Asked by: Earl of Dundee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what outcomes they predict arising from the BAPEN conference on malnutrition in Edinburgh scheduled for November.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made any specific predictions.
Asked by: Earl of Dundee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of increased deployment of halfway houses both pre-trial and post-custodial sentence on (1) the amount of people in custody, (2) levels of recidivism, and (3) levels of offender reintegration into society.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Effective resettlement of prison leavers is a core part of our efforts to reduce re-offending. Evidence shows that prison leavers who are without settled accommodation are almost 50 percent more likely to reoffend than those who have stable accommodation on release.
Our Prisons Strategy White Paper set out our plans to reduce reoffending, including improving prison leavers’ access to accommodation. This includes delivering our transitional accommodation service, known as Community Accommodation Service-Tier 3 (CAS3).
CAS3 was launched July 2021 in five probation regions, providing up to 12 weeks accommodation on release with support to move to settled accommodation. Between 1 July 2021 and 17 June 2022, 2,396 individuals, who would have otherwise been homeless, were accepted on to CAS3. We expanded the service to Wales in June 2022, and we will continue to rollout, to support the thousands of offenders who leave prison homeless.
Our CAS 2 service provides accommodation for people on bail who would otherwise be remanded in custody. The service has recently been reprocured and learning from the previous contract informed the design of the current provision, increasing the level of support for those living there.
As part of the investment approach, we will be undertaking an impact evaluation of accommodation provision where suitable, starting with an impact evaluation of CAS3 which we hope to publish in 2024.
Asked by: Earl of Dundee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of measures used by other Council of Europe states whose levels of recidivism are lower than those of the UK.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Reducing the rate of reoffending is a key aim of this Government.
As set out in the Prisons Strategy White Paper, we are driving down reoffending through investing in getting offenders into skills training, work and stable accommodation. Our approach is informed by a wide range of data and evidence, including international best practice. We regularly engage with other Council of Europe states, including information sharing on recidivism through the European Organisation of Prison and Correctional Services and the Council of Europe Annual Penal Statistics programme.
It is important to note, however, that care should be taken when comparing reoffending rates internationally as means of calculation between countries can vary and therefore data is not directly comparable.
Asked by: Earl of Dundee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to improve the (1) range, and (2) design, of community sentences in order to (a) decrease custody, (b) reduce recidivism, and (c) improve the reintegration of offenders into society.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Community sentences, in certain circumstances, are more effective in reducing reoffending than short custodial sentences and, when considering a community sentence, courts have a comprehensive range of requirements which they can impose. There are fourteen requirements available, including electronic monitoring and Community Payback, which the courts can choose from based on the circumstances of the case with the intention of punishing the offender, providing reparation to the community, and addressing any rehabilitative needs of the offender to improve the reintegration of offenders into society. Recently, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 strengthened community sentences by introducing the option for tougher and more flexible use of electronically monitored curfews, and powers to pilot problem-solving courts for specific cohorts of offenders that aim to address underlying needs through intensive community sentences overseen by a lead judge and multi-disciplinary team.
Following the unification of Probation services last year, we are putting additional investment into the delivery of community sentences. This includes up to a further £93 million in Community Payback to enable Probation to deliver up to 8 million hours per year. This ensures that offenders give back to the communities they have harmed, but also learn new vocational and work-ready skills.
The courts can also sentence a person to complete an Accredited Programme, designed to address the attitudes, thinking and behaviour that led to the offending. They are developed in line with the best available evidence of what works to reduce reoffending and are accredited by a panel of international experts. Evidence shows that when delivered well, offending behaviour programmes are effective at reducing recidivism. A variety of other support and interventions are available for those where delivering an Accredited Programme is not appropriate or an offender is not eligible, including Structured Interventions and Toolkits.
We have also refocused Integrated Offender Management (IOM) on our most persistent and problematic neighbourhood crime offenders and are investing further to commission services specifically for this group and introduce new roles to strengthen enforcement. IOM aligns the Probation Service more closely with the police, and builds greater links with public and voluntary services, to better incentivise offenders to overcome the complex issues that can fuel or exacerbate their criminal behaviour, such as substance misuse, poor mental health, and issues with housing or employment, in turn reducing recidivism and improving the reintegration of offenders into society.
