Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the policy paper entitled Transforming for a digital future: 2022 to 2025 roadmap for digital and data, updated on 29 February 2024, what steps his Department has taken to mitigate the risks of red-rated legacy IT systems used in (a) his Department and (b) HM Courts and Tribunals Service.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

We continue to assess our most critical services using the CDDO legacy IT framework. Now that funding has been secured, we are designing phased plans to mitigate risks for the red-rated services identified in the previous assessment. One of the red-rated services has had technical risks mitigated by being migrated to the MoJ's modernisation platform. Additionally, we are continually improving our overall risk management and mitigation approaches.

Within HMCTS, services have also been assessed against the framework, and we are continuing with the delivery of the Decommissioning and Legacy Risk Mitigation (DLRM) programme that is addressing these risks. DLRM is a SR21-funded, Government Major Project Portfolio programme specifically focussed on legacy system risks and is decommissioning, replacing, or moving them onto secure, modern, cloud-based environments.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in how many court buildings in England and Wales reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete has been identified.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) has been identified in 10 court buildings out of 329 operational court and tribunal buildings.

Five are deemed safe and remain fully operational, three have temporarily closed whilst work is taking place to remove RAAC. Two sites in Blackpool, will not reopen and their work has been relocated to other sites in Lancashire until the new court centre in Blackpool opens in 2026.

The safety of staff, judiciary and court users is our top priority, and we will continue to regularly monitor and survey our estate and take action where necessary based on professional advice.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted under section 53 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 in each year since 2010.

Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)

The Ministry of Justice holds data on the number of offenders convicted under section 53 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, covering the period requested. This is publicly available and can be obtained through the Outcomes by Offence Data tool, using HO offence code: 02418 – Controlling a prostitute for gain.

The information is published quarterly as part of the Criminal Justice System statistics.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many hours of corruption prevention training are provided to non-uniformed prison staff.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The vast majority of prison staff are hardworking and dedicated. A minority of staff engage in corrupt activity which is often as a result of conditioning and manipulation by prisoners.

Our Counter Corruption Unit led Awareness sessions, delivered by our Prevent team, run between two and two and a half hours, dependent on staff involvement on the day. We do not record this as hours delivered, but sessions, and we have delivered 2544 sessions since April 2021.

Data collection/recording methods changed in January 2023 to reflect the number of attendees to these sessions. Since then, over 9702 staff have been trained in total. They changed again in June 2023 to record those that were of an operational grade. From June 2023 onwards, 2602 non-operational staff received training.

This Corruption Prevention training is in addition to the induction security training package delivered to non-operational staff by local establishments for new starters, which will be establishment specific in terms of length.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many serving prisoners are subject to serious crime prevention orders in England and Wales.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Data on how many serving prisoners are subject to serious crime prevention orders is not currently held and would only be available at disproportionate costs.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure offenders convinced of child criminal exploitation are not released into the same community as the victims on the completion of a custodial sentence.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Individuals convicted of serious sexual, violent and terrorist offences are managed under Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) on release from custody. MAPPA enables the Police, Probation and Prison Services to work together with other agencies to manage the risks posed by these individuals in the community, in order to protect victims and members of the public.

All offenders released from custodial sentences before the end of their sentence will be supervised on licence in the community by the Probation Service. Victims who opt in to the Victim Contact Scheme (VCS), which is available for victims of specified sexual or violent offences where the sentence is 12 months or more, have the statutory right to request licence conditions for when the offender is released. Typically, these conditions will include a non-contact condition and exclusion zones, prohibiting the offender from entering areas where the victim lives, works or travels to frequently.

Where victims do not qualify for the VCS, the supervising officer in the Probation Service will undertake a risk assessment and may request licence conditions to mitigate identified risks where they relate to victims of the index offence.

Licence conditions end when the offender completes his/her sentence. However, where the Police have concerns about an offender’s ongoing risk to a victim or the general public, they may apply may apply to the Magistrates Court for the imposition of a civil order, which may place restrictions or obligations on the offender which replicate some of the protections of the licence.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he is taking steps to ensure offenders convicted of Child Sexual Exploitation are not released into the same community as the victims on completion of a custodial sentence.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Individuals convicted of serious sexual, violent and terrorist offences are managed under Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) on release from custody. MAPPA enables the Police, Probation and Prison Services to work together with other agencies to manage the risks posed by these individuals in the community, in order to protect victims and members of the public.

All offenders released from custodial sentences before the end of their sentence will be supervised on licence in the community by the Probation Service. Victims who opt in to the Victim Contact Scheme (VCS), which is available for victims of specified sexual or violent offences where the sentence is 12 months or more, have the statutory right to request licence conditions for when the offender is released. Typically, these conditions will include a non-contact condition and exclusion zones, prohibiting the offender from entering areas where the victim lives, works or travels to frequently.

