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11 Nov 2009 : Column 486W—continued
Data include key performance indicator escapes only and exclude incidents where prisoners are immediately recaptured (ie within 15 minutes of escaping).
Prisoners
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what his most recent estimate is of the size of the prison population; and what estimate he has made of the number of prison places in each of the next five years. [298494]
Mr. Straw: The prison population on 6 November was 84,522. The latest prison population projections were published on 28 August and are available on the Ministry of Justice website. The high, medium and low projected figures of the prison population for each of the next five years are shown in the following table (end of June figures):
| High | Medium | Low | |
| Note: Data rounded to the nearest 100. | |||
The Ministry of Justice aims to increase capacity to 96,000 prison places net by 2014. We aim to deliver an additional 1,725 places in 2009. 3,000 places are currently planned for delivery in 2010. In addition we plan a further 1,605 place prison to be operational in 2012. The precise numbers and delivery timings will depend on construction schedules and prioritisation within the prison estate.
Prisoners Release
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners have been released in error as a result of (a) mistaken identity and (b) other errors in each of the last 12 years. [287035] [Official Report, 11 January 2010, Vol. 503, c. 3-4MC.]
Maria Eagle: Prison establishments are required to report known releases in error to the Intelligence and Operations Unit in National Offender Management Service Headquarters. However, the Incident Reporting System does not hold records of these events in a format which can be interrogated electronically to obtain the specific information requested. Information on releases in error prior to 2005 could be obtained only by examining all miscellaneous incident reports manually at disproportionate cost.
The available information is shown in the following table.
| Number of releases in error reported | |
These incidents include three cases of mistaken identity; one in 2006 and two in 2008. In two cases the prisoner was returned to custody the same day and in the third he was returned within two weeks.
It should be noted that these figures have been obtained by a manual examination of paper records covering a variety of incident types and clearly only includes those errors that have been discovered. The figures are therefore subject to a margin of possible error.
The National Offender Management Service Agency is alert to the increase in 2008 and has taken action to tighten process and focus management attention on this area. Specifically:
All Release in Error incidents must now be reported immediately by telephone as a serious incident. Formal investigations are required in all cases and the learning from investigations has been acted upon.
Prison Governors and Regional Custody Managers have been required to review sentence calculation and discharge procedures and ensure additional managerial attention is given to this area.
Additional guidance has been given to prisons regarding fixed term recall arrangements.
More attention has been given to reporting this type of incident and it is possible that some of the apparent increase has been due to more consistent reporting.
Nevertheless, the number of releases in error remains very small as a percentage of total discharges (less than 0.05 per cent. in 2007, the last year for which discharge figures are currently available) and must be viewed in the context of increased prisoner movement to accommodate the rising population.
Prisoners' Transfers
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners have been transferred from prisons in England or Wales to Northern Ireland to serve out remaining sentences in each year since 2005. [298896]
Mr. Straw: The number of prisoners transferred from prisons in England and Wales to Northern Ireland since 2005 are as follows:
| Number | |
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners were transferred between prisons in Northern Ireland and (a) England, (b) Wales and (c) Scotland in (i) 2007 and (ii) 2008. [298600]
Mr. Straw: The transfer of prisoners between jurisdictions within the United Kingdom is governed by the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997. For the purposes of the Act England and Wales are the same jurisdiction and therefore transfers to and from Northern Ireland and Wales are not recorded separately. Transfers between Scotland and Northern Ireland are a matter for the Scottish Executive.
The number of transfers are as follows:
In 2007 one prisoner transferred from Northern Ireland to England and Wales and 13 prisoners transferred from England and Wales to Northern Ireland;
In 2008 five prisoners transferred from Northern Ireland to England and Wales and five prisoners transferred from England and Wales to Northern Ireland.
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prison officers from England and Wales have been (a) transferred permanently to and (b) seconded to prisons in Northern Ireland in each year since 2001. [298898]
Maria Eagle: Records of the Northern Ireland Prison Service show that there have been two transfers between England and Wales and Northern Ireland since 2001.
There is no record of any prison officers currently being on secondment to Northern Ireland. Information on secondments that have now concluded is not available without incurring disproportionate cost.
Prisoners' Transfers: Isle of Wight
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost was of using (a) boats, (b) commercial flights and (c) private flights to transfer prisoners to prisons on the Isle of Wight in each of the last five years. [298082]
Mr. Straw: Prisoners are transferred to and from the Isle of Wight by scheduled car ferry sailings only. The data are not available for this request as the cost of transferring prisoners to the Isle of Wight is included in the general prisoner escort contracts and is not invoiced separately. The contracting out of this work has achieved efficiency savings estimated at £20 million in the first year.
Prisoners: Drugs
Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2009, Official Report, column 2063W, on treatment programmes, what the disaggregated figures for (a) detoxification and (b) maintenance are for (i) 2007-08 and (ii) 2008-09. [297673]
Maria Eagle: The following table provides figures(1) for prisoners recorded as entering detoxification or maintenance.
(1) These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.
| Prisoners entering: | ||
| Detoxification | Maintenance | |
Prisoners: Sentencing
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners sentenced to a jail term of six months served (a) six months, (b) three months or less and (c) six weeks or less of that sentence in the last 12 months. [296382]
Maria Eagle: Automatic release at the half way point of sentence was introduced by the Criminal Justice Act 1991. Prisoners who are sentenced to six months therefore normally serve three months in prison. Adult prisoners sentenced to less than 12 months are not subject to supervision by the probation service on release from custody. However, they are 'at risk' of return to custody by the courts, to serve the unexpired portion of the sentence, if they commit an imprisonable offence before the expiry date of the original sentence. Young offenders (those under the age of 22 released from a term of detention in a YOI) are subject to a minimum of three months supervision. Juvenile prisoners sentenced to a Detention and Training Order are supervised as part of the conditions of these sentences.
The actual amount of time served in prison, following sentence, will depend on a number of factors, including time spent as a remand prisoner or credit for time spent on tagged bail if directed by the court, any added days and release on either Home Detention Curfew or End of Custody Licence.
For those prisoners discharged in 2008 having been sentenced to six months, the amount of time served is shown in the following table.
| Time served | Prisoners |
Numbers below 1,000 have been rounded to the nearest 10. Numbers over 1,000 have been rounded to the nearest 100.
These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
Prisons: Discipline
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many prisoners have been involved in incidents of disorder of each type in each year since 1997; [298794]
(2) how many prisoners at each prison were found in possession of a sharp instrument in each year since 1997. [298801]
Maria Eagle: The following table gives the number of punishments given to prisoners in all prison establishments in England and Wales for offences committed in prison involving the reported categories of offence within the prison.
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