§ Dr. SpinkTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of prisoners given temporary leave from prison, by category of reason for that leave, in the last full year when records were maintained; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter LloydResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the prison service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Dr. Robert Spink, dated 20 April 1993:
The Home Secretary has asked me to write to you in response to your Parliamentary Question about the number of prisoners given temporary leave from prison establishments in England and Wales.The information which you have requested is not collected on a regular basis centrally at present. A three month survey of the numbers of temporary releases, other than for home leave, was however undertaken between 1 April and 30 June 1991. During this period, the number of temporary releases was 8,276, broken down as shown in the table below. The number of releases is not the same as the number of prisoners given temporary release, since the same prisoner may have been given temporary release on a number of occasions during the period; for example, for outpatient treatment or for job interviews.