Where victims do not qualify for the VCS, the supervising officer in the Probation Service will undertake a risk assessment and may request licence conditions to mitigate identified risks where they relate to victims of the index offence.

Licence conditions end when the offender completes his/her sentence. However, where the Police have concerns about an offender’s ongoing risk to a victim or the general public, they may apply may apply to the Magistrates Court for the imposition of a civil order, which may place restrictions or obligations on the offender which replicate some of the protections of the licence.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department plans to spend on (a) assessments, (b) referrals and (c) support for (i) offenders and (ii) victims who are affected by harmful gambling in the 2024-25 financial year.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

This information is not held centrally.

The Ministry of Justice does not hold data on the number of persons arrested by the police. No national estimate has been made. Probation staff assess individual needs and can assist with referrals to local or national services to address gambling or to access debt counselling services where appropriate. In custody, all prisoners are seen by NHS healthcare on reception and can be referred to addiction services to help address problem gambling.

HMPPS are also working with NHS and other partners to better understand the evidence around gambling addiction. This will inform a more joined up, cross system approach to effective support and recovery.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of (a) prisoners and (b) offenders on probation affected by harmful gambling are receiving (i) treatment and (ii) other support during their sentence.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

This information is not held centrally.

The Ministry of Justice does not hold data on the number of persons arrested by the police. No national estimate has been made. Probation staff assess individual needs and can assist with referrals to local or national services to address gambling or to access debt counselling services where appropriate. In custody, all prisoners are seen by NHS healthcare on reception and can be referred to addiction services to help address problem gambling.

HMPPS are also working with NHS and other partners to better understand the evidence around gambling addiction. This will inform a more joined up, cross system approach to effective support and recovery.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent estimate he has made of the number of (a) persons arrested by the police (b) prisoners and (c) offenders on probation who are affected by harmful gambling.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

This information is not held centrally.

The Ministry of Justice does not hold data on the number of persons arrested by the police. No national estimate has been made. Probation staff assess individual needs and can assist with referrals to local or national services to address gambling or to access debt counselling services where appropriate. In custody, all prisoners are seen by NHS healthcare on reception and can be referred to addiction services to help address problem gambling.

HMPPS are also working with NHS and other partners to better understand the evidence around gambling addiction. This will inform a more joined up, cross system approach to effective support and recovery.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers who joined in 2023 resigned within (a) 14 and (b) 30 days of the start of their employment.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The quarterly HMPPS workforce statistics publication covers staffing information, including joiners and leavers, and the latest publication covers data up to 31 December 2023.

In the 12 months to 31 December 2023 there were 5,066 Band 3-5 Prison Officers1 who joined2 HMPPS. Of these, 66 resigned3,4 within the period up to and including 14 days, and an additional 33 resigned3,4 in the period of 15 days to 30 days after joining.

Notes

1. Includes Bands 3-4 / Prison Officer (incl specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officer and Band 5 / Custodial Managers.

2. New recruits joining HMPPS - does not include internal transfers or conversions.

3. Resignation date taken as the last day of service. Date that resignation handed in is not available.

4. Staff who left for other reasons are not included.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Written Statement of 11 March 2024 on Update on Foreign National Offenders, Prisons and Probation, HCWS332, whether the new 10,000 prison places include rapid deployment cells.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

We are delivering 20,000 additional, modern prison places, the largest prison build programme since the Victorian era, ensuring the right conditions are in place to rehabilitate prisoners, helping to cut crime and protect the public. So far c.5,900 places have been delivered.

Of these places, we have so far delivered c.670 Rapid Deployment Cells (RDCs) across 12 sites. By the end of 2025 we are on track to have delivered around 10,000 places in total, this will include hundreds more RDCs. We are looking at all options to accelerate delivery of all types of places across the estate.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign nationals held in the prison estate have previously been detained after conviction.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. This is because it would require data linking between prison data and the Ministry of Justice extract of the police national computer.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the number of naloxone kits issued (a) within custodial settings in and (b) on release from HM Prisons in each of the last ten years.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The information requested is not held centrally.

Naloxone kits have been issued and maintained by individual healthcare providers across the prison estate and have not been supplied by the Ministry of Justice over the time specified in the question.

From January 2024, His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) is coordinating roll-out of Naloxone training on a voluntary basis to prison staff. We will collate data on the use of Naloxone by HMPPS staff as roll-out and usage progresses.

The information requested for opioid overdose reversals is not held centrally. In relation to fatalities, ONS data on drug-related deaths includes the number in which opiates are mentioned on the death certificate (which differs from the number of overdoses) – table 7 in this publication Drug-related deaths and suicide in prison custody - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk). However, this only covers up to 2019, as it uses data from Coroner’s reports on which there is a considerable time lag. Furthermore, depending on the circumstances, an opioid overdose could be classed as a self-inflicted death or an ‘other: non-natural' death. Therefore, without checking the individual cases, it is not possible to obtain an accurate figure from the wider data, on fatalities.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many opioid overdoses in custodial settings have (a) been successfully reversed and (b) resulted in fatalities in each of the last ten years.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The information requested is not held centrally.

