Asked by: Baroness Smith of Basildon (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any Female Genital Mutilation Protection Orders have been breached in each year since 2015; and, in each case, whether they were dealt with (1) by criminal prosecution, or (2) in the Family Court.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
Following their introduction in July 2015, there have been 222 applications and 205 orders made for Female Genital Mutilation Protection Orders, up to 31 December 2017.
In this period no breaches of an FGM Protection order have been dealt with in the criminal courts. In the Family Courts, proceedings for breach would be dealt with as a contempt of court matter and are not recorded separately. The information could therefore only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Statistics on FGM Protection Orders are publicly available as part of the Family Courts Statistics Quarterly series at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/family-court-statistics-quarterly. The next publication of Family Court Statistics Quarterly is due on 28 June 2018. This will provide data up to the end of March 2018.
Asked by: Baroness Smith of Basildon (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Female Genital Mutilation Orders have been (1) sought, and (2) issued, since they were introduced under the Serious Crime Act 2015.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
Following their introduction in July 2015, there have been 222 applications and 205 orders made for Female Genital Mutilation Protection Orders, up to 31 December 2017.
In this period no breaches of an FGM Protection order have been dealt with in the criminal courts. In the Family Courts, proceedings for breach would be dealt with as a contempt of court matter and are not recorded separately. The information could therefore only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Statistics on FGM Protection Orders are publicly available as part of the Family Courts Statistics Quarterly series at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/family-court-statistics-quarterly. The next publication of Family Court Statistics Quarterly is due on 28 June 2018. This will provide data up to the end of March 2018.
Asked by: Baroness Smith of Basildon (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many prosecutions there have been under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 in each year since 2015; and how many have been successful.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
In the period 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2017, there was one prosecution (in 2016) under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003, and that did not result in a conviction. This data relates only to those proceedings where the principal offence prosecuted was under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003.
Where a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, data would only record the offence for which the heaviest penalty was imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected would be the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty was the most severe.
Data for 2018 will be published in May 2019.
Asked by: Baroness Smith of Basildon (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many drug-related deaths there have been in prisons in each year since 2010.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The system for classifying deaths used in the published statistics on deaths in custody provides a provisional classification for administrative and statistical purposes and does not distinguish those that are drug-related. All deaths in prison custody are subject to a coroner’s inquest. It is the responsibility of the coroner to determine the cause of death and the final classification is only determined at inquest.
Asked by: Baroness Smith of Basildon (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of drug use in prisons and its impact on violence levels.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
As the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman has said, the rise in dangerous psychoactive substances has been a game-changer in terms of its impact on levels of safety in prisons. The Justice Secretary has been clear that levels of violence in prisons are unacceptable and has announced a major overhaul of the prison system including 2,500 extra frontline prison officers. These extra officers and new safety measures will help us crack down on the toxic cocktail of drugs, drones and mobile phones that are in our prisons. Our measures will create prisons that are places of safety and reform, giving prisoners the education and skills they need to turn their back on crime for good.
We take a zero tolerance approach to drugs in our prisons. We have rolled out tests for new psychoactive substances, and have trained 300 dogs to detect these drugs. We have introduced tough new laws which will see those who smuggle packages over prison walls face up to two years in prison. And every prisoner will have a dedicated officer to support them as they quit drugs, get back into learning and break the cycle of reoffending.
Asked by: Baroness Smith of Basildon (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the ratio of prison staff to prisoners in English and Welsh prisons in each year since 2009.
Answered by Lord Henley
Information on prisoner population and staffing levels is published on gov.uk and is copied in the table below.
We are committed to transforming prisons into places of safety and reform, and we have announced a major overhaul of the prison system including the recruitment of 2,500 extra frontline officers.
As an immediate action we have already invested £14 million to provide more than 400 extra staff in ten of the most challenging prisons.
We are also introducing a new scheme to attract top graduates and former servicemen and women into the service, and giving governors greater flexibility over recruitment so they can address staffing quickly.
Prisoner/Officer ratio in public sector prisons in England and Wales, 31 March 2009 to 2016 (Full Time Equivalent) |
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Year | Prisoner/Staff ratio |
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31/03/2009 | 2.9 |
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31/03/2010 | 3.1 |
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31/03/2011 | 3.1 |
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31/03/2012 | 3.4 |
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31/03/2013 | 3.4 |
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31/03/2014 | 3.9 |
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31/03/2015 | 3.9 |
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31/03/2016 | 3.9 |
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1 Ratio is calculated using the standard approach of dividing the prison population by the number of band 3-5 officers (FTE equivalent) | ||||||||
2 NOMS only holds responsibility for staff in public sector prisons, and only holds figures for these staff accordingly. Staff numbers in private prisons are not the responsibility of NOMS and are not held. Ratios can only be calculated for public sector prisons. | ||||||||
Asked by: Baroness Smith of Basildon (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Keen of Elie on 3 November (HL Deb, col 770), which prisons provide mental health training for prison officers to enable them effectively to identify and deal with mental health problems amongst the prison population.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
All Prison Officers receive ‘Introduction to Mental Health’ training within their initial Prison Officer Entry Level Training (POELT). Within this training learners are taught to identify signs and symptoms for the various forms of mental ill-health, how to manage the offender and when it is necessary to seek help from healthcare professionals.
In addition, there is an ‘Enhanced Mental Health’ course which is run locally for Case Managers and Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) Assessors. This provides these specialist staff with a more in depth understanding of mental ill-health so that they can better support those identified as at risk.
There are also a number of establishments who have worked with NHS trusts to commission bespoke mental health training for staff.
Asked by: Baroness Smith of Basildon (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Keen of Elie on 3 November (HL Deb, col 770), what training is undertaken by prison officers, and what support is available to ensure that they can effectively identify and deal with mental health problems amongst the prison population.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
All Prison Officers receive ‘Introduction to Mental Health’ training within their initial Prison Officer Entry Level Training (POELT). Within this training learners are taught to identify signs and symptoms for the various forms of mental ill-health, how to manage the offender and when it is necessary to seek help from healthcare professionals.
In addition, there is an ‘Enhanced Mental Health’ course which is run locally for Case Managers and Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) Assessors. This provides these specialist staff with a more in depth understanding of mental ill-health so that they can better support those identified as at risk.
There are also a number of establishments who have worked with NHS trusts to commission bespoke mental health training for staff.