HC Deb 12 March 1970 vol 797 cc1551-3
30. Mr. Jopling

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will review the length of time which is served in prison by those sentenced to imprisonment for life.

Mr. Callaghan

This question is based on a common misunderstanding which I am glad to have the opportunity of correcting. No life sentence prisoner may he released on licence merely because a certain number of years has elapsed. Each case is considered individually in the light of the gravity of the crime, the prisoner's conduct and development in prison, and the risk to the public which his release might involve. A life sentence prisoner can be released only after consultation with the Lord Chief Justice and the trial judge, if he is available, and on the recommendation of the in dependent parole board.

Mr. Jopling

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that many people who consistently supported the abolition of hanging feel that these people are in many cases let out very much too early? Will he undertake a review of the whole situation, examine the views of these people and accept that longer sentences should be served as a general rule by those who are sentenced to life imprisonment?

Mr. Callaghan

I hope that, in the light of my answer, the hon. Gentleman will be able to give the information to his constituents. I noticed that in the Westmorland Gazette of 27th February the hon. Gentleman was reported as having said that it was absurd for these people to come out of prison after about nine years. My answer shows that that is not the case; and I look for his help in explaining the position.

Mr. Hogg

However that might be, is the right hon. Gentleman aware of the feeling of many people connected with the enforcement of law that the indeterminate sentence which life imprisoment has now become is rather an anomaly? Will he ensure that this is among the subjects on which Lord Justice Edmund Davies will report so that the law may be tidied up in this respect?

Mr. Callaghan

The right hon. and learned Gentleman will be aware that when sentencing a murderer to life imprisonment, a trial judge may recommend a minimum period during which he should be detained. About 20 such recommendations have been made in the last four and a half years.

To answer the question about the indeterminate nature of the sentence, I made it clear when I referred this and other matters to the Criminal Law Revision Committee that I wished it to consider this issue. The committee is proposing to consult those concerned with the administration of justice and the enforcement of law, and I hope that we shall receive its considered report in due course.

Mr. Hector Hughes

Does my right hon. Friend realise that all the time spent in prison by people represents a great loss in terms of national productivity? [Laughter.] It is all very well for hon. Gentlemen opposite to laugh at this, but what I say is so. Cannot he devise a way of using the efforts of those who are in prison to increase national productivity?

Mr. Callaghan

It really depends on what resources they use to increase national productivity. I am glad to say that the number of prisoners now engaged on useful work has increased markedly during the last few years. The figures explode a conventional myth on this subject; of the 36,000 prisoners now in prison, only 2,000 are sewing mail bags. While I regard that as 2,000 too many, it is a remarkable contrast with what was happening 10 or 15 years ago.