Naloxone kits have been issued and maintained by individual healthcare providers across the prison estate and have not been supplied by the Ministry of Justice over the time specified in the question.

From January 2024, His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) is coordinating roll-out of Naloxone training on a voluntary basis to prison staff. We will collate data on the use of Naloxone by HMPPS staff as roll-out and usage progresses.

The information requested for opioid overdose reversals is not held centrally. In relation to fatalities, ONS data on drug-related deaths includes the number in which opiates are mentioned on the death certificate (which differs from the number of overdoses) – table 7 in this publication Drug-related deaths and suicide in prison custody - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk). However, this only covers up to 2019, as it uses data from Coroner’s reports on which there is a considerable time lag. Furthermore, depending on the circumstances, an opioid overdose could be classed as a self-inflicted death or an ‘other: non-natural' death. Therefore, without checking the individual cases, it is not possible to obtain an accurate figure from the wider data, on fatalities.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times naloxone has been administered in custodial settings in each of the last ten years.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The information requested is not held centrally.

Naloxone kits have been issued and maintained by individual healthcare providers across the prison estate and have not been supplied by the Ministry of Justice over the time specified in the question.

From January 2024, His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) is coordinating roll-out of Naloxone training on a voluntary basis to prison staff. We will collate data on the use of Naloxone by HMPPS staff as roll-out and usage progresses.

The information requested for opioid overdose reversals is not held centrally. In relation to fatalities, ONS data on drug-related deaths includes the number in which opiates are mentioned on the death certificate (which differs from the number of overdoses) – table 7 in this publication Drug-related deaths and suicide in prison custody - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk). However, this only covers up to 2019, as it uses data from Coroner’s reports on which there is a considerable time lag. Furthermore, depending on the circumstances, an opioid overdose could be classed as a self-inflicted death or an ‘other: non-natural' death. Therefore, without checking the individual cases, it is not possible to obtain an accurate figure from the wider data, on fatalities.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he expects radon gas testing to be completed at Dartmoor prison; and what assurances he has been given that there are no safety concerns for the staff and prisoners who remain on site.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

HMP Dartmoor is currently operating at a reduced capacity due to the presence of radon gas in accommodation areas. This is a temporary measure while work to permanently reduce radon levels is completed.

The prison will return to its full operational capacity at the earliest possible opportunity following the completion of remedial works to ensure that the accommodation can be safely occupied. A design solution for the remedial works is currently being designed and tested.

The health and safety of staff and prisoners remains a top priority for the Department. Testing across all residential areas continues and prisoners have been removed from accommodation where readings were returned at above actionable levels. At all times, the safety and wellbeing of staff and prisoners will be at the heart of our decision making and we are guided by experts in this area. There are no adverse safety implications to staff or prisoners who remain on the site.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent estimate he has made of when HMP Dartmoor will return to its full operational capacity following the detection of radon gas in that prison.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

HMP Dartmoor is currently operating at a reduced capacity due to the presence of radon gas in accommodation areas. This is a temporary measure while work to permanently reduce radon levels is completed.

The prison will return to its full operational capacity at the earliest possible opportunity following the completion of remedial works to ensure that the accommodation can be safely occupied. A design solution for the remedial works is currently being designed and tested.

The health and safety of staff and prisoners remains a top priority for the Department. Testing across all residential areas continues and prisoners have been removed from accommodation where readings were returned at above actionable levels. At all times, the safety and wellbeing of staff and prisoners will be at the heart of our decision making and we are guided by experts in this area. There are no adverse safety implications to staff or prisoners who remain on the site.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to help prevent reoffending by people convicted of violent offences.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

This Government is committed to tackling the causes of reoffending to keep our communities safe. Between 2010/11 and 2020/21, the overall proven reoffending rate has decreased from 31.6% to 24.4%.

Rehabilitation is critical to reducing reoffending. It is the process by which we assist people either to change themselves or improve their life circumstances, addressing their drivers of reoffending and therefore cutting crime. Rehabilitation takes many forms, ranging from the delivery of a cognitive behaviour programme to enabling a person to access suitable accommodation and the means to earn a living.

HMPPS offers 5 Accredited Programmes specifically designed for those individuals convicted of general, domestic, intimate partner violent offending: Kaizen, Becoming New Me Plus (BNM+), Building Better Relationships (BBR), New Me Strengths (NMS), and Living as New Me (LNM). The Thinking Skills Programme (TSP) is a responsive and flexible Accredited Programme that may be suitable for those offenders who do not meet the eligibility criteria for more specific programmes, as well as the New Me MOT toolkit, offering continuity of support to those who have completed the Kaizen, BNM+, or NMS programmes.

