Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convictions there were for murder in each year since 2005; and what the conviction rate was in the same period.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Ministry of Justice holds data on convictions for murder offences.
The published data, from 2010 to 2022, can be found in the following tool: Outcomes by Offence tool: December 2022.
The most recent published data available, from year ending June 2011 until the year ending June 2023, can be found in the following tool: Outcomes by Offence tool: June 2023.
The full calendar year for 2023 will be available in the next update of the Outcomes by Offence tool, expected in May 2024.
The data can be accessed by navigating to the ‘Prosecutions and convictions’ tab and using the offence code filer to select the following offences in the Outcomes by Offence data tool:
To cover the full period requested, convictions for murder offences from 2005 to 2009 have been provided in Table 1.
It is not advised to use this data to calculate conviction rate due to the Court Proceedings Database counting two separate records at two separate stages. We cannot track the defendant throughout their court journey and an individual may appear at each court in separate years, or for a different principal offence at different stages. As a result, this rate is not an accurate measure of the proportion of prosecutions that result in a conviction.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convictions under joint enterprise legislation have been successfully overturned on appeal.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Ministry of Justice does not currently collate data on whether a prosecution or conviction relied on the doctrine of joint enterprise or whether an appeal in such a case resulted in the conviction being quashed or the sentence changed.
The Crown Prosecution Service has recently updated their case management system to enable better tracking of homicide and attempted homicide cases involving joint enterprise.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convictions there were for rape in each year since 2005; and what the conviction rate was in the same period.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
This Government is committed to improving the criminal justice system’s response to rape. In 2019, we commissioned our end-to-end Rape Review, publishing this in 2021 alongside a clear Action Plan that committed to delivering sustained improvements for victims. In this Action Plan, we set ourselves stretching ambitions to return the volumes of adult rape cases being referred by the police, charged by the CPS, and going to court back to 2016 levels by the end of this Parliament.
We have exceeded each of these ambitions ahead of schedule. In practice, this means we have more than doubled the volumes of police referrals, charges, and cases reaching court compared to when the Review was commissioned in 2019.
Increases to conviction volumes or conviction rates were not included as ambitions for the Rape Review. The right to a fair trial means that juries should rightly make decisions independently and based on the facts of the case.
Whilst not being a Rape Review ambition, the Ministry of Justice does hold data on convictions for rape offences.
Published data for calendar years (from 2010 to 2022) can be found in the following tool: Outcomes by Offence tool: December 2022.
The most recent published data available, providing data for the years ending in June from 2011 until 2023, can be found in the following tool: Outcomes by Offence tool: June 2023.
The full calendar year for 2023 will be available in the next update of the Outcomes by Offence tool, expected in May 2024.
This can be accessed by navigating to the ‘Prosecutions and convictions’ tab and using the Offence filter to select the following offences in the Outcomes by Offence data tool:
To cover the full period requested, previously unpublished convictions for rape offences from 2005 to 2009 have now been provided in Table 1.
It is not advised to use this data to calculate conviction rate (the number of convictions as a proportion of the number of prosecutions). This is due to the Court Proceedings Database counting two separate records at two separate stages (one for prosecution, one for conviction). We cannot track the defendant throughout their court journey and an individual may appear at each court in separate years, or for a different principal offence at different stages. As a result, this rate is not an accurate measure of the proportion of prosecutions that result in a conviction.
However, the most accessible published data for conviction rates is in the quarterly data summaries for the period 2019/20 onwards published by the CPS in the CPS quarterly data summaries | The Crown Prosecution Service. Furthermore, convictions rates 2007/8 to 2013/14 are available in the CPS Violence against Women and Girls crime report 2013-2014.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the Sentencing Council on the implementation of guidelines that require judges to consider factors such as poverty and social deprivation in sentencing; and whether his Department will provide training on these factors.
Answered by Gareth Bacon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
On 1 April 2024, the Sentencing Council for England and Wales introduced a new mitigating factor ‘difficult and/or deprived background or personal circumstances’ across all offence specific guidelines, following consultation. As a statutory consultee, the Lord Chancellor made clear in his response his opposition to the inclusion of this new mitigating factor. However, as an independent body, the Government cannot require the Council to review particular guidelines.
Regarding the implementation of the guidelines, under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, the Council is required to monitor the operation and effect of its guidelines once published. The Council decides on its own priorities and work plan for producing and monitoring guidelines.
In relation to judicial training, in order to preserve the independence of the judiciary, the Lady Chief Justice has statutory responsibility under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 for the maintenance of appropriate arrangements for the welfare, training and guidance of the judiciary. The Lady Chief Justice exercises this responsibility through the Judicial College.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidelines his Department has issued on ensuring the (a) anonymity and (b) safety of jurors in high-profile cases.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
There is no expectation of anonymity for jurors in trials. It is standard procedure that jurors’ names are called out to allow the defendant, or the defence’s legal representative, the opportunity to object to any person called, if for example they have knowledge of the defendant or of the case, which may be prejudicial to the trial.
However, Criminal Procedure Rule 25.6(4) allows for jurors to be announced by an identifying number assigned by the court officer to that person (rather than by their name) where the court is satisfied that that is necessary.
