FOI reference: FOI-2025-2876
You asked
Under the Freedom of Information Act I request disclosure of figures relating to the ethnicity numbers and percentage relative to UK population of the current number of prisoners held in UK prisons.
Also, are you able to provide me with information to show the ethnicity breakdown by numbers relative to UK population of persons convicted of a criminal offence through a UK court in the past 10 years?
We said
Thank you for your enquiry.
Unfortunately, we do not hold the information you have requested.
We produce figures on the levels and trends of crime in England and Wales primarily based on two sets of crime statistics: the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) and police recorded crime (PRC) data provided by the Home Office. Neither of these data sources collect information on prisoners or convictions.
Prison statistics and data on convictions in England and Wales are recorded and held by the Ministry of Justice. They can be contacted at data.access@justice.gov.uk.
For crime and justice statistics for Scotland and Northern Ireland, you would need to contact the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency directly. Their contact details are foi@nrscotland.gov.uk and info@nisra.gov.uk.
If you have any other queries relating to crime in England and Wales in the future, you can email crimestatistics@ons.gov.uk.