In addition to our targeted work to prevent violent crime reoffending, we are also working hard to ensure that prison leavers across the estate have the right building blocks in place to ensure they are successful on release. For example, we are helping prison leavers to secure accommodation, employment, and substance misuse treatment, all of which are essential for rehabilitation and can significantly reduce the likelihood of reoffending. We are also delivering Commissioned Rehabilitative Services which provide offenders with tailored, community-based services to support rehabilitation and drive down reoffending. On top of this, we are expanding the use of electronic monitoring for both community-based sentences and post-custody licence to help reduce the risk of reoffending and support robust offender management.

Finally, public protection work is central to the work of the Probation Service. We have also increased our baseline funding by £155 million per annum which is helping us to increase staffing and take other action to improve delivery across HMPPS so that the service can best achieve its purpose of protecting the public and reducing reoffending.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many trainee probation officers have resigned from the service within (a) one week, (b) one month and (c) three months of starting their role as a trainee probation officer.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The recruitment team has worked extensively to improve candidate experience by broadening the information and communication channels available to potential applicants, to help reduce attrition. This includes interactive webinars for successful candidates to ensure new trainees are starting the role with a clear understanding of their responsibilities, the organisation, and the trainee programme. We have also reviewed the trainee learning and development curriculum to improve learner experience and have launched a refreshed induction in March 2024.

For the period from 16 October 2016 to 31 December 2023, there have generally been two cohorts of Trainee Probation Officers who started training each year. Out of the people undertaking this training:

• 10 individuals resigned in the period up to one week after the start date of their PQiP training course.

• 23 resigned in the period of over a week but up to and including one month after the start date of their PQiP training course.

• 57 resigned in the period of over one month up to and including three months after the start date of their PQiP training course.

For the two cohorts across 22/23 there were 1,514 starters, for the two cohorts across 21/22 there were 1,518 starters and for the two cohorts across 20/21 there were 1,007 starters. We are unable to provide data on 23/24 at the current time as this would pre-empt the next set of published data, which will be released on Thursday 16 May 2024.

Notes:

1. Includes staff on Trainee Probation Officer (PQiP) courses. A considerable majority of these individuals are of the Probation Services Officer grade.

2. Resignation date taken as the last day of service. Date that resignation handed in is not available.

3. Staff who left for other reasons are not included.

5. In order to arrive at this information there had to be some data matching from a trainee probation officer staff list to staff who left to separate out trainees from substantive Probation Services Officers. In instances where data from the staff list was incomplete with data such as relevant staff ID then matching may not have been possible.

6. Data on the number of starters each financial year can be found in the March edition of the Probation Officer Recruitment Annex (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6464f746d3231e001332db9d/annex-probation-officer-recruitment-March-2023_final.ods).

7. It should be noted that a considerable number of trainees withdraw from PQiP training but remain in HMPPS. For information on withdrawal and leaving rates from PQiP training, please see Table Three of Probation Officer Recruitment Annex.

8. In January 2023, a considerable number of PQiPs onboarded early to the Probation Service. For the purposes of this response, we have looked at the time of resignation following the time at which they started their PQiP training course. If any of these individuals left the service before starting their PQiP training course, they have been excluded from this analysis.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average number of hours spent out of their cell by inmates was on (a) weekdays and (b) weekend days in each young offender institution in February 2024.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The information requested regarding average time-out-of-room spent by children and young people in young offender institutions during February 2024 is shown in the table below.

The average time spent out-of-room each day by children and young people at Oakhill Secure Training Centre in February 2024 was 13 hours. As information about Oakhill Secure Training Centre is collated on a different basis from information about young offender institutions, it is not possible to provide the requested breakdown between weekdays and weekends.

We know the importance of ensuring that time in custody is purposeful and are committed to ensuring that children and young people have the necessary and appropriate access to education, skills, and work provision with a consistent daily programme of activities.

The Youth Custody Service is reviewing regime models and staff deployment to maximise time out of room, creating as open a regime as it is safe to do so, as well as providing education and enrichment for those who cannot safely be in a classroom setting.  Additionally, work done to reduce conflict and manage behaviour, to increase the size of groups who are mixing in the regime, has increased time out of room.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were convicted of knife crime offences in the year ending March (a) 2023 and (b) 2018; and how many such people were first time offenders.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

In the year ending March 2023, 2,108 children were convicted of a knife crime offence (defined as knife possession and knife threatening offences) and for 1,924 of those individuals this was their first knife crime offence. Compared to the year ending March 2018, 2,635 children were convicted of a knife crime offence and for 2,398 of those individuals this was their first knife crime offence.