We take the safety of jurors and all those who attend the crown court seriously. Jurors are advised to make immediate contact with HMCTS staff if they are approached by anyone they think may be connected to the case they are part of the jury for, or if they feel threatened or concerned. If they are not in the courthouse and think they are in immediate danger, jurors are advised to dial 999.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many places will be available on the Building Better Relationships programme for people (a) in custody and (b) on probation in 2024-25.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We are unable to provide data on the number of people on probation who have been assessed as eligible for the Building Better Relationships programme (BBR) or who are waiting for a place on that programme as of 23 April 2024 without incurring disproportionate cost. We are also unable to provide the number of available places on the BBR programme for people on probation in 2024-25 without incurring disproportionate cost. This information is not collated and recorded centrally. Regions collect their own management information and waiting lists vary with average waiting times for BBR between one and five months. Each region manages their own accredited programme referrals and allocation of places is based on risk and order expiry date.
We are unable to provide data on the number of filled custodial places on the Building Better Relationships (BBR) programme in 2023-24 at this time as to do so would breach official statistics publication rules outlined in the Code of Practice for Statistics as they will form a subset of future published statistics. Data for 2023-2024 will be published in the Prison Education and Accredited Programme Statistics report on 26 September 2024.
There are 210 places available on the BBR programme for people in custody for 2024-25. This is subject to review related to changes in both the demand for different programmes, and the transition to new programmes being introduced in-year.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he has taken to reduce the cost of fraud in his Department in the last three financial years.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) recognises that the nature of the fraud threat it faces is constantly evolving and that our response must be equally as agile. The MoJ has been developing its Counter Fraud Centre of Expertise (CoEx) since 2019 and this team has a central governance and oversight role across the Department, including its Executive Agencies, Arm’s Length Bodies and core Functions.
The MoJ maintains a collaborative working relationship with the Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA) regarding Counter Fraud Functional Standards and performance, and contributes to PSFA thematic working groups, for example internal fraud risks.
The MoJ conducts regular internal reviews against Functional Standards across the Department and collaborates with teams to improve performance and raise awareness in terms of fraud risk assessment, fraud controls and fraud reporting.
The MoJ took part in the 2022 National Fraud Initiative that looked to identify duplicated payroll data held across other public and private sector bodies to prevent and detect fraud.
The MoJ provides management information and updates to the Department Audit and Risk Committee.
The MoJ has always had a current Counter Fraud Strategy, Policy and Response Plan in place, all of which are readily accessible on the respective Intranet sites.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people on probation (a) have been assessed as eligible for the Building Better Relationships programme and (b) are waiting for a place on that programme as of 23 April 2024.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We are unable to provide data on the number of people on probation who have been assessed as eligible for the Building Better Relationships programme (BBR) or who are waiting for a place on that programme as of 23 April 2024 without incurring disproportionate cost. We are also unable to provide the number of available places on the BBR programme for people on probation in 2024-25 without incurring disproportionate cost. This information is not collated and recorded centrally. Regions collect their own management information and waiting lists vary with average waiting times for BBR between one and five months. Each region manages their own accredited programme referrals and allocation of places is based on risk and order expiry date.
We are unable to provide data on the number of filled custodial places on the Building Better Relationships (BBR) programme in 2023-24 at this time as to do so would breach official statistics publication rules outlined in the Code of Practice for Statistics as they will form a subset of future published statistics. Data for 2023-2024 will be published in the Prison Education and Accredited Programme Statistics report on 26 September 2024.
There are 210 places available on the BBR programme for people in custody for 2024-25. This is subject to review related to changes in both the demand for different programmes, and the transition to new programmes being introduced in-year.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many of the 200 custodial places on the Building Better Relationships programme were filled in 2023-24.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We are unable to provide data on the number of people on probation who have been assessed as eligible for the Building Better Relationships programme (BBR) or who are waiting for a place on that programme as of 23 April 2024 without incurring disproportionate cost. We are also unable to provide the number of available places on the BBR programme for people on probation in 2024-25 without incurring disproportionate cost. This information is not collated and recorded centrally. Regions collect their own management information and waiting lists vary with average waiting times for BBR between one and five months. Each region manages their own accredited programme referrals and allocation of places is based on risk and order expiry date.
We are unable to provide data on the number of filled custodial places on the Building Better Relationships (BBR) programme in 2023-24 at this time as to do so would breach official statistics publication rules outlined in the Code of Practice for Statistics as they will form a subset of future published statistics. Data for 2023-2024 will be published in the Prison Education and Accredited Programme Statistics report on 26 September 2024.
There are 210 places available on the BBR programme for people in custody for 2024-25. This is subject to review related to changes in both the demand for different programmes, and the transition to new programmes being introduced in-year.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) producing and (b) publishing disaggregated justice data for Wales.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice produces the data required to deliver justice effectively in Wales. A significant amount of data is already published that is disaggregated for Wales.
Officials in the Ministry of Justice and His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service continue to work with Welsh Government officials to consider areas in which Wales-specific data is not available and examine whether any such data might further aid the delivery of justice in Wales.