HC Deb 07 March 1957 vol 566 cc528-30
37. Mr. Lipton

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how he ensures that prison governors are correctly informed of the sentences to be served by prisoners in their charge.

Mr. Simon

Prison standing orders prescribe an elaborate procedure for recording and verifying sentences to be served by prisoners, but in the light of recent experience my right hon. Friend has directed that this procedure be reviewed to see whether further practicable safeguards against error should be introduced.

Mr. Lipton

Is the hon. and learned Gentleman aware that despite the elaborate procedure, a prisoner, because of a shocking clerical error, was kept at Pentonville seven and a half weeks longer than he need have been? Will he give an assurance that such a scandalous thing cannot possibly happen again?

Mr. Simon

In every human system there is a liability to error. Our task is to ensure that it is minimised to the smallest practicable extent, and it is for that reason that my right hon. Friend is directing fresh inquiries into the matter.

Captain Pilkington

Do all these Questions about prisons mean that hon. Gentlemen opposite are apprehensive about their future?

38. Mr. Lipton

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what basis he calculates ex gratia payments to persons wrongly sentenced or unnecessarily detained in custody.

Mr. Simon

The amount of the ex gratia payment made to a person who has been properly convicted by a court, but who has been mistakenly but not illegally detained in prison for any period as a result of an error by the court or by some public official, will necessarily depend upon the facts of the particular case. The principal factors which are taken into account are the circumstances in which the error occurred, the period for which the prisoner has been mistakenly detained and his probable earning capacity during that period.

Mr. Lipton

Is the hon. and learned Gentleman aware that in the case mentioned in the previous Question £35 was paid to compensate for seven and a half unnecessary weeks in prison, which works out at £4 13s. 4d. a week? Is this not a mean and miserable assessment on the part of the Home Office of the value of a man's liberty? Is it not time that the basis was completely revised?

Mr. Simon

In the case referred to by the hon. Member there was no illegal detention. The figure of £35 was arrived at taking into account the earnings which the prisoner might have been expected to make if he were out of custody. It works out at just under £5 a week.