Prison Recalls: Breach of Licence
(2 days, 7 hours ago)
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Lord Farmer
To ask His Majesty’s Government what action they are taking in response to the number of recalls to prison for breach of licence in the year to June.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Lemos) (Lab)
My Lords, recall is an essential public protection tool. Through the Sentencing Act we have reformed recall, replacing short-term recalls at 14 and 28 days with a fixed-term recall of 56 days, to provide time to address risks and resettlement needs to ensure safe re-release.
Lord Farmer (Con)
My Lords, MoJ data between April and June this year shows 12,278 releases from custodial sentences, and 11,898 recall prison admissions. Despite radical early release schemes, we seem only to be breaking even. The Minister has a great track record in offender rehabilitation, but the Government need to end this merry-go-round and make prisons a place of reform. How will they ensure that politicians no longer ignore the game-changing role that relationships play in rehabilitation? HMPPS staff and front-line charities are completely seized of its importance but need those responsible for policy setting to make the case to a public desperate for change. Will the Government buck the trend of the last 20 years and explain why they are not being soft on crime to make healthy relationships prominent in penal policy?
Lord Lemos (Lab)
Well I hope we do buck the trend, certainly of the last 14 years, but I will answer the noble Lord fully. Recall is a public protection measure, as he knows, and people are recalled because they have broken licence conditions. The way for offenders to avoid recall is to comply with their licence conditions. On his wider point about relationships and rehabilitation, I think he knows, as we have worked together on this before, that I have a great deal of sympathy for what he is saying. If there is indeed a gap between policy and practice, I shall be very happy to champion closing it—with, of course, his wise advice and help.
Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers (CB)
My Lords, does the Minister agree that special steps are urgently needed to reduce the number of IPP prisoners recalled for breach of licence conditions?
Lord Lemos (Lab)
Yes, I do agree with that, and I am very proud that the Government have announced decisive steps to address the IPP problem. It has gone on far too long and we are going to address it, as the Prime Minister and the Lord Chancellor have announced. I should say, of course, that we shall not compromise public protection in doing that and, with regard to recall of IPP prisoners, we must make sure that the public are safe. But, as far as the IPP sentence is concerned, it must go.
Lord Marks of Henley-on-Thames (LD)
My Lords, recalls are at their highest level ever, with more people now being recalled than are released. More than 70% of recalls follow non-compliance, while only a fifth follow reoffending. Non-compliance is often not deliberate but results from an inability to meet conditions, often because of housing or debt issues, rather than wilful breaches. How is it decided where recalled prisoners are placed and what support they are offered while back in prison for 56 days to help break the cycle of repeated recalls?
Lord Lemos (Lab)
There are several parts to that question; let me try and answer them quickly. On the question of recalls for administrative breaches, we are trying to improve the administrative procedures and use technology to ensure that, as far as possible, offenders on licence can avoid recall for those reasons. Of course, the noble Lord is absolutely right: the way to avoid recall is to prevent people becoming homeless and support all the protecting factors that prevent reoffending or, indeed, recall. Since we started our community accommodation service in HMPPS, we have helped to house 36,000 people, and the number of homeless ex-offenders has come down, but there is more to do. Finally, on the 56 days point, the reason we have done that, as the noble Lord knows, is to ensure that something meaningful and purposeful can happen when people are recalled.
Lord Woodley (Lab)
My Lords, picking up on the last two speakers, there are countless people serving IPP sentences who have been recalled for no further offence but who have to wait up to two years to satisfy the Parole Board that they are indeed safe for release. Does the Minister agree that IPP prisoners who have been deemed safe for release should not have to prove yet again that they should regain their freedom?
Lord Lemos (Lab)
I think my noble friend knows my views on this; we have worked closely together. He is a tireless campaigner on behalf of IPP prisoners and I pay tribute to him for that. We are going to end the IPP sentence without compromising public protection, and that includes ending the licence period.
Lord Wolfson of Tredegar (Con)
My Lords, I think we can all agree that, unless we have the facts about a government policy, none of us can evaluate it properly. The Telegraph reported that, in the first week after the introduction of the early release scheme, the number of recalls went up by 10%. In the Ministry of Justice figures released last week, in the relevant quarter the number of recalls went up by 27%, but no data is provided on how much of that 27% is due to the early release scheme. Will the Minister commit to providing that disaggregated data, so that we can see precisely how many of the recalls are due to the early release scheme?
Lord Lemos (Lab)
May I politely correct the noble Lord, first of all? It is not an early release scheme? Early release schemes were started as an emergency measure under the last Government. What we have introduced under the Sentencing Act, which I have spent many happy hours here debating, is an earned progression scheme.
Lord Lemos (Lab)
Well, noble Lords may laugh; I am sorry, but this is a big change in sentencing policy which we have debated at length, and it is now the law of the land. It is very early days for people released as part of this model. The data would not be meaningful, but we will publish data in the normal way.
Baroness Gohir (CB)
Can the Minister give a breakdown of the types of perpetrators that are being recalled to prison: for example, how many are domestic abuse or sexual abuse perpetrators?
Lord Lemos (Lab)
As I say, we will publish the data in the normal way, but I am very happy to point the noble Baroness to where that data is available and what breakdown is given.
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Lab)
My Lords, many of the prisoners who are released have drink and drug addiction problems. Is the Minister not concerned, as I am, that we have unfilled beds in residential rehab centres around the country, yet we have prisoners being released who are then quickly going back to drink and drugs, when we should be making a match, filling those beds, getting people proper recovery and stopping the cycle?
Lord Lemos (Lab)
Yes, I am concerned about that. I know from being involved with HMPPS for many years that the pathways to drug treatment for people leaving prison are very complicated and disparate around the country. We need to improve access and, as my noble friend said, the matching to drug treatment services. It cannot be right that more offenders need to receive that treatment when the treatment is available. It is an absolutely crucial part of reducing reoffending.
Baroness Fox of Buckley (Non-Afl)
My Lords, on why prisoners breach licence conditions, as we have seen prisoners released early armed with tents because they do not have houses to go to, is that not a guarantee that they will breach their licensing conditions, as the Probation Service seems to be using recall as a mechanism to cope with the early release system by getting people off the books? Is it not the case that policy is assisting them to breach their licence conditions? Secondly, on the IPP question, will the Government look urgently at removing the IPP label from those in the community who have had to jump through high-threshold hoops to prove they are safe for release? Why not just get rid of the IPP label so that they will not be recalled egregiously and promiscuously, as too many of them are?
Lord Lemos (Lab)
I should make it absolutely clear to your Lordships’ House that we do not issue tents to people leaving prison, and the noble Baroness should not believe everything she reads in the newspapers. On the question of IPPs, I was pleased that she attended our briefing on that, so she knows the progress we are making on that and I appreciate her support—and I wish all noble Lords a good day off tomorrow.