Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on steps to help prisoners on early release find employment.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice works closely with the Department of Work and Pensions to improve employment outcomes for prison leavers.
We know that employment reduces the chance of reoffending significantly, by up to nine percentage points. That is why I am pleased to say that the rate of prison leavers in employment six months after release has more than doubled in the two years to March 2023, from 14% to over 30%.
All offenders released on End of Custody Supervised Licence will have a release plan put together by probation that helps support them in their journey into employment.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to paragraph 4 of Practice Direction 1A - Participation of Vulnerable Parties or Witnesses, how many civil cases involve each of the vulnerability factors listed.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many single justice procedure notices have been issued by the Television Licensing Authority in each year since 2015.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The requirement to hold, and pay for, a television license is set out in the Communications Act 2003 and the Communications (Television Licensing) Regulations 2004. Under the Communications Act 2003, the BBC is responsible for the collection and enforcement of the TV licensing system.
The BBC prosecutes most TV license evasion cases using the Single Justice Procedure (SJP). The SJP is a more proportionate way of dealing with straightforward, uncontested, summary-only non-imprisonable offences which almost exclusively result in a financial penalty.
The data we hold shows the number of defendants prosecuted by the Television Licensing Authority and dealt with via SJP for TV license evasion cases each year since 2015. This can be found in the table below:
Television Licence Evasion | |||||||||
Year | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
Defendants dealt with | 0 | 67,473 | 136,793 | 126,571 | 121,020 | 53,227 | 48,495 | 43,504 | 33,460 |
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the condition of crown court (a) buildings and (b) other infrastructure.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The general condition of Crown Court buildings and other infrastructure is adequate, but I recognise that improvements are needed in some locations.
That is why we are investing £220 million in the two years to March 2025 for essential modernisation and repair work across the court and tribunal estate. This will minimise disruptions, retain the heritage of the estate, and ensure it is fit for the future.
We are working to ensure that those buildings most in need of investment are prioritised, providing a step forward in improving the quality of the court estate.
Asked by: Sara Britcliffe (Conservative - Hyndburn)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many communications operators have received a summary conviction under Schedule 1, Part 75(5) of the Digital Economy Act 2017 in each year since the commencement of that Act.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of convictions for criminal offences covering the time period requested. The latest data available, until year ending June 2023, can be obtained in the following published tool: Outcomes by Offence tool: June 2023.
No convictions specifically for an offence under Schedule 1, Part 11, Paragraph 75(5) of the Digital Economy Act 2017 have been recorded within the court proceedings database held centrally.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to resume the publication of timeliness data in respect of employment tribunals.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
HM Courts and Tribunals Service anticipate that publication of employment tribunal timeliness data will be at the end of the calendar year.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their strategy for ensuring public safety and efficacious offender management in respect of hyper-prolific offenders.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
For the most persistent and problematic offenders in the community, Integrated Offender Management has received a 3-year investment of up to £30 million to ensure those that commit burglary, robbery and theft offences receive robust cross-agency supervision by Police and Probation, and to commission services that will seek to support and address risks and needs of this cohort. We are also piloting three Intensive Supervision Courts which aim to target the root cause of offending behaviour through supervision and interventions delivered by a multi-agency team, overseen by a single judge who will regularly review each participant’s progress.
The courts have a wide range of options to deal with this group of offenders and relevant previous convictions are a statutory aggravating factor which the courts must consider at the point of sentencing. While custody will often be appropriate for these offenders, and in fact is the most common sentence given to prolific offenders, it is right that our courts have the ability to pass an appropriate sentence based on the case in front of them. Robust research has shown lower reoffending rates for sentences served in the community when compared to short custodial sentences.
Through the Better Outcomes through Linked Data (BOLD) programme, we are also taking steps to understand better which factors are most important in leading to reduced reoffending for prolific offenders, in order to help us target our approach for this cohort.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the early release of prisoners with a custodial sentence of less than 12 months, in order to alleviate overcrowding in the prison estate, on (1) reoffending rates, (2) public safety and (3) the operational effectiveness of the Probation Service.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Delivering public protection and reducing reoffending is not just about custody. The Probation Service plays a vital role in protecting the public and reducing reoffending. For some less serious offenders, suspended and community sentences are more effective for rehabilitation.
Community requirements can help to deter reoffending, drive swift consequences for non-compliance, protect the public, and ensure offenders feel the weight of crime. Probation assess an offender’s risk prior to, and throughout sentences, to ensure that offenders are appropriately monitored and supervised, following robust risk assessment measures to ensure public safety.
Evidence shows that 55% of people given a custodial sentence of less than 12 months are convicted of further offences. For offenders punished with Suspended Sentence Orders with requirements that are served in the community, the reoffending rate is significantly lower at 24%. That is why we are introducing a presumption to suspend sentences of under 12 months, however judges will still be able to exercise their discretion to impose custody in exceptional circumstances. We have also included exemptions to the presumption where there is a significant risk of harm to an individual or where the offender has breached an order of the court, as is the case for many repeat and prolific offenders.
We know there are existing challenges and will be additional demands on the Probation Service as a result of the presumption to suspend short sentences. That is why we have increased funding for the Probation Service by an additional £155 million a year to recruit record levels of staff so that we can bring down caseloads and deliver better and more consistent supervision of offenders in the community. We continue to accelerate recruitment of Probation Officers, with over 4,000 trainees joining the service since 2020 and an overall increase in staffing levels across the board. We are also resetting probation to prioritise early engagement and supervision in the first two-thirds of an offender’s sentence, a critical period during which probation staff can have the greatest impact on public protection and reducing reoffending.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to expand the built prison estate to account for the estimated population increases to 2035 and beyond.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (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. These places are being delivered through the construction of six new prisons, as well as the expansion and refurbishment of the existing estate and temporary accommodation. To date, we have delivered c.5,900 of these places and are on track to have delivered c.10,000 by the end of 2025.
In October 2023, the Lord Chancellor announced funding of up to £30 million to start acquiring land that will be required for future prison capacity.
The Department has taken a number of steps to identify land for potential prison sites. We have commissioned a property agent to search the market for land in the North West and South East, our areas of greatest forecast demand for prison places; officials have started discussions with significant private and public sector landowners and continue to assess a shortlist of sites for planning risk and strategic and operational fit. In parallel, officials are engaged in strategic conversations with local and regional leaders to identify areas where communities would welcome the economic and employment benefits of a new prison.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have commissioned any research on a causal link between (1) an expansion of prison places and more custodial sentences, and (2) a reduction in violent and other serious crime episodes in a given period of time.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not commissioned research looking directly at any causal link of the kind mentioned in the question. However, the MoJ continues to carefully monitor the use of the prison estate and the sentencing framework to ensure that the most serious offenders are appropriately punished, and that the public are kept safe.
That is why we are embarking on the largest expansion of our prison estate since the Victorian era, investing £4 billion toward the delivery of 20,000 additional, modern places. By the end of 2025, we are on track to have delivered around 10,000 places in total.
Reducing crime and protecting the public, however, is not only about increased custody. Evidence shows that 55% of people given a custodial sentence of less than 12 months go on to be convicted of further proven offences in the following 12 months. For offenders punished with Suspended Sentence Orders with requirements that are served in the community, the reoffending rate is significantly lower at 24%. That is why we are introducing a presumption to suspend sentences of under 12 months. However, judges will still be able to exercise their discretion to impose custody in exceptional circumstances. We have also included exemptions to the presumption where there is a significant risk of harm to an individual or where the offender has breached an order of the court, as is the case for many repeat and prolific offenders.