§ Mr. ElletsonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the performance of the Prison Service on escapes in 1994–95, including privately managed court escort services and prisons. [20812]
§ Mr. Michael ForsythIn 1994–95, the total number of escapes from prison and escorts outside prison, as a proportion of the average prison population, was 32 per cent. lower than 1993–94 and 49 per cent. lower than 1992–93, the last year before the Prison Service became an agency. The total of 202 escapes from prison and escorts in 1994–95 includes 15 from the privately managed court escort and custody service—compared with 26 in 1993–94 and one from the four contracted-out establishments.
The rate of escapes continued to decline during 1994–95, and in the second half of the year—October 1994 to March 1995—the rate of escapes was 67 per cent. lower than the same period in 1992–93. In the period October 1994 to March 1995, there were only three escapes from the privately managed court escort and custody service—less than 10 per cent. of the number under the previous arrangements provided by the police and the Prison Service. In this period, there were no escapes from contracted-out prisons.