In the year ending March 2023, 11,899 people (i.e. adults and children) were convicted of a knife crime offence and for 9,314 of those individuals this was their first knife crime offence. Compared to year ending March 2018, 12,163 people were convicted of a knife crime offence and for 9,865 of those individuals this was their first knife crime offence.

Tackling knife crime is a priority and this Government is determined to do all it can to break the deadly cycle of violence that devastates the lives of individuals, families and communities.

We are taking significant action to both prevent and respond to crimes involving weapons through the Serious Violence Strategy, the Offensive Weapons Act 2019, the recruitment of 20,000 new police officers, and increasing stop and search powers.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the report by Lay Observers entitled 2022-23 Annual Report, published on 10 April 2024, and the response from the Minister of State published on the same date, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing the report's recommendations on ensuring that children and young people are (a) always transported in vehicles without adult detained persons and (b) looked after and managed by suitably trained staff.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

We are very grateful to the Lay Observers for their invaluable work. We have thoroughly considered their annual report and its recommendations.

Timeliness is a key consideration when conveying children and young people to and from court and, in certain circumstances, transport in vehicles with adults may be the appropriate solution. In these cases, the children and young people would be collected and supervised by staff who normally work with adults. This is provided for in the contracts, and our focus is on ensuring that the service provided for in the contracts is delivered.

On all occasions when children and young people are transported with adults, the cellular accommodation in the vehicle must be separated by a screen to ensure that the children and young people are kept apart.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people under the age of 18 were convicted of knife crime offences in the year ending March (a) 2023 and (b) 2018; and how many such people were first time offenders.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

In the year ending March 2023, 2,108 children were convicted of a knife crime offence (defined as knife possession and knife threatening offences) and for 1,924 of those individuals this was their first knife crime offence. Compared to the year ending March 2018, 2,635 children were convicted of a knife crime offence and for 2,398 of those individuals this was their first knife crime offence.

In the year ending March 2023, 11,899 people (i.e. adults and children) were convicted of a knife crime offence and for 9,314 of those individuals this was their first knife crime offence. Compared to year ending March 2018, 12,163 people were convicted of a knife crime offence and for 9,865 of those individuals this was their first knife crime offence.

Tackling knife crime is a priority and this Government is determined to do all it can to break the deadly cycle of violence that devastates the lives of individuals, families and communities.

We are taking significant action to both prevent and respond to crimes involving weapons through the Serious Violence Strategy, the Offensive Weapons Act 2019, the recruitment of 20,000 new police officers, and increasing stop and search powers.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy to publish statistics on the (a) nationality and (b) visa status of offenders convicted in England and Wales every 12 months.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice currently publishes the self-declared nationality of those entering custody as well as those in the prison population as part of their quarterly Offender Management Statistics: Offender management statistics quarterly: July to September 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

We refer all recorded foreign national offenders awarded a custodial sentence to the Home Office who can carry out immigration checks alongside consideration of each case for deportation. An offender’s nationality and immigration status is not routinely collected by the courts. We are working with the Home Office to explore the potential for the publication of further statistical data related to the nationality and immigration status of offenders.

The removal of foreign national offenders is a Government priority and my department continues to work closely with the Home Office to maximise the number of deportations.

On 11 March, the Government set out a plan to increase the number of foreign national offenders removed through:

• the recruitment of 400 additional caseworkers and streamlining the end-to-end removal process;

• extending foreign national conditional cautions to foreign national offenders with limited leave to remain; and

• amending deportation policy to enable foreign national offenders given suspended sentences of 6 months or more to be considered for deportation.

These actions build on our expansion of the Early Removal Scheme to allow for removal of foreign national offenders up to 18 months before the end of the custodial element of their sentence and expediting prisoner transfers with priority countries such as Albania and seeking to conclude new transfer agreements with partner countries.

Published figures show that FNO returns have increased following the pandemic, in the latest 12-month period (ending December 2023) by 27% when compared to the previous 12-month period. Between January 2019 and December 2023 17,795 FNOs have been removed.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the oral contribution by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice on 15 December 2021, Official Report, House of Lords, column 401, if he will publish the data his Department has collected on (a) primary carers in prison and (b) the number of their children.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Our most comprehensive prison population data suggests that, over the course of a year, approximately 200,000 children may be affected by a parent being in, or going to, prison. However, this is based on survey data from 2009 and we recognise the need for a more up to date picture.

The Prison Strategy White paper detailed our intention to work with other government departments to commission updated research to improve our collective understanding of the overall number of children affected by parental incarceration.

