Written question asked by Lord Herbert of South Downs (Conservative) on Friday, 22 February 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 27 February 2008. It was answered by Jack Straw (Labour) on Monday, 3 March 2008 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Open Prisons: Prisoner Escapes

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many failures to return there have been to open prisons since 1997.

Answer: Prisoners fail to return to prison following release on temporary licence. Between 1 April 1997 and 31 January 2008 there were 2,880 breaches of a temporary release licence following release on temporary licence from an open prison. This equates to an average of 266 breaches per year. Not all breaches of a temporary release licence are for failing to return to the prison but this specific information could be determined only at disproportionate cost by examining each of the 2,880 incidents. Prison Service Order 6300 Release on Temporary Licence was introduced in January 2006.

Secondary information