Gisela Stuart MPWorking hard for Bartley Green, Edgbaston, Harborne and Quinton

MP Welcomes Closure on End of Custody Licence scheme // February 24th, 2010 // Constituency News

 

Gisela Stuart welcomed the announcement in the House of Commons, to close the End of Custody Licence Scheme.

The ECL scheme was introduced in June 2007 as a temporary measure to manage pressures upon the prison estate and to guarantee that prison places were available for all those sentenced to custody.

ECL enabled prison governors, under existing prison rules, to release on licence up to 18 days before the end of their sentence offenders who had been given a determinate prison sentence of four weeks to four years.

The scheme specifically excluded offenders convicted of serious sexual or violent crimes, those who had broken the terms of temporary release in the past, foreign national prisoners who would be subject to deportation at the end of their sentence and was later amended to exclude anyone convicted of terrorism related offences.

Ministers always made clear it was a temporary scheme.  This scheme will be brought to an end on 12 March this year.

Prisoners who have as of today been formally notified of release dates under the scheme up to and including 9 April will also be released.  No prisoners will be released on ECL from and including 10 April.

Since Labour came to power 13 years ago, the prison population has increased dramatically. It was 60,335 in May 1997.  The most recent published figure was 83,820, on 19 February

We are able to end ECL because of the Government’s record in providing new prison places as part of the largest ever building programme

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