Written question asked by Ann Widdecombe (Conservative) on Friday, 17 March 2000, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 3 April 2000. It was answered by Lord Boateng (Labour) on Monday, 3 April 2000 on behalf of the Home Office.

Home Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of prisoners who will be returned to prison after breaching the (a) monitoring and (b) drug testing requirements of their release on licence under the provisions of Part III of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Bill; and if he will make a statement. - Including figures. (Holding answer 22 March 2000).

Answer: Miss Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of prisoners who will be returned to prison after breaching the (a) monitoring and (b) drug testing requirements of their release on licence under the provisions of Part III of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Bill; and if he will make a statement. [115821] Mr. Boateng: [holding answer 22 March 2000]: The use of the new licence conditions provided for under Part III of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Bill will be subject to piloting before any consideration is given to wider implementation. For full national implementation, the estimated additional number of people who would be returned to prison every year is as follows: between 200 and 600 people returned following breach of the electronic monitoring requirements of their licence, or following breach of other licence conditions identified through electronic monitoring; and between 500 and 2,700 people returned for breach of the drug testing requirements of their licence, or as a result of drug use identified through testing. The actual figures will depend on the extent to which the new licence conditions are used, and the breach rate.

Secondary information