§ Ms Janet AndersonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what considerations led to the transfer of Miss Elaine Connolly from Styal prison to Holloway prison; [140]
(2) what considerations led to the refusal to transfer Miss Elaine Connolly from Holloway prison to Styal prison. [141]
§ Miss WiddecombeResponsibility for these matters 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 A. J. Pearson to Ms Janet Anderson, dated 23 November 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Questions about Miss Elaine Connolly.Miss Connolly was transferred from Styal prison to Holloway because information was received suggesting that she was planning to escape. On the basis of the information available to him, the governor considered that Miss Connolly should be transferred to more secure conditions.292WMiss Connolly was then told she would be returned to Styal. This advice was given to her in error as a result of a failure in communication between staff at Holloway. I am sorry for this error and for raising Miss Connolly's hopes of returning to a prison nearer her home.