Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the prison population of the UK was in each year since 2010; and whether it is his policy to reduce the prison population over the course of the current Parliament.

Information on the prison population in England and Wales from 2010 to 2015 can be viewed on the Ministry of Justice website and is available in table A1.1 at the following link:-

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/449241/prison-population-2015.xlsx

The prison population is determined by sentencing decisions made by the independent judiciary, according to law and after considering the circumstances of the individual case. The Government keeps the sentencing framework under review to make sure that the courts have the appropriate powers to deal with offenders in the most effective way possible.