565
Long Sentence Prisoners: Home Leave
[LORDS]
[EARL FERRERS] applications were granted. I am sure that that could be done but I suggest it could only be done at disproportionate cost.
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: My Lords, not only would it be easy to find out that information but also the fact that it has not been done calls into question the nature of the contract that the Home Office has with the independent prison service.
it.
Earl Ferrers: My Lords, that has nothing to do with
Lord Boyd-Carpenter: My Lords, would it not be perfectly easy, instead of going through the records as my noble friend suggests, simply to write to the governors of prisons and ask them for the information?
Earl Ferrers: My Lords, if/there had been a simple way out I would have taken it as I thought I would get into this kind of trouble by giving the Answer which I gave. That is the reason why I tested the system vigorously and was persuaded that this information could only be determined/at disproportionate cost. I knew that my noble friend Lord Boyd-Carpenter, who is so concerned about public expenditure, would not wish that to happen.
Lord Monkswell: My Lords, what action are the Government taking ensure that statistics and information of this kind are more readily available in the future?
Earl Ferrers: My Lords, the statistics which the Home Office keeps are voluminous. I know that is a fact as I have seen them and they are perpetually flung at me. I can assure the noble Lord that many statistics are kept but when one asks how many prisoners have been released for whatever reason after having served five, 15, 20 or 36 years, one needs to engage in more than statistical analysis.
Lord Harmar-Nicholls: My Lords, is my noble friend aware that many of us would consider his Answer sensible? We all know that the Questions on the Order Paper seek to make a point. This Question too seeks to make a point/To nit-pick and to indulge in all kinds of expedients to obtain detailed replies from the Minister which neither add nor subtract anything from the principle of the matter is rather a stupid way of running the show.
Earl Ferrers: My Lords, I am deeply grateful to my noble friend Lord Harmar-Nicholls, whose wisdom, as
friend usual, comes to the fore on these occasions, I agree with him that the aim of the Question is to make a point but I am still not quite certain what that point is.
Lord Mishcon: My Lords, I hope I may remind the noble/Earl what the Question really implies Will he kindly tell the House, if he cannot give the information that was required, what is the policy of the Home Office, if any, in regard to those prisoners serving 20 years or more being granted home leave or other liberty? If the Minister will kindly tell us the policy, we might excuse him the detail.
Hong Kong: Ethnic Minorities
566
Earl Ferrers: My Lords, the policy is that category D prisoners are eligible for home leave every two months before 1st October from the parole eligibility date and after 1st October from one-third of the sentence expiry date. Category C prisoners are eligible for home leave once every six months. Category B prisoners have one opportunity for home leave and that occurs nine months before they are released. Category A prisoners are excluded from this eligibility. There is no quota for giving prisoners home leave or temporary release. Each case is considered on its merits and home leave or temporary release is granted only if no risk to public safety is envisaged.
Hong Kong: Ethnic Minorities
2.56 p.m.
Lord Bonham-Carter Government:
asked
Her Majesty's
What action they propose to take in the light of the Resolution of this House of 15th July calling for the granting of full British citizenship to members of the non-Chinese ethnic minorities in Hong Kong who will be without right of abode elsewhere after 1997.
Earl Ferrers: My Lords, my right honourable friend the Home Secretary has given very careful considera- tion to the views which were expressed by your Lordships on 15th July. While we recognise the particular circumstances of the non-Chinese ethnic minorities in Hong Kong, the Government have no plans to introduce legislation to provide them with British citizenship.
Lord Bonham-Carter: My Lords, I thank the noble Earl for that deeply unsatisfactory Answer. Will the fount of all wisdom give some slightly better reasons for neglecting the views of the two former governors of Hong Kong, the present governor of Hong Kong, LEGCO and, indeed, the resolution of your Lordships' House?
Earl Ferrers: My Lords, this whole matter was considered when the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1990 was proceeding through Parliament. It was considered that there should be a scheme for applicants for British citizenship. As the noble Lord, Lord Bonham-Carter, knows perfectly well, that scheme accounts for 50,000 places, for which the non-Chinese ethnic minorities can apply just the same as everyone else.
Lord Ennals: My Lords, has the Minister re-read the speech delivered by the noble Baroness, Lady Dunn, which I thought made the case absolutely convincingly that the Government had to make a change in their procedures? Does the Minister agree that the people whom we are discussing are the only people who would be denied either Chinese citizenship on the one hand or access to Britain on the other? Does he also agree that there are no other people who will have been denied statehood as a result of a positive decision by Her Majesty's Government? Is it not absolutely vital that this matter be reconsidered?
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