Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 7 December 2022 to Question 101738 on Prisoners' Release: Maladministration and Prisoner Escapes, what estimate he has made of the number of prisoners (a) released in error or (b) escaped that are still at large.

A prisoner is released in error if released earlier than their correct release date. They will be unlawfully at large until they are subsequently released correctly or returned to custody. Data is not routinely collected on the number of individuals released in error that remain unlawfully at large. The information requested could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

Data is, however, available on the number of offenders still at large who have escaped custody. Escapes from custody include where an offender flees during a court appearance, when being escorted from court to prison and in extremely rare circumstances, directly from prison. The vast majority were recaptured by police either immediately or within a matter of hours. Offenders who break the law will be punished and face extra time in prison when appropriate.

The table below shows the number of individuals still at large as of May 2022.

Data sources and quality

These figures have been drawn from the HMPPS Incident Reporting System. Care is taken when processing and analysing returns but the detail is subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Although shown to the last case, the figures may not be accurate to that level.

(1) A prisoner escapes when they are able to pass beyond the perimeter of a secure prison or the control of escorting staff. This may involve overcoming physical security restraints such as a wall or fence; locks, bolts or bars; a secure vehicle; handcuffs; or the direct supervision of escorting staff.

(2) Includes escapes from establishments, HMPPS escorts and contractor escorts.

(3) The data held only covers escapes from 01 April 2011 onwards.

(4) The only includes escapes to 31 March 2022.

(5) Due to how our data is refreshed for publication, this only lists prisoners that were unlawfully at large on 01 May 2022, they may have since been recaptured.