The Government is delivering on its white paper commitment to improve our data and evidence in this area through the Better Outcomes through Linked Data (BOLD) Programme. BOLD is a £19.7 million cross government Shared Outcomes Fund programme which is linking data to enable better evidenced and more join up across government services. Through BOLD, we are exploring data sharing and data linking to improve our understanding of the number of children with parents in prison – including data that does not rely on self-disclosure. We expect findings from the project to be published by the end of Spring 2024.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average number of hours spent out of their cell by inmates was on (a) weekdays and (b) weekend days in Oakhill Secure Training Centre in February 2024.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The information requested regarding average time-out-of-room spent by children and young people in young offender institutions during February 2024 is shown in the table below.

The average time spent out-of-room each day by children and young people at Oakhill Secure Training Centre in February 2024 was 13 hours. As information about Oakhill Secure Training Centre is collated on a different basis from information about young offender institutions, it is not possible to provide the requested breakdown between weekdays and weekends.

We know the importance of ensuring that time in custody is purposeful and are committed to ensuring that children and young people have the necessary and appropriate access to education, skills, and work provision with a consistent daily programme of activities.

The Youth Custody Service is reviewing regime models and staff deployment to maximise time out of room, creating as open a regime as it is safe to do so, as well as providing education and enrichment for those who cannot safely be in a classroom setting.  Additionally, work done to reduce conflict and manage behaviour, to increase the size of groups who are mixing in the regime, has increased time out of room.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many vacancies in the probation service there are as of 16 April 2024, by region.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

I refer the honourable Member to the answer I gave on Wednesday 20 March to Question 18474. Data was provided on the average number of vacancies for the month of December 2023, in line with our latest published workforce statistics (which present data up to 31 December 2023).

We are unable to provide a more up-to-date number of vacancies at the current time (for periods following December 2023) as this would pre-empt the next set of published data, which will be released on Thursday 16 May 2024. Once updated staffing data have been published in May, including data up to 31 March 2024, we will then be able to respond to questions for vacancy data up to and including March 2024.

Recruitment and retention remain a priority across the Probation Service and we have injected extra funding of more than £155 million a year since 2021 to deliver more robust supervision, recruit more staff and reduce caseloads to keep the public safer.

We have recruited a record 4,039 trainee Probation Officers between 2020/21 and 2022/23 and we expect these intakes to qualify by the end of 2024 and begin to take on Probation Officer caseloads.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many magistrates court hearings have been delayed or could not go ahead due to a (a) failure to deliver a prisoner and (b) delay in bringing a prisoner to court by (i) SERCO and (ii) other providers of escort services since 2017, by court.

Answered by Gareth Bacon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

It is not possible to provide the information requested without detailed examination of individual records for more than 220 courts, across two Prisoner Escort and Custody Services contract generations (Generation 3, 2011 – 2020, and Generation 4, 2020 – 2030), and this would incur disproportionate cost.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions prisoners were delivered late to (a) a magistrates’ court hearing and (b) a Crown Court hearing, by each court, since 2017.

Answered by Gareth Bacon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

It is not possible to provide the information requested without detailed examination of individual records for more than 220 courts, across two Prisoner Escort and Custody Services contract generations (Generation 3, 2011 – 2020, and Generation 4, 2020 – 2030), and this would incur disproportionate cost.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure prison leavers are aware of the resettlement services available.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Effective resettlement of prison leavers is a core part of our efforts to reduce re-offending. This includes making sure someone has a home, family links where appropriate, access to healthcare, a job or further education, and/or access to benefits.

Probation practitioners in the community coordinate the overall rehabilitation of offenders as they leave prison and serve their licence, supported by Pre-Release Teams (PRT) who provide support to address identified immediate resettlement needs and pre-release support for all people in prison. The immediate resettlement needs of all prisoners are assessed on entry to prison and reviewed pre-release.

Utilising both prison-based services and Commissioned Rehabilitative Services (CRS), there is a wide range of resettlement support covering accommodation, employment, dependency and recovery, personal wellbeing and finance, benefit and debt services. CRS also offers a ‘mentoring’ service, which can be delivered pre-release and follow offenders through the gate for those being released on licence to support community integration. Community probation practitioners and PRTs work proactively with prisoners to build pre-release plans and refer into these services to ensure that the right support is in place for release.

In addition, we have also introduced employment hubs where prisoners can access job vacancies and support with applications, and Prison Employment Leads who support with work-readiness and match them to jobs on release.

To further improve awareness for prison leavers, we are introducing Resettlement Passports, which will bring together key information and services that an individual needs in one place to resettle into the community, such as bank accounts, CVs and identity documents to prove the right to work and rent, as well as appointment and contact information to enable prison leavers to engage with resettlement services available.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of prison leavers are employed six months after their release.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

We know that employment reduces the chance of reoffending significantly, by up to nine percentage points. In order to grow, businesses need skills and labour to fill the nearly one million vacancies in the UK right now. Prison leavers have a role to play in filling those vacancies, particularly in sectors with skills shortages such as construction and hospitality, that the economy needs to grow, while also cutting crime and delivering safer streets. That’s why we’ve invested heavily in delivering key employment reforms across 93 resettlement prisons, including:

• Prison Employment Leads to match prisoners to jobs;
• Employment Hubs where prisoners can access job vacancies and support with applications;
• Employment Advisory Boards – chaired by business leaders and advise prisons on skills delivery.

