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 Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on the (a) number of housing placements available for prisoners on early release and (b) potential impact of the early release scheme on social housing waiting lists.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is committed to preventing homelessness and works closely with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and the Welsh Government to do so. Prisons and probation have a statutory duty to refer someone at risk of homelessness to a local authority for assistance, and we have worked closely with DLUHC on the design and delivery of their Accommodation for Ex-Offenders scheme. We have set up a Cross-Whitehall Accommodation Board, attended by officials from MoJ, HMPPS, Welsh Government and DLUHC, to ensure collaboration across policy and operational areas.
In July 2021, we launched our groundbreaking Community Accommodation Service Tier-3, to guarantee up to 12-weeks temporary accommodation to prison leavers subject to probation supervision who are at risk of homelessness on release, including those released under the End of Custody Supervised Licence measure. From July 2023 the service was expanded across all probation regions in England and Wales and continues to bring new beds online as the service embeds.
In 2022-23, 86% of prison leavers were in accommodation on their first night of release from custody.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the accessibility of the official injury claim small claims portal.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Official Injury Claim (OIC) service is a free, easy-to-use online system owned and operated by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) on behalf of the Ministry of Justice. OIC was built to be usable and accessible including to those with access needs or who prefer or require assistive or adaptive technologies.
On-screen guidance leads both represented and unrepresented claimants through the claims process, supported by an online help-hub and additional written guidance. There is also a dedicated telephone Portal Support Centre who can assist claimants who need to make a paper-based claim. The OIC also provides translation services in multiple foreign languages.
Ministry of Justice officials continue to work with MIB to increase awareness and improve the visibility of the OIC through identifying and implementing appropriate web optimisation. Regularly updated useful information on making a claim via the OIC is also available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of young offender institutions; and whether he has made a comparative assessment with secure children's homes.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The secure estate for children and young people is composed of different types of establishment, in order to provide for the differing needs and risks of individual children and young people remanded or sentenced to custody. The effectiveness of all establishments in the estate is continually assessed through internal and external quality audits and performance metrics, which are published regularly.
Our Children and Young People Strategy, which is in development, will be based on an assessment of the range of provision currently and potentially available. It will set out our longer-term goals for the future of the youth estate, and delivery of services and support to children. These aims include investing in smaller settings, such as the secure children’s home sector, and the new secure school.
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: 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: 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: 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.