Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of criminal offences committed by prisoners on temporary release in the last 12 months.

The table below shows the number of temporary release failures due to an alleged offence for the year 2022-2023 was 31.

Temporary Releases 2022-23

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 the 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 temporary release failure after a release on temporary licence (ROTL) occurs when a prisoner fails to adhere to any condition written into the licence that permits their temporary release. Such conditions include the date and time by which the prisoner is required to return to the prison and may also place restrictions on where the prisoner may go and whom they may visit during the period of release, etc.

(2) The number of failures due to an offence is a count of the number of prisoners who have been arrested for an offence that allegedly took place during a period of ROTL, not the number of offences, one prisoner may have committed multiple offences while on temporary release.

Public protection is our priority. All offenders must meet strict criteria and pass a full risk assessment, involving all relevant agencies, before being considered for ROTL.

By providing opportunities to work, learn and build family ties, temporary release from prison helps ensure offenders don't return to crime when they leave prison. Evidence shows the vast majority abide by their temporary release conditions, with the compliance rate standing at well over 99%. Non-compliance is, and will continue to be, dealt with robustly.