§ Mr. BeithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many foreign nationals who are currently serving a sentence in England and Wales would be eligible for repatriation under the terms of the Council of Europe Convention; [26200]
(2) how many foreign nationals have been repatriated to serve a prison sentence in their country of origin in each of the last five years. [26199]
§ Ms QuinOn 30 November 1997, the number of sentenced prisoners held in establishments in England and Wales recorded as being nationals of the 37 countries to which repatriation from the United Kingdom is possible under the terms of the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons was 1,297.
Information on the number of these prisoners who meet the necessary criteria (set out in the Convention) and who might therefore be eligible for repatriation could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
In addition, some States party to the Convention are prepared to consider repatriation requests from non-nationals who have close ties with those countries. Information on the number of prisoners eligible to apply for repatriation on this basis is unavailable.
716WThe number of foreign nationals repatriated from England and Wales to serve a prison sentence in one of the countries party to the Council of Europe Convention in each of the last five calendar years is as follows:
- 1993: 9
- 1994: 5
- 1995: 12
- 1996: 21
- 1997: 17.
I intend to examine ways of improving repatriation rates.