous high in
1998. Within this rise, the number of females
received increased by 14 per cent compared
to an increase of 5 per cent in the number
of males received.
Of
male prisoners received on remand, 47 per
cent were subsequently received with a custodial
sentence in 1999; for females the proportion
was 35 per cent. Around 22 per cent of males
and 21 per cent of females remanded in custody
were acquitted, or the proceedings were terminated
early.
