§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 19 May.Official Report, column 8, how many prisoners transferred to Northern Ireland on a temporary basis subsequently applied for a permanent transfer in each year since 1992; and how many of these requests were granted. [7389]
§ Ms Joyce QuinThe number of prisoners granted a temporary transfer who subsequently requested a permanent transfer, and the number of such requests granted, in each year since 1992 are as detailed in the table.
Applications for permanent transfer to Northern Ireland 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 Number of applications 5 2 13 6 11 13 Number granted 3 0 1 3 0 0 1 One request is still under consideration.
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 19 May,Official Report, column 8, if he will list for each year since 1992 the number of prisoners transferred from England to Northern Ireland on a temporary basis and those granted a permanent transfer, in each case identifying the seriousness of the crime for which they were convicted. [7390]
§ Ms QuinThe seriousness of a person's crimes is determined by the courts and reflected in the length of sentence imposed for the offence committed.
The table shows the number of transfers to Northern Ireland, on either a permanent or temporary basis in each year since 1992, of prisoners sentenced to up to four years, and those sentenced to four years or more.
Prisoners serving less than four years Prisoners serving over four years Temporary Permanent Temporary Permanent 1992 2 0 11 5 1993 0 0 4 0 1994 0 1 15 5 1995 0 2 26 11 1996 0 3 39 3 1997 0 2 29 0 The table includes renewals of temporary transfer for prisoners previously transferred to Northern Ireland on a temporary basis.
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 22 May,Official Report, column 8, how many applications for temporary or permanent prison transfers to Northern Ireland have been successful in each month since September 1994. [7391]
§ Ms QuinFurther to the answer given to my hon. Friend on 22 May 1997, a review of the data supplied has revealed that the information given was incomplete. This was due to errors in transferring data to the central 27W records, resulting in some omissions. In addition, the reply did not include all the renewals of periods of temporary transfer for prisoners previously transferred to Northern Ireland on a temporary basis.
Permanent and temporary transfers to Northern Ireland since September 19941 1994 1995 1996 1997 TT2 PT3 TT PT TT PT TT PT January — — 4 0 5 0 5 2 February — — 5 3 5 2 6 0 March — — 1 0 4 1 2 0 April — — 1 1 0 1 5 0 May — — 2 0 3 0 6 0 June — — 1 3 3 0 5 0 July — — 5 4 5 1 — — August — — 4 0 7 0 — — September 0 0 1 1 1 0 — — October 1 0 1 1 2 1 — — November 0 0 0 0 1 0 — — December 0 0 1 0 5 1 — — 1 The table includes three applications which were approved, but the applicants later withdrew their request or were released before transfer could be effected. 2 Temporary transfer. 3 Permanent transfer.
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will implement the recommendations of the 1992 inter-departmental review of the provisions governing transfer of prisoners between United Kingdom jurisdictions, with particular reference to the amendment of legislation; [7392]
(2) if he will introduce arrangements to transfer responsibility for granting compassionate parole and other matters of regime for prisoners on temporary extended transfer to Northern Ireland to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. [7393]
§ Ms QuinThe Government remain committed to the statement made in the House on 23 November 1992 by the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State accepting the recommendations of the inter-departmental working group on prisoner transfers. New legislative provisions governing the transfer of prisoners between United Kingdom jurisdictions are contained in schedule 1 of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997.
Arrangements relating to the handling of transfer requests and of transferred prisoners including decisions on temporary release, are currently being reviewed. We will make an announcement as soon as possible about implementation of these provisions.
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what instructions have been issued to prison governors to assist Irish prisoners who may wish to transfer to Northern Ireland or the Irish Republic; and what information is available for(a) prisoners and (b) their legal representatives to enable them to make an application. [7394]
§ Ms QuinApplications submitted by Irish prisoners for transfer to another jurisdiction or for repatriation to the Republic of Ireland are treated in exactly the same way as any other application for transfer or repatriation submitted by a prisoner. Information to governors on the
28WThe total number of permanent and temporary transfers granted in each month since September 1994 is given in the table:
procedures to be followed in dealing with transfer and repatriation requests are contained in the following documents:
- Repatriation
- Instruction to Governors 101/95
- Foreign Prisoners' Resource Pack (Staff section)
- Transfer and Repatriation
- Prisoners' Requests/Complaints Procedures Manual (section H).
These documents are available to prisoners. In addition, information on both transfer and repatriation is contained in the Prisoners' Information Book, which is issued to all prisoners.
Transfer applications are determined in accordance with criteria announced to Parliament on 23 November 1992 by the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State.
Additional information, in response to specific enquiries from prisoners or their representatives, is provided by the transfer and repatriation section of the Prison Service.
Copies of, or relevant extracts from the documents detailed above have been placed in the Library.
§ Mr. CorbynTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many approved applications for transfer to the Irish Republic received from the Minister of Justice are still awaiting his decision. [8480]
§ Ms QuinEleven applications for repatriation to the Republic of Ireland, approved by the Irish authorities, remain to be determined.