§ The Earl of Longfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many prisoners have now been in prison for more than (a) 20 years, (b) 10 years; and how many of those who have been in prison for more than 10 years have been considered for parole by the local review committee.
§ Lord EltonInformation is not available in the precise form requested. However, the central records available to us, which are approximate, show in prison department establishments in England and Wales, on 31st May 1982, 12 persons received under sentence more than 20 years earlier and 273 received under sentence more than 10 years earlier who had not in the intervening period been released on licence. Only those serving determinate sentences are eligible for release on parole; 13 of the 273 were serving determinate 961WA sentences but information is not readily available on how many of them had been considered for parole by the local review committee. However, local review committees also undertake the review of life sentence prisoners with a view to their release on licence and, of the 260 serving sentences of life imprisonment or detained for life under section 53(2) of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933, about 230 had had their cases reviewed by the local review committee.