§ Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners released on home detention curfew were unlawfully at large on the latest date for which figures are available, broken down by(a) category of offence, (b) contract region and (c) police force area; and what penalties have been imposed on each contractor as a result. [124916]
§ Paul GogginsThere were 296 prisoners unlawfully at large as at 30 June 2003 (out of 75,000 prisoners who had been released on Home Detention Curfew between January 1999 and 30 June 2003) and who subsequently had their licences revoked for breaching the conditions of the scheme. The following table gives a breakdown of these prisoners according to their index offence. The Prison Service does not record centrally the contract region or police area for each of these prisoners and to provide such information would be at disproportionate 417W cost. However, amendments to data collection systems will be made so that such information can be stored in the future.
Once a prisoner has been reported unlawfully at large, it is the responsibility of the police and not the electronic monitoring contractor to apprehend that person. Therefore there is no financial penalty imposed upon the contractor in respect of these prisoners.