Written question asked by John McDonnell (Labour) on Monday, 3 March 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 7 March 2008. It was answered by Lord Hanson of Flint (Labour) on Friday, 7 March 2008 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Prisoners

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners were resident in open prisons who were deemed unsuitable for release on temporary licence in each of the last 12 months.

Answer: Release on temporary licence is the mechanism that enables prisoners to participate in necessary activities, outside of the prison establishment, that directly contribute to their resettlement into the community and their development of a purposeful law abiding life. The eligibility requirements are set out in Prison Service Order 6300 Release on Temporary Licence, which is available on the Prison Service website. Eligible prisoners must pass a rigorous risk assessment before temporary release is granted.Information on those considered unsuitable for release under temporary licence is not centrally available, would require manual inspection of individual prisoners' records and could not be provided without disproportionate cost.

Secondary information