Ferrers Report On The Transfer Of Prisoners

EDM number 94 in 1993-94, proposed by Harry Barnes on 25/11/1993.

That this House notes the Government's full acceptance on 23rd November 1992 of the Interdepartmental Working Group review of provisions for the transfer of prisoners between United Kingdom jurisdictions, chaired by Lord Ferrers; further notes with regret that no prisoner has been transferred from prison in Great Britain to Northern Ireland; believes that for humanitarian and compassionate reasons such transfers should be facilitated so that the families of the convicted may more readily and cheaply visit their loved ones rather than face what the Ferrers report acknowledged to be 'an intolerable burden' on families seeking to maintain contact with inmates; and calls upon the Government urgently to come to conclusions as to how existing legislation might be amended to overcome the present obstacles to the permanent transfer to Northern Ireland of prisoners who have their family links there but who have been convicted of serious offences in Great Britain.

This motion has been signed by a total of 29 MPs.