§ Mr. Harry EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement regarding his future policy on parole and the future of the Parole Board.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonMy right hon. and learned Friend has already made clear his intention to institute a thorough review of the workings of the parole system in Scotland. He is at present considering the best means of giving effect to that intention and a full statement will be made in due course.
§ Mr. Harry EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many months it now takes from the date on which a prisoner is referred to the Parole Board to the date on which a decision is made on that case; and if he will also list the time taken in each of the past seven years.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonA case would normally be referred to the Parole Board only towards the end of the review process. Once the Parole Board has made a recommendation the prisoner can expect to be informed of the Secretary of State's decision within three weeks. This has not varied over the past seven years.
§ Mr. Harry EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many cases have been considered by the Parole Board in each of the last seven years;
(2) how many prisoners have been referred to the Parole Board for information only in each of the last seven years to the nearest date;
(3) how many prisoners have been granted parole by the Parole Board in Scotland in each of the past seven years to the nearest date.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThis information is published in the annual report of the Parole Board for Scotland for 1986, copies of which are available in the Library. Information on the number of cases considered by the Parole Board and the number recommended for parole is set out in table one of appendix B of the report; information on the number of life sentence cases referred for information only is set out in table two.
§ Mr. Harry EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many prisoners appearing before the Parole Board in each of the past seven years have been refused parole on the second or subsequent consideration of their case;
(2) how many prisoners appeared before the Parole Board, having been refused parole on the first consideration of the case in each of the past seven years.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThis information is not readily available and could be compiled only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. Harry EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the average length of sentence now being served by prisoners appearing for parole before they are finally paroled; and what was the average length of sentence in each of the past seven years.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonInformation on time spent in custody prior to release is set out, in respect of persons released from life sentences, in the table at appendix D of the annual report of the Parole Board for Scotland 1986, copies of which are available in the Library. Similar information in respect of persons released from fixed term sentences is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.