§ Ms RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the maximum number of prisoners currently in prison who would qualify for release should the Home Secretary choose to exercise the powers of executive release granted to him by the Criminal Justice Act 1992.
§ Mr. Peter LloydThe Secretary of State for the Home Department has powers under section 32 of the Criminal Justice Act 1982 to order that persons who are serving a sentence of imprisonment, other than imprisonment for life or an offence detailed in schedule 1 to the Act, may be released earlier, but not more than six months earlier, than they would otherwise be so released.
Provisional information on the population at the end of December 1993 shows that if the Home Secretary were to invoke such powers up to about 9,000 prisoners would be eligible for release.