To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) Christian, and (2) Muslim, prison chaplains there were in England and Wales in (a) 1989, (b) 1999, (c) 2009, and (d) 2018.
Answered on
4 July 2019
Staffing figures for prison chaplains in public sector prisons from 1989 until 2009 are not available, as figures were not collated centrally during this period.
The table below shows the number of Christian (which includes Anglican, Free Church, Roman Catholic, Orthodox) and Muslim Chaplains (full-time equivalent) employed at public prison establishments by religion of the post from the most recently collated figures.
Date | 31 March 2009 | 31 March 2018 |
Christian | 151 | 157 |
Muslim | 45 | 61 |
The Department does not hold data on the general population.
With regard to the proportion of the prison population who identify as Muslim, we are unable to access data from 1989 and 1999 without incurring disproportionate costs.
The figures for 2009 and 2018 are available and are presented in the table below:
Date | 30 June 2009 | 30 June 2018 |
Total prison population | 83,319 | 82,773 |
Total prisoners recorded as Muslim | 9,932 | 12,894 |