§ Mr. Alex Carlileasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, following the restricted release criteria announced by him on 30 November 1983, he will state (a) the number of prisoners who, prior to 30 November 1983 were eligible for consideration by the Parole Board but were not so considered thereafter, (b) the number of prisoners serving over five years imprisonment for offences of violence or drug trafficking who have been considered for parole in the period November 1983 to November 1986, (c) the number of such prisoners who were recommended for release by the Parole Board as exceptional cases, (d) the number of prisoners so recommended who were released, (e) the average length of time such prisoners spent on parole 484W before their expected date of release and (g) the reasons which guided the Secretary of State to exercise his discretion for and against early release.
§ Mr. HurdThe more restricted policy on granting parole to certain categories of prisoners announced by my predecessor on 30 November 1983 did not affect the parole eligibility of any prisoner. Between that date and 30 December 1985, around 1,900 prisoners serving sentences of over five years for offences of violence or drug trafficking were considered for parole by the Parole Board. This figure does not represent the total number of prisoners in those categories who were considered for parole since the cases of some of those found unsuitable for parole by the local review committee at the prison are not referred to the board for further consideration. As recorded in its annual reports for 1984 and 1985, the board concluded that, in addition to those prisoners recommended at final review for a short period on licence at the end of their sentence where it was considered that parole was likely to reduce the long-term risk to the public, there were a further 80 prisoners who were regarded as suitable for parole on genuinely exceptional grounds. The board's recommendation was accepted in 38 of these cases. The average time served on licence by these prisoners was between 15 and 16 months. Each case was considered on its individual merits against the background of the general policy set out in the statement of 30 November. It has never been the practice to give the reasons for parole in individual cases.
Figures for 1986 are not yet available.
§ Mr. Alex Carlileasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, following the restricted release criteria announced by him on 30 November 1983, he will state for life sentence prisoners (i) the number of prisoners considered by the Parole Board in the three years prior to November 1983, (ii) the number of prisoners considered by the Parole Board in the three years since November 1983, (iii) the number of prisoners considered who were recommended for release by the Parole Board as exception cases, (iv) the number of prisoners so recommended who were released, (v) the average time spent in custody by such prisoners at their release, (vi) the number of prisoners so recommended who were not released, (vii) the average time spent in custody by these prisoners at the time of their review and (viii) the reasons which guided the Secretary of State to exercise his discretion both for and against release in these cases.
§ Mr. HurdThe total number of life sentence cases considered by the Parole Board during the period 1981–85 is as follows:
Number 1981 325 1982 310 1983 264 1984 235 1985 276 The figure for 1986 is not yet available, but it will exceed that for 1985.
No life sentence prisoners in the specific categories mentioned in my predecessor's announcement of 30 November 1983 have been recommended for release by the Parole Board since that date.