§ Lord Wigoderasked Her Majesty's Government:
What would be its estimated effect on the present size of the prison population (a) if the parole scheme were extended to include prisoners serving sentences of between six months and three years' imprisonment, as suggested in the Home Office 1981 Paper Review of Parole in England and Wales, on the assumption that the proportion of successful applications for parole would be similar to the present proportion, and (b) if the normal period of remission for all prisoners was increased from one-third to one-half of the sentence.
§ Lord BelsteadTheReview of Parole in England and Wales took the view (paragraph 55) that the parole system in its present form could not be applied to those serving shorter sentences and an estimate of the effect on the prison population of (a) could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The review suggested (paragraph 56) that the middle third of a short sentence might be held in suspense while the offender was released under supervision and it was estimated that if such a provision were applied without exception to all sentences above six months and under three years the effect, on the most optimistic view of other factors, could be a reduction in the prison population of up to 7,000. It is estimated that the effect of altering the period of remission from one-third to one-half for those sentenced to up to and including two years could, in the longer term, reduce the prison population by about 3,000.