Asked by: Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department collects data on sexual assaults by staff on inmates in Young Offender Institutions.
Answered by Edward Argar
Data on assaults by children and young people in the secure estate, by sector, are published quarterly on GOV.UK. The latest publication with data from April 2014 is available at tables 1.2.1 and 1.2.2: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/safety-in-the-children-and-young-people-secure-estate-update-to-june-2023.
Data prior to April 2014 are available at table 8.14: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/youth-justice-statistics.
The way assaults are counted changed in April 2018 for Young Offender Institutions. Information before and after this date should not be compared.
Safeguarding data for internal management information purposes has been collected centrally since November 2019. The categories to be reported include sexual abuse.
Asked by: Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department collects data on the number of prison staff dismissed for entering into (a) romantic and (b) sexual relationships with prisoners.
Answered by Edward Argar
Data is collected on all conduct and discipline cases for MoJ employees, including those working in Prisons, and is captured once a dismissal has been submitted. Prison staff who have been dismissed for entering a sexual relationship fall under the sub-category ‘Sexual Relationship with Prisoner or Ex-Prisoner'.
'Romantic relationship’ is not a term used in the standard categorisation, therefore we do not have data that captures this. This would fall under the charge of ‘Inappropriate Relationship with a Prisoner/Ex-Prisoner’.
Asked by: Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the proven re-offending was rate in each year since 2015 for people convicted of cruelty to children or young persons.
Answered by Edward Argar
This Government is committed to tackling the causes of reoffending to keep our communities safe. Between 2010/11 and 2020/21, the overall proven reoffending rate has decreased from 31.6% to 24.4%.
Proven reoffending data, by index offence of “cruelty to or neglect of children” (annual average, England and Wales) [2015/16 to 2020/21]
| Apr 2015 - Mar 2016 | Apr 2016 - Mar 2017 | Apr 2017 - Mar 2018 | Apr 2018 - Mar 2019 | Apr 2019 - Mar 2020 | Apr 2020 - Mar 2021 |
Proportion of offenders who reoffend (%) | 7.3 | 9.2 | 7.5 | 6.3 | 6.3 | 5.6 |
Asked by: Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which prisons have been re-locked since 2015; how much was spent on each re-locking process; and for what reason each prison required re-locking.
Answered by Edward Argar
The table below shows which prisons have been re-locked since 2015, the amount spent on each re-locking occurrence and the reason(s) the re-locking was required. Re-locking is rare and all incidents are fully investigated to ensure the safety and security of our prisons.
Establishment | Cost | Reason |
Portland | £117,211.50 | Full set of keys missing and unaccounted for. |
Northumberland | £422,477.46 | Several key/lock incidents reported within a short period of time. |
Birmingham | £438,525.29 | Gate to a yard was found open and re-lock undertaken. |
Wandsworth | £441,649.00 | key compromise, which necessitated changing all the prison locks. |
Erlestoke | £21,304.70 | Compromise to lever mechanism locks for offices and storerooms. |
Wandsworth | £324,486.39 | Full set of keys taken by a member of staff. Full re-lock undertaken. |
Full Sutton | £2,821.40 | Member of staff left the establishment with keys to an inner perimeter inaccessible to prisoners. Partial re-lock was undertaken. |
Doncaster | £313,139.66 | Full set of keys were taken by prisoner during an incident with a member of staff. |
Swaleside | £28,650.00 | Service cupboard keys for cell electrics and plumbing on wings went missing. Decision made to re-lock service cupboards only. |
Asked by: Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Ministry of Justice data: gifts, hospitality, travel and meetings January 2023 to March 2023, published July 2023, what the (a) agenda, (b) attendance and (c) outcomes were of the meeting between the Rt hon. Member for East Hampshire and the Albanian Prison Director on 21 March 2023.
Answered by Damian Hinds
A new Prisoner Transfer Agreement with Albania came into force in May 2022. A meeting between the Director General for prisons and Minister Hinds took place on 21 March 2023 where they discussed the Prisoner Transfer Agreement between the UK and Albania and Albania’s plans to reform their prison system.
In May 2023, we announced a complementary arrangement whereby the UK Government has agreed to provide support to modernise and expand the Albanian prison system and in return Albania has agreed to accept the return of up to 200 Albanian Nationals currently serving sentences of 4 years or more in the UK. The Home Office simultaneously announced over £4m in funding for capacity building and prison reform in Albania, including investment in security equipment, vehicles, and technical assistance.
Asked by: Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prison officers at bands 3 to 5 based at each high-security institution had (a) less than three years' experience and (b) three or more years’ service in (i) 2010, (ii) 2015 and (iii) 2023.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Appropriate staffing across our prison estate is vitally important. In line with Prisons Strategy White Paper, published in December 2021, we are committed to recruiting up to 5,000 additional prison officers across public and private prisons by the mid-2020s in line with estate expansion. The number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) prison officers has increased over time; there were 4,000 more officers in post in June 2023 compared to March 2017
Alongside this recruitment, we recognise the importance of retaining experienced staff. We launched a retention toolkit into prisons in 2021 which provides Governors with the support and tools to tackle the main drivers of attrition in their prison. Since April 2022, we have invested in a number of new initiatives, including new colleague mentors and a new peer to peer learning scheme, as well as focused leadership training in sites where staff attrition is highest.
We have also made significant investments in pay to recognise the hard work of our staff. The 2023/24 Prison Service pay award was announced in July and delivered a 7% increase in the starting salary for an entry level prison officer on 39 hours, rising from £30,702 to £32,851 on the national pay scale.
The resignation rate for prison officers has improved by 2.6 percentage points to below 9% for the year ending 30th June 2023.
