PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Prisons: Driving Instruction (1 July 2014)

Temporary release can be an important tool in helping prisoners to re-adjust safely and productively to life in the community. It is allowed to prisoners only towards the end of their time in custody and only after a thorough risk assessment. We are changing the approach to temporary release to give even greater weight to public protection and the need for prisoners to demonstrate how the release will aid their rehabilitation and increase their chances of leading a crime free life on release.

Prisoners are only allowed to take driving lessons if the licence is required to help their rehabilitation, for example improving future employment prospects, thus reducing their likelihood of re-offending. Prisoners are expected to fund the lessons and tests out of their own pockets but may be offered some assistance in exceptional circumstances.

The following table details the number of prisoners who were released on temporary licence for driving lesson or tests in 2013 by offence type; ie the principal offence for the sentence that they were serving when temporarily released:

Data Sources and Quality: 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.

190 offenders were granted temporary release for driving lessons or tests in 2013, compared to 215 in 2008.