HL Deb 19 July 1995 vol 566 cc31-2WA
Lord McIntosh of Haringey

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many prisoners serving mandatory life sentences have been informed that they cannot expect ever to be released on licence; and how may of these are women; and

What plans they have to locate prisoners serving mandatory life sentences, who have been informed that they cannot expect ever to be released on licence, in prisons which are geographically accessible for their families and friends; and

What plans they have to provide a prison regime for prisoners who are serving mandatory life sentences and who have been informed that they cannot expect ever to be released on licence which will reflect their particular circumstances, including their need for a mode of life which is supportable until death.

Baroness Blatch

Sixteen mandatory life sentence prisoners, including one woman, have been informed that previous Ministers set a whole life tariff in their case. These prisoners have the right to make representations. If they do so, their case will be considered afresh in the light of any representations made. Also, prisoners for whom a whole life tariff is set will have their case reviewed by a Minister after they have been in custody for 25 years. The purpose of this review will be solely to consider whether the whole life tariff should be converted to a tariff of a determinate period.

The Prison Service already provides a variety of regimes suited to the needs of different types of prisoner. These regimes are kept under review. In allocating mandatory life sentence prisoners, individual circumstances, including the need to facilitate visits from family and friends, are always taken into account subject of course to the overriding consideration of security.