§ Mr. BeithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners serving sentences have been unlawfully at large, in each month in the last five years having(a) escaped from prisons, (b) escaped from escort and (c) failed to return from authorised temporary release.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythResponsibility 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 Mr. A. J. Beith, dated 13 January 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about prisoners serving sentences who have been, or who still are, unlawfully at large.
I am afraid that the information requested is not readily available centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The current information system used by the Prison Service Intelligence and Incident Support Unit only dates back to June 1988 and became fully operational in October 1990. It records information on all incidents in which prisoners became unlawfully at large.
245WThese include escapes from establishments or escorts, home leave or temporary release failures and absconds. Details of recaptures are also recorded, although it is not always recorded whether the return to custody was voluntary, or whether the prisoner was reapprehended by the police or other agencies of the law.
The system does not link, however, the recapture with the type of escape, abscond or failure to return. Such information would have to be obtained manually and would involve checking a large number of records entered since the system became operational.
A new information system is being developed, which is expected to be operational by the summer of next year. It will not, however, be able to provide the retrospective data you request.