asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 25 March (WA 86), whether the new Ministry of Justice database is now in operation. [HL4879]
I am pleased to say that the database to which I referred in my earlier Answer is now operational for casework purposes within the department’s public protection unit. Much of the material contained in the public protection unit database (PPUD) has been migrated from other file and IT sources. Measures were taken to quality-assure that information but, as with any large-scale recording system with multiple users, the new system remains subject to possible inaccuracies as a result of data entry errors. According to PPUD, as at 31 May 2008, 3,431 prisoners sentenced to life or to an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for public protection were being held beyond their tariff expiry date, out a total sentenced population of 11,236 such prisoners.