Mr. Alan WilliamsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many prisoners absconded from open prisons in 1987;
(2) how many prisoners absconded from open prisons in 1988;
(3) how many prisoners absconded from open prisons in 1989;
(4) how many prisoners who absconded from open prisons in 1987 were recaptured;
(5) how many prisoners who absconded from open prisons in 1988 were recaptured;
(6) how many prisoners who absconded from open prisons in 1989 were recaptured;
(7) how many abscondees from open prisons in 1987 were on drug-related offences;
(8) how many abscondees from open prisons in 1988 were on drug-related offences;
521W(9) how many abscondees from open prisons in 1989 were on drug-related offences.
§ Mrs. RumboldThe information on absconds during 1987 and the first five months of 1988 was not recorded in such a way as to enable absconds from open prisons to be distinguished from those who go missing from outside working parties of closed prisons or who abscond while allowed out of closed prisons on trust.
A new method of recording information was introduced in June 1988; from that date until December 1988, a total of 311 inmates absconded from open prisons. During 1989 a total of 682 inmates absconded from open prisons.
The information requested about recapture and the offences for which the inmates concerned had been imprisoned is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.