HL Deb 27 January 1999 vol 596 cc152-3WA
Lord Sheppard of Liverpool

asked Her Majesty's Government:

When they intend to implement the Home Detention Curfew scheme. [HL751]

The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Williams of Mostyn)

The Home Detention Curfew Scheme, under which selected short-term prisoners may spend up to the last two months of the custodial part of their sentence under a curfew enforced by electronic monitoring, will commence on 28 January. The scheme will provide a managed transition between prison and living in the community. It will deprive them of their liberty for a major part of the day and also provide some structure and order in often disorganised lives. No prisoner will be allowed on the scheme without a risk assessment, and those who fail to comply with the conditions of the scheme may be recalled to prison.