I am pleased to say that the proportion of prison leavers in employment six months after release more than doubled from 14% in April 2021 to over 30% in March 2023. The next release of this data will be published this summer

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) male prisoners, (b) women prisoners and (c) young offenders were transferred to hospital under the Mental Health Act 1983 in each year since 2010.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Under sections 47/49 and 48/49 of the Mental Health Act 1983, the Secretary of State may authorise by warrant the transfer of prisoners to a secure hospital, where he is satisfied that the criteria for detention are met by the aforementioned Act.

The requested data are set out in the tables below for the years 2013 to 2022 and are taken from an electronic casework system. Providing data for the years from 2010 to 2013 would require substantial manual checks of paper files which could be undertaken only at disproportionate cost. The data for 2023 are due to be published on 26 April.

Notes

1. We have interpreted young offender to mean those aged under 18 at time of transfer
2. These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large-scale recording systems are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing
3. Where patients are admitted more than once, each admission is counted separately

Data Source: Public Protection Unit Database (PPUD)

We are committed to delivering improvements to mental health care and treatment for vulnerable offenders through non-legislative means. This includes improving oversight of the 28-day time limit for transfers to hospital under the Mental Health Act 1983 and increasing judicial awareness of alternatives to custody through the expansion of the Bail Information Service.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the (a) adequacy and (b) effectiveness of self-regulation within the funeral sector.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

We have accepted that some form of regulation of the funeral sector is required. My officials have therefore been working on a plan to assess the adequacy and effectiveness of the self-regulation regimes introduced by the two main representative bodies, and to launch a call for evidence.

The call for evidence will be launched before summer recess and will gather views on what type of regulation is appropriate and proportionate. Following this, we will develop and consult on proposals for the regulation of the sector. There are a number of possible routes for regulation including introducing an independent regulator. It is too early at this stage to say which is most appropriate.

I have discussed the regulation of the Funeral Sector with cabinet colleagues, and am working particularly closely with Minister Hoare on the short-term response to the tragic events in Hull and East Rising.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has had at recent discussions with cabinet colleagues on the regulation of the funeral sector.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

We have accepted that some form of regulation of the funeral sector is required. My officials have therefore been working on a plan to assess the adequacy and effectiveness of the self-regulation regimes introduced by the two main representative bodies, and to launch a call for evidence.

The call for evidence will be launched before summer recess and will gather views on what type of regulation is appropriate and proportionate. Following this, we will develop and consult on proposals for the regulation of the sector. There are a number of possible routes for regulation including introducing an independent regulator. It is too early at this stage to say which is most appropriate.

I have discussed the regulation of the Funeral Sector with cabinet colleagues, and am working particularly closely with Minister Hoare on the short-term response to the tragic events in Hull and East Rising.

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Found: (NHSE, GMC, NMC, MoJ) 7.

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Found: ● In addition, clause 33 of the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) Victims and Prisoners Bill will set out

Found: It was adverted to as long ago as October 2010, when the Ministry of Justice said this in its Memorandum

Found: Letter dated 2 April 2024 from Mike Freer MP, Minister for Courts and Legal Services, Ministry of Justice

Found: Letter dated 10 April 2024 from Mike Freer MP, Minister for Courts and Legal Services, Ministry of Justice

Found: Department for Business and Trade Lord Bellamy KC Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Ministry

Found: the Committee obtain these figures from the Legal Aid Agency, relevant Government Ministries (the Ministry

Found: of Local Authorities and Police Area Returning Officers) Order 2024 Appendix 3: Memorandum from the Ministry

Found: The Ministry of Justice and the Department for Education have policy interests in NDAs, reflected in

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Found: Parliamentary Secretary HM Treasury Baroness Vere of Norbiton Parliamentary Secretary Ministry

Found: the evidence we received on the regular and effective discussion and consultation between both the Ministry

Found: Correspondence from the Ministry of Justice to Chair of Joint Committee on Human Rights, UK-Philippines

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Found: Home Office and Amy Randall, Director , Victims, Vulnerabilities & Criminal Law Policy Directorate, Ministry

Found: In addition to the Buro Happold Report, ground condition reports commissioned by the Ministry of Justice

Found: Further, the recent Ministry of Justice report suggests that for offenders with a non-sexual violence

Found: Our understanding from the Ministry of Justice is that is no mechanism to record the number of times

Found: We deliver several contracts in Wales for the MoJ.

