§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what reduction in the prison population would result if the parole system were retained, but any prisoner who reached the halfway point in his sentence without prior release on parole were given conditional release on the same basis as in Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. MayhewThe estimate requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what reduction in the average daily population of prisoners serving sentences of 18 months or less would result if a system of conditional release at half sentence on the Northern Ireland model were introduced for this group of prisoners;
(2) what would be the overall effect on the average daily prison population if the parole system were abolished and a system of conditional release on the Northern Ireland model were introduced for prisoners serving sentences of over 18 months.
§ Mr. MayhewThe detailed information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, it has been estimated that the initial effect of adopting 50 per cent. remission on the Northern Ireland model for all prisoners serving sentences would be to reduce the prison population in England and Wales by about 4,000. Provided that there was no change in sentencing practice, the longer-term reduction would be very much smaller and might be fewer than 1,000. The great majority of any reduction would occur amongst those given shorter sentences who are not at present subject to parole.