Previous Section Index Home Page


Exclusion Orders

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many exclusion orders have been issued or renewed since May; how many orders are presently in force; and if he will make a statement. [7375]

Mr. Straw: Two orders have been renewed and two have been allowed to lapse. There are currently 20 orders in force. I am currently considering when and under what conditions it might be safe to remove the power of exclusion from the statute book in the context of wider consideration of prevention of terrorism legislation.

Deportation Orders

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many deportation orders have been made against Irish nationals in each of the past 10 years. [7388]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The available information, which runs only from 1993, is given in the table.

Deportation orders made against Irish Nationals, 1993-96

Number
19939
19943
19952
1996(2)5

(2) Provisional data.


14 Jul 1997 : Column: 26

Prisoners (Transfers)

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 19 May, Official Report, column 8, how many prisoners transferred to Northern Ireland on a temporary basis subsequently applied for a permanent transfer in each year since 1992; and how many of these requests were granted. [7389]

Ms Joyce Quin: The number of prisoners granted a temporary transfer who subsequently requested a permanent transfer, and the number of such requests granted, in each year since 1992 are as detailed in the table.

Applications for permanent transfer to Northern Ireland

199219931994199519961997
Number of applications5213611(3)3
Number granted3 01300

(3) One request is still under consideration.


Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 19 May, Official Report, column 8, if he will list for each year since 1992 the number of prisoners transferred from England to Northern Ireland on a temporary basis and those granted a permanent transfer, in each case identifying the seriousness of the crime for which they were convicted. [7390]

Ms Quin: The seriousness of a person's crimes is determined by the courts and reflected in the length of sentence imposed for the offence committed.

The table shows the number of transfers to Northern Ireland, on either a permanent or temporary basis in each year since 1992, of prisoners sentenced to up to four years, and those sentenced to four years or more.

Prisoners serving less than four years Prisoners serving over four years
TemporaryPermanentTemporaryPermanent
199220115
19930040
199401155
1995022611
199603393
199702290

The table includes renewals of temporary transfer for prisoners previously transferred to Northern Ireland on a temporary basis.


Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 22 May, Official Report, column 8, how many applications for temporary or permanent prison transfers to Northern Ireland have been successful in each month since September 1994. [7391]

Ms Quin: Further to the answer given to my hon. Friend on 22 May 1997, a review of the data supplied has revealed that the information given was incomplete. This was due to errors in transferring data to the central

14 Jul 1997 : Column: 27

records, resulting in some omissions. In addition, the reply did not include all the renewals of periods of temporary transfer for prisoners previously transferred to Northern Ireland on a temporary basis.

14 Jul 1997 : Column: 28

The total number of permanent and temporary transfers granted in each month since September 1994 is given in the table:

14 Jul 1997 : Column: 27

Permanent and temporary transfers to Northern Ireland since September 1994(4)

1994 1995 1996 1997
TT (5)PT (6)TTPTTTPTTTPT
January----405052
February----535260
March----104120
April----110150
May----203060
June----133050
July----5451----
August----4070----
September001110----
October101121----
November000010----
December001051----

(4) The table includes three applications which were approved, but the applicants later withdrew their request or were released before transfer could be effected.

(5) Temporary transfer.

(6) Permanent transfer.


14 Jul 1997 : Column: 27

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will implement the recommendations of the 1992 inter-departmental review of the provisions governing transfer of prisoners between United Kingdom jurisdictions, with particular reference to the amendment of legislation; [7392]

Ms Quin: The Government remain committed to the statement made in the House on 23 November 1992 by the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State accepting the recommendations of the inter-departmental working group on prisoner transfers. New legislative provisions governing the transfer of prisoners between United Kingdom jurisdictions are contained in schedule 1 of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997.

Arrangements relating to the handling of transfer requests and of transferred prisoners including decisions on temporary release, are currently being reviewed. We will make an announcement as soon as possible about implementation of these provisions.

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what instructions have been issued to prison governors to assist Irish prisoners who may wish to transfer to Northern Ireland or the Irish Republic; and what information is available for (a) prisoners and (b) their legal representatives to enable them to make an application. [7394]

Ms Quin: Applications submitted by Irish prisoners for transfer to another jurisdiction or for repatriation to the Republic of Ireland are treated in exactly the same way as any other application for transfer or repatriation submitted by a prisoner. Information to governors on the

14 Jul 1997 : Column: 28

procedures to be followed in dealing with transfer and repatriation requests are contained in the following documents:


These documents are available to prisoners. In addition, information on both transfer and repatriation is contained in the Prisoners' Information Book, which is issued to all prisoners.

Transfer applications are determined in accordance with criteria announced to Parliament on 23 November 1992 by the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State.

Additional information, in response to specific enquiries from prisoners or their representatives, is provided by the transfer and repatriation section of the Prison Service.

Copies of, or relevant extracts from the documents detailed above have been placed in the Library.

Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many approved applications for transfer to the Irish Republic received from the Minister of Justice are still awaiting his decision. [8480]

Ms Quin: Eleven applications for repatriation to the Republic of Ireland, approved by the Irish authorities, remain to be determined.

Special Secure Units

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 21 May, Official Report, column 77, what progress has been made in reviewing special secure unit operating standards following the report of Sir Donald Acheson concerning open visits by members of prisoners' immediate family.[7895]

14 Jul 1997 : Column: 29

Ms Joyce Quin: The special secure unit (SSU) operating standards were reviewed following the receipt of Sir Donald Acheson's report in June 1996. The standards were amended to implement recommendations covering health reviews of prisoners, transfer of prisoners requiring emergency treatment in national health service hospitals and sentence management.

Careful consideration was given to Sir Donald's recommendation that prisoners in SSUs should have access to open visits with members of their immediate family. The Prison Service has made numerous improvements to the security of SSUs but closed visits represent the only guaranteed means of preventing the passage of unauthorised items between prisoner and visitor. The policy of mandatory closed visits for exceptional risk prisoners will be kept under review, however, to ensure that it remains the appropriate response to the threat posed by such prisoners.


Next Section Index Home Page