Dear Pat

SUBJECT: Freedom of Information Request

Thank you for your email of 26^th January 2009, in which you asked for information regarding the number of prisoners serving life sentences broken down by prison, from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

Your request has been passed to me because I have responsibility for answering requests which relate to the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and your request has been handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

In the first instance, please accept our apologies for the length of time it has taken to provide you with this information. By way of explanation, the delay has been caused by an unusually high volume of requests for information. However, we have made a number of administrative changes which I hope will improve our service in the future.

As at 15^th September 2009 there were 7591 prisoners serving a life sentence in custody.

I have provided a spreadsheet below which gives a breakdown of the numbers sentenced to life imprisonment and their current prison locations. This includes all mandatory, discretionary, automatic, custody for life, detention for life and Her Majesty's Pleasure sentenced prisoners within the prison estate. It excludes indeterminate sentenced prisoners for public protection.

These figures also include a number of prisoners within Scottish and Northern Irish Prisons. The prisoners listed are prisoners who transferred to these jurisdictions as `Restricted Transfers'. The Crime (Sentences) Act 1997 (section 41 and Schedule 1) provides for prisoners to be transferred from England and Wales to another United Kingdom jurisdiction, the Channel Islands, or the Isle of Man, and vice versa. The provisions are used primarily to facilitate family contact, enabling prisoners to transfer to another jurisdiction either to complete their sentences, or for time limited periods, to receive accumulated visits. There is also provision for prisoners to be transferred for judicial purposes.

Any prisoner may request a transfer to another jurisdiction. In the case of transfers from the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, or transfers for judicial purposes the Secretary of State may make an order for a transfer without a request from the prisoner.

Transfers are made on either an unrestricted or a restricted basis. Where transfers are made on an unrestricted basis the continued administration of the prisoner's sentence becomes a matter entirely for the receiving jurisdiction. Where a prisoner is transferred on a restricted basis the sending jurisdiction continues to administer certain aspects of the sentence.

Finally these figures also include those in Secure Training Centres and Local Authority Secure Homes. Secure Training Centres are purpose-built centres for young offenders up to the age of 17. They are run by private operators according to contracts, which set out detailed operational requirements. They house vulnerable young people who are sentenced to custody in a secure environment where they can be educated and rehabilitated. Local Authority Secure Children's Homes accommodate young people between the ages of 12 - 17 years. Young people may be placed via the Courts if they are subject to a Detention Training Order (Crime and Disorder Act 1998), a Section 90-92 (Power of Criminal Courts Act 2000), Secure Remand (Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and Children and Young Persons Act 1969), Detained under Section 386 (Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984) or subject to a Welfare Placement under Section 25 (Children's Act 1989).

Any adult convicted of murder receives a mandatory life sentence. Anyone convicted of murder when under the age of 18 receives a sentence of detention at Her Majesty's Pleasure. People now convicted of a second violent or sexual offence will normally receive a sentence an indeterminate sentence for public protection. Introduced through the 2003 Criminal Justice Act this sentence replaced automatic life sentences. For a range of offences where the maximum penalty is life imprisonment, for example rape or grievous bodily harm, the court may decide on a life sentence if it is considered that the person poses a danger to the public. This is referred to as a discretionary life sentence.

Please note that these figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

As part of our obligations under the FOIA, the MoJ has an independent review process. If you are dissatisfied with this decision, you may write to request an internal review. The internal review will be carried out by someone who did not make the original decision, and they will re-assess how the Department handled the original request.

If you wish to request an internal review, please write or send an email to the Data Access and Compliance Unit within two months of the date of this letter, at the following address:

Data Access and Compliance Unit

Information Directorate

Ministry of Justice

6^th Floor, Zone B

Post point 6.25

102 Petty France

London

SW1H 9AJ

E-mail: [email address]

If you remain dissatisfied after an internal review decision, you have the right to apply to the Information Commissioner's Office under Section 50 of the FOIA. You can contact the Information Commissioner's Office at the following address:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Internet: https://www.ico.gov.uk/Global/contact_us.aspx

Yours sincerely

David Keysell

Data Access & Compliance Unit