§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what is his policy in relation to the(a) release, (b) transfer, and (c) repatriation of prisoners detained in Northern Ireland and convicted of terrorist offences; and if he will make a statement; [2051]
(2) how many prisoners detained in Northern Ireland and convicted of terrorist offences have been (a) released, (b) transferred, (c) notified of their release by the end of 1996 and (d) repatriated to prisons in the Republic of Ireland since August 1994; [2143]
(3) in what way the criteria for approving applications by prisoners convicted of terrorist offences and detained in Northern Ireland for (a) release, (b) transfer and (c) repatriation to the Republic of Ireland differ from those applied in other parts of the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [2144]
§ Sir John WheelerResponsibility for the subject of these questions has been delegated to the Northern Ireland Prison Service under its chief executive, Mr. Alan Shannon. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
479WLetter from Alan Shannon to Mr. Max Madden, dated 5 November 1996:
The Secretary of State has asked me to respond to the 3 Parliamentary Questions you tabled about policies with regard to the release, transfer and repatriation of prisoners detained in Northern Ireland, who have been convicted of terrorist offences.Determinate sentence prisoners in Northern Ireland are released automatically once their full sentences, with the appropriate period of remission, have been served. A prisoner may only be released earlier in exceptional circumstances where the Royal Prerogative of Mercy is exercised. The statistical information you are seeking on releases since I August 1994 and prospective releases by 31 December 1996 is not readily available in the format requested and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. However I can confirm that since 17 November 1995, 160 scheduled offenders have been released on licence, between the half way and two thirds part of sentence, as a result of the changes in remission rules brought in by the Northern Ireland (Remission of Sentence) Act 1995.The release on licence of life sentence prisoners is at the discretion of the Secretary of State who is advised by the Life Sentence Review Board. Since 1 August 1994 58 life sentence prisoners convicted of terrorist related offences have been released on licence and a further 4 prisoners with provisional release dates are expected to be released by 31 December 1996.The transfer of prisoners between the 3 UK jurisdictions on either a permanent or temporary basis is governed by the provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 1961 and administered according to criteria announced in Parliament in 1992. Since I August 1994 2 prisoners convicted of terrorist offences in Northern Ireland have transferred to England & Wales; one permanently and the other on a temporary basis.The repatriation of prisoners from or to Northern Ireland is governed by the Repatriation of Prisoners Act 1984. Repatriation may be considered where the country to which application is being made is a signatory to the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons or to the Commonwealth Scheme for the Transfer of Convicted Offenders or has a separate bilateral agreement with the United Kingdom. No prisoners convicted in Northern Ireland have been repatriated to the Republic of Ireland and the Northern Ireland Prison Service is not in receipt of any applications from prisoners seeking repatriation. However one prisoner who was convicted in England, but detained temporarily in Northern Ireland on an intra-UK transfer, was subsequently repatriated to the Republic of Ireland on the authority of the Home Secretary.You have asked in what way the criteria for approving applications for release, transfer and repatriation differs from those applied in other parts of the United Kingdom. Intra-UK transfers and repatriations are governed by the same legislation and criteria in all 3 UK jurisdictions.On the question of release each jurisdiction has separate legislation and powers. In Northern Ireland there is no system of parole or discretionary release for determinate sentence prisoners who are released automatically at the completion of their sentences with remission. The procedure for reviewing the sentences of life480W
Income and expenditure 1973–74 to 1995–96 Northern Ireland Housing Executive NIHE) Capital expenditure Capital receipts Revenue expenditure Rental income Net capital and revenue expenditure 1973–74 65.1 0.2 34.2 21.7 77.4 1974–75 46.5 0.7 48.3 23.2 70.9 1975–76 73.5 1.8 62.1 31.3 102.5 1976–77 108.2 4.7 81.7 39 146.2 1977–78 109.6 5.1 100.5 50.5 154.5 1978–79 102.7 7.1 130.3 58.5 167.4 1979–80 97.5 9.3 171.3 53 206.5 1980–81 110.7 16.7 199.2 72.6 220.6 1981–82 119.9 54 241 100 206.9 1982–83 177.4 55.2 248.4 119.5 251.1 1983–84 177.2 55.6 269.4 126.7 264.3 sentence prisoners also differs from that in other jurisdictions and I attach an explanatory memorandum which illustrates in detail the life sentence review process in Northern Ireland.