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Found: spent the greater part of my working life in the Civil Service, the Home Office, what is now the Ministry

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Found: Given the close working relationship with the Ministry of Justice and the fact that it provides property

Found: Given the close working relationship with the Ministry of Justice and the fact that it provides property

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Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to help support survivors of domestic abuse in Birmingham.

Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)

The government has taken a number of measures to support victims of domestic abuse across England and Wales. As a result of the of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 and our Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan (2022) the government will invest up to £140 million in supporting victims.

Funding which may support victims in Birmingham from this plan includes, but is not limited to:

• Independent sexual violence advisors.
• Services in receipt of funding from the £8.3 million VAWG Support and Specialist Services Fund.
• Funding for helplines, such as the National LGBT+ Domestic Abuse Helpline, delivered by Galop.
• The Support for Migrant Victims Scheme which provides accommodation and wrap around support for migrant victims of domestic abuse with insecure immigration status.
• From 31st January 2024, domestic abuse services, including those located in Birmingham, can refer victims to the flexible fund. This will mean victims can benefit from direct payments to flee abuse or build a sustainable future due to an additional £2 million investment.
• The Duty on Tier 1 local authorities in England, to provide support for victims of domestic abuse and their children within safe accommodation, including refuges. The Government has committed £587 million in support of safe accommodation services since 2014.

Ringfenced funding the Ministry of Justice provided to PCCs. In 2023/2024 MoJ provided £38 million for Independent Sexual Violence Advisors and Independent Domestic Violence Advisors and £21 million for community-based domestic abuse and sexual violence services.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will provide additional funding for charities that support women who are victims of domestic violence.

Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

Through the Safer Streets and Safety of Women at Night Funds, the Home Office has invested over £150 million to deliver interventions to tackle violence against women and girls, anti-social behaviour and neighbourhood crime.

In 2023/24, the Ministry of Justice provided £21 million for community-based serious violence and domestic abuse services, and £38 million for Independent Sexual Violence Advisors and Independent Domestic Violence Advisors posts. In all, the Ministry of Justice is quadrupling funding for victim and witness support services by 2024/25, up from £41 million in 2009/10.

And at Autumn Statement 2023, the government announced £10 million of additional funding available in 2024/25 for projects that aim to understand the impacts of domestic abuse on the labour market, support victims of domestic abuse in the workplace or prevent victims experiencing further abuse.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether offenders under the Ministry of Justice’s community payback project scheme have been used to remove litter from (a) A roads, (b) B roads and (c) motorways.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

National Highways worked with the National Probation Service, an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice, on the Community Payback Project and provided opportunities for litter picking at motorway service areas. Trial sites included Gloucester, Hartshead Moor, Chester and Leicester Forest East.

For health and safety reasons, National Highways is unable to facilitate offenders removing litter from Motorways or All-Purpose Trunk Roads.

B roads are a matter for each individual local authority and so this data is not held by the Department for Transport.

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Found: In February 2024, Russia’s Ministry of Justice designated Oleg Orlov as a so-called “foreign agent”,

Found: detailed in the Policy Statement7 first published by the Government on 12 December 2023, the Rwandan Ministry

Found: The Home Office has been working closely with the NPCC, CPS, Ministry of Justice ( MoJ) and the Attorney

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Found: These tables are published as part of the 'Offender Management Statistics Quarterly' publication by the Ministry

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Found: In October 2023, the MoJ published the latest release of ‘Ex -Service Personnel in the Prison Population

Found: These tables are published as part of the 'Offender Management Statistics Quarterly' publication by the Ministry

Found: These tables are published as part of the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly publication by the Ministry

Found: These tables are published as part of the 'Offender Management Statistics Quarterly' publication by the Ministry

Found: These tables are published as part of the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly publication by the Ministry

Found: These tables are published as part of the 'Offender Management Statistics Quarterly' publication by the Ministry

Found: These tables are published as part of the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly publication by the Ministry

Found: These tables are published as part of the 'Offender Management Statistics Quarterly' publication by the Ministry

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Found: These tables are published as part of the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly publication by the Ministry

Found: These tables are published as part of the 'Offender Management Statistics Quarterly' publication by the Ministry

Found: These tables are published as part of the 'Offender Management Statistics Quarterly' publication by the Ministry

Found: These tables are published as part of the 'Offender Management Statistics Quarterly' publication by the Ministry

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Found: The news comes as the Ministry of Justice also confirmed Serco has been awarded a new contract to continue

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Found: Action Team (PBAT) will receive notification of a claimant entering prison directly from the Ministry

Found: to other funding that would cover the cost of the activity, including funding offered through the Ministry

Found: of Justice Responsible Minister: The Rt Hon Edward Argar MP Chief Executive: Linda Brown CROWN COMMERCIAL

Found: of Justice The Rt Hon Victoria ATKINS MP Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Department

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Found: funded research for UK and International funders including, ESRC, Leverhulme Trust, the Home Office, the Ministry