§ Mr. William PowellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners now held in custody have currently served(a) at least 30 years, (b) at least 25 years and (c) at least 20 years continuously in custody. [39813]
§ Miss WiddecombeResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. William Powell, dated 1 November 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking, how many prisoners now held in custody have currently served (a) at least 30 years, (b) at least 25 years and (c) at least 20 years continuously in custody.The information is not available in the form requested as detailed information about a prisoner's movements is not available centrally. The available information relates to those prisoners whose date of sentence was 20, 25 or 30 years ago. Provisional information for 30 September 1995 shows that two hundred prisoners were sentenced more than 20 years ago, eighty four of whom were sentenced more than 25 years ago and twenty five more than 30 years ago.