Asked by: Earl of Dundee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to adopting the 'Horses of Hope' pilot scheme in prisons in England and Wales, following its use in other countries including the Republic of Ireland.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
My noble friend is right to point to the importance of schemes like Horses of Hope, which help prison leavers gain skills and find employment on release. We know that employment reduces the chance of reoffending significantly and so improving employment outcomes is a key pillar of our plans to cut crime by reducing reoffending.
Similar provision through RMF Group in partnership with Milton Harris Racing is currently running in two prisons in England and Wales with a further prison due to start shortly. The courses delivered are linked to the British Horseracing Association and the Royal Stud, providing level 1 and 2 qualifications, as well as employment and accommodation opportunities on release.
Asked by: Earl of Dundee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government which pilot schemes they plan to encourage in prisons in order (1) to reduce recidivism, and (2) to increase future employment opportunities for prisoners.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
As set out in the Prisons Strategy White Paper, we are driving down reoffending through investing in getting offenders into skills training, work and stable accommodation.
We know that employment reduces the chance of reoffending significantly, by up to nine percentage points. Earlier this month we launched the Employability Innovation Fund to enable prison governors to work with more employers and training providers to repurpose workshops, deliver sector specific skills training to meet the changing needs of the economy and smooth the path from prison to employment.
The Future Skills Programme and HMP Academies strands of the Fund will pilot innovative approaches to upskilling prisoners, invite employers into prisons to run training academies and create pathways into employment on release. This will cut crime by reducing reoffending while helping businesses to fill labour shortages and grow.
Asked by: Earl of Dundee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take, together with other countries, to provide a supply of (1) military equipment, and (2) other necessary equipment, to Ukraine.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The UK and our allies and partners are responding decisively to provide military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.
On 16 January 2023 the Secretary of State for Defence announced to Parliament the UK’s most significant package of military support for Ukraine to-date. The UK has led the world with the gifting of modern main battle tanks in addition to heavy artillery, air defence, ammunition, and infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine’s defence. This substantial assistance to Ukraine comes from our own national stocks, and resources illustrating the mutual understanding of the severity of the situation and our commitment to urgently increase and accelerate support for Ukraine.
In addition to military equipment we have delivered a range of other assistance to Ukraine, including 25,000 sets of extreme cold winter clothing, 20,000 sleeping bags and 150 insulated tents. We have also provided bilateral assistance direct to the government of Ukraine, including food, medical supplies, 75 ambulances and over 800 generators.
Asked by: Earl of Dundee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, together with other countries, to arrange a (1) more timely delivery of military equipment to Ukraine, and (2) more focused assessment of changing needs of that country from month to month.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
By bringing together allies and partners, we are ensuring the surge of global military support is as strategic and coordinated as possible.
Most recently, on 19 January 2023, the Defence Secretary co-hosted a meeting of international defence ministers and partners in Estonia, where the UK reaffirmed our latest package of support and joined eight allies and partners committing to deliver to Ukraine an unprecedented set of capabilities including main battle tanks, heavy artillery, air defence, ammunition, and infantry fighting vehicles.
We work closely with Ukraine and the International Donation Coordination Centre to ensure the UK's military aid, and that of the wider international community is targeted and coordinated to deliver the capabilities most urgently required by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, taking account of the latest information from the battlefield.
Asked by: Earl of Dundee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take, together with other countries, to provide more paramedics to Ukraine, given the current short supply in that country.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has provided £300,000 to the British NGO UK-Med, who specialise in the provision of medical services and training. As a result of our support, UK-Med has trained a total of 1363 participants (civilian, pre-hospital, clinical and non-clinical staff and surgeons) across Ukraine in advanced trauma and psychological first aid. The UK has also provided 11 million medical items to assist the health services of Ukraine, including wound care packs and medicine for pain management. We coordinate our support in regular dialogue with other countries and the UN.
Asked by: Earl of Dundee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take, together with other countries, to increase the amount of armoured ambulances available to Ukraine, given the current danger faced by hospitals in that country.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In response to the Government of Ukraine's requests for assistance, the UK has provided 96 non-armoured ambulances (20 NHS and 76 new). The ambulances selected are in line with the priorities and specifications set out by Ukraine's Ministry of Health in their dialogue with officials in the FCDO.