Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners were held in custody beyond their lawful release dates in each of the past ten years; and what the total amount of compensation paid was in each year.

Release inaccuracy is yet another symptom of the prison system crisis inherited by this Government. While the overwhelming majority of offenders are released correctly, we are clamping down on those errors that do occur, and this includes unlawful detentions.

On 11 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a five-point action plan setting out initial steps which includes an independent inquiry which will report its recommendations to prevent further inaccuracies. The Government is determined to fix release inaccuracies and ensure the public is properly protected.

The data requested comes from internal management information and is not centrally collected. It is not quality assured and does not meet the standard required for publication.