§ BARONESS WOOTTON OF ABINGERasked Her Majesty's Government:
Since the establishment of the English and Scottish Parole Boards in how many cases have the Board's recommendations for (a) the release' on parole of a prisoner serving a determinate sentence and (b) the release on licence of a prisoner serving a life sentence been rejected by the Home Secretary; and what proportion do these rejections constitute of the total number of releases recommended in each of the above categories.
VISCOUNT COLVILLE OF CULROSSUp to December 31, 1972, forty-four recommendations for parole by the Parole Board for England and Wales (0.4 per cent, of the total) for prisoners with determinate sentences were not accepted by the Home Secretary. The corresponding figures for life sentence prisoners were nineteen and 9.5 per cent. In Scotland there is a different procedure under which the question of rejecting a favourable recommendation by the Parole Board for Scotland does not arise.
House adjourned at twelve minutes past eight o'clock.