HL Deb 14 June 1979 vol 400 cc805-6WA
Lord AVEBURY

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How the Parole Board and its local review committees can take into account the home circumstances and employment prospects of a prisoner who is liable to deportation on completion of his sentence, as they are advised to do in paragraphs 13, 14 and 15 of the notes The Criteria for Selection for Parole; whether in these cases, they are supposed to disregard paragraph 12 of the notes on co-operation with parole supervision; and, once these notes do not offer any guidance on the way the Board and its committees should approach the question of parole for those prisoners, whether they will issue supplementary notes for this purpose.

Lord BELSTEAD

While the Parole Board and the Local review committees consider each case for parole on its merits against the published criteria so far as this is possible, the principle adopted is that a prisoner should not have his parole chances reduced because, as a foreign national who is liable for deportation, he may have no realistic plans for his release in this country. As the noble Lord is aware, guidance on the consideration for parole of prisoners liable to be deported is given in theNotes for Guidance of Local Review Committees, a copy of which is in the Library of the House.

House adjourned at twenty-five minutes before eight o'clock.