Prisoner Transfers Albania 2023-06-27 (2)
2023-06-27
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Response quality
Questions & Answers
Q1
Direct Answer
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Context
The question concerns the negotiation of prisoner transfer agreements with other countries, following a similar arrangement made with Albania.
If he will take steps to negotiate prisoner transfer arrangements similar to those agreed with Albania with other countries.
Our prisoner transfer agreement with Albania came into force in May 2022. To build on that, as I have mentioned before, we announced a new arrangement with the Albanian Government in May this year to speed up prisoner transfers to Albania of the most serious offenders. The Government will energetically pursue bilateral agreements with EU partners and wider-world partners wherever possible.
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Assessment & feedback
Response accuracy
Q2
Partial Answer
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Context
The question concerns the details of prisoner transfer agreements, noting that out of a prison population of 85,000, approximately 10,000 prisoners are foreign nationals. It questions the number of compulsory prisoner transfer agreements.
Will the Secretary of State confirm that out of a prison population of 85,000, about 10,000 prisoners—12%—are foreign national offenders? He said earlier that we have over 100 prisoner transfer agreements, but only a handful of them are compulsory, where we send prisoners back whether they want to go back or not. Can we have more compulsory prisoner transfer agreements with countries that have a large number of nationals in our jails?
I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue consistently—he was raising it when I first came to the House in 2015, and he is absolutely right to do so. Yes, we will continue to work on the issue. At the risk of stating the obvious, those agreements have to be agreed to by the other nation, but I can assure him that those matters are getting very close focus and attention.
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Assessment & feedback
The government's inability to unilaterally make compulsory prisoner transfer agreements without consent from other nations.
Those Agreements Have To Be Agreed To By The Other Nation
Response accuracy