The numbers of prisoners who were granted permanent early release on compassionate grounds in each of the last five years is shown in the following tables. The data are split between prisoners serving fixed-term sentences (where the data are collected by calendar year) and those serving indeterminate sentences (where the data are collected by financial year).
Fixed-term prisoners 2004 4 2005 11 2006 7 2007 5 2008 7 Total 34
Number 2004-05 4 2005-06 2 2006-07 2 2007-08 4 2008-09 2 Total 14
These figures have been drawn from internal records and the Public Protection Unit Database in the National Offender Management Service. As with any large scale recording systems, they are subject to possible errors with data migration and processing.