§ Dr. GodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many prisoners have escaped while under escort in each of the past seven years; in how many such cases discipline charges were proceeded against those officers carrying out the escort duties; and if he will make a statement.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[holding answer 13 April 1994]: Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Scottish Prison Service under its chief executive, Mr. E. W. Frizzell. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from E. W. Frizzell to Dr. Norman Godman, dated 22 April 1994:
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton has asked me to reply to your question about the number of escapes of prisoners from escorts in the last 7 years and in how many such cases discipline charges were proceeded against officers carrying out escorting duties.The information requested on the number of escapes is published annually in the Scottish Prison Service Annual Reports and is as follows:
Escapes from escorts Year Prisoners Young offenders 1987 10 20 11988–89 26 15 1989–90 9 9 1990–91 13 12 1991–92 14 5 1992–93 24 5 1993–94 9 3 115-month period. To provide figures for the number of cases where discipline charges were instituted within the last 7 years would only be achieved at disproportionate cost. The figure for the period 1 April 1992 to 31 March 1994 is 14.