The table below details prison officers by length of service for each high security prison on the dates requested.
Table 1 - Band 3-5 Prison Officers by Length of Service for each High Security prison as at 30 June 2010, 30 June 2015 and 30 June 2023
| 30-Jun-10 | 30-Jun-15 | 30-Jun-23 | |||||||||
Name | Under 3 | 3 and over | % Under 3 years | % 3 and over | Under 3 | 3 and over | % Under 3 years | % 3 and over | Under 3 | 3 and over | % Under 3 years | % 3 and over |
Belmarsh | 27 | 478 | 5% | 95% | 19 | 355 | 5% | 95% | 116 | 310 | 27% | 73% |
Frankland | 30 | 563 | 5% | 95% | 3 | 481 | 1% | 99% | 189 | 443 | 30% | 70% |
Full Sutton | 20 | 412 | 5% | 95% | 5 | 364 | 1% | 99% | 130 | 277 | 32% | 68% |
Garth | 10 | 257 | 4% | 96% | 34 | 184 | 16% | 84% | 90 | 180 | 33% | 67% |
Gartree | 31 | 179 | 15% | 85% | 34 | 156 | 18% | 82% | 66 | 152 | 30% | 70% |
Isle of Wight |
|
|
|
| 36 | 270 | 12% | 88% | 73 | 217 | 25% | 75% |
Long Lartin | 67 | 326 | 17% | 83% | 12 | 323 | 4% | 96% | 69 | 215 | 24% | 76% |
Manchester | 25 | 463 | 5% | 95% | 1 | 403 | 0% | 100% | 133 | 272 | 33% | 67% |
Swaleside | 96 | 167 | 36% | 64% | 14 | 214 | 6% | 94% | 70 | 180 | 28% | 72% |
Wakefield | 27 | 390 | 6% | 94% | 1 | 307 | 0% | 100% | 159 | 260 | 38% | 62% |
Whitemoor | 35 | 373 | 8% | 92% | 25 | 302 | 8% | 92% | 79 | 244 | 24% | 76% |
Woodhill | 46 | 400 | 10% | 90% | 25 | 313 | 7% | 93% | 105 | 171 | 38% | 62% |
Aylesbury | 16 | 141 | 10% | 90% | 27 | 87 | 24% | 76% | See Note 3 | |||
Total | 429 | 4,148 | 9% | 91% | 236 | 3,759 | 6% | 94% | 1,360 | 2,993 | 31% | 69% |
Notes to Table 1:
1. The length of service in HMPPS is calculated from most recent hire date. Where staff have transferred in from another Government Department or have transferred in through HMPPS taking over a function, length of service is calculated from entry to HMPPS.
2. Band 3-5 Officers includes Band 3-4 / Prison Officers (incl specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officers, and Band 5 / Custodial Managers.
3. IOW is not included as it was not part of the LTHSE in June 2010 data
4. Aylesbury moved out of High Security in 2022 and thus is not included in the June 2023 data.
Asked by: Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much money has accrued to the public purse from confiscation orders in each year since 2010.
Answered by Mike Freer
Confiscation orders are the principal means by which the government carries out its policy to deprive criminals of the proceeds of their crime. They are used with the intent to disrupt and deter criminality. Confiscation orders are not punitive in nature but are designed to require the defendant to pay back the proceeds of their crime and to thus deprive them of the benefit of their crime.
A confiscation order is issued against an individual after they have been convicted of an offence, ordering them to pay back the amount that the court has determined they had benefited from their crime.
The court will determine the amount of the benefit received based upon the relevant criminal conduct. In determining the benefit amount the court can take into consideration all the financial assets of the defendant including gifts, “hidden assets” and the “criminal lifestyle” of the defendant. By including the value of assets such as those classed as “hidden” or “gifts”, the aim of the court is to effectively deprive the defendant of their use and take them out of circulation. The court will then determine the available amount which may be less than the benefit amount.
Receipts from confiscation orders, excluding any compensation amounts, are paid to the Home Office.
Financial Year | Confiscation orders imposed (note 1) £000 | Amounts collected (note 2) £000 |
2022-23 | 153,088 | 162,620 |
2021-22 | 154,829 | 127,390 |
2020-21 | 107,257 | 77,923 |
2019-20 | 140,947 | 103,889 |
2018-19 | 115,538 | 128,840 |
2017-18 | 176,091 | 106,401 |
2016-17 | 85,643 | 118,621 |
2015-16 | 357,694 | 135,313 |
2014-15 | 161,925 | 125,601 |
2013-14 | 140,730 | 109.576 |
Prior to 2013-14 the available data reports do not distinguish between confiscation orders and compensation and thus the amounts due to the “public purse” cannot readily be identified.
Note 1
A confiscation order can include a compensation order to compensate the victims of the crime which the court will instruct is to be paid from the proceeds of the confiscation order. In this situation the compensatees are paid from the first available receipts that are received. The amounts shown above exclude any compensation payable from the order.
Confiscation orders can have multiple defendants linked to them, in these cases the cases can be classed by the court as joint and several liability cases, the effect of which is that even though orders may be issued against every defendant they can only be enforced to the extent that the same sum has not been recovered through another confiscation order made in relation to the same joint benefit. i..e the benefit amount can only be collected once. The numbers above have not been adjusted for any joint benefit cases.
Note 2
Collections relate to all amounts collected in that financial year, the amounts will include receipts for orders imposed in prior financial years
Asked by: Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will reintroduce legal aid for early advice as part of the Government’s review of legal aid.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
Early legal advice is available for all cases within the scope of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO), subject to an assessment of means and merits.
The post-implementation review of the impact of the legal aid changes made by and under LASPO, includes changes to the scