HC Deb 02 May 2000 vol 349 cc79-80W
Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer to the right hon. Member for Maidstone and The Weald (Miss Widdecombe) of 17 April 2000,Official Report, columns 375-76W, if he will list the offences that are committed by prisoners who are at the lower end of the offending scale within the category of prisoners eligible for parole, and who will be released earlier than at present, under the provisions of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Bill, how many prisoners received sentences of four years or more for such offences in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [120293]

Mr. Straw

There are no provisions in the Criminal Justice and Court Services Bill which require any prisoner to be released earlier than at present. The Bill makes no changes to the date on which any prisoner becomes eligible for release.

The judgment as to whether a particular prisoner is regarded as being at the lower end of the offending scale within the category of prisoners eligible for parole cannot be determined simply by reference to the index offence. The details of the offence, the length of the sentence, the previous convictions of the prisoner, the impact on the victim (if any) and other factors will all be relevant. It is therefore not possible to list the offences that are committed by prisoners who are at the lower end of the offending scale, nor to list how many prisoners have received sentences of four years or more for such offences in each of the last five years.

Equally, it is not possible at this stage to predict which of these prisoners might he granted parole following implementation of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Bill who would not otherwise have received parole. The use of the new licence conditions will be subject to piloting before full implementation. Evaluation of the pilots will include consideration of the impact of the new licence conditions on discretionary release decisions taken by the Parole Board and by the Prison Service, on behalf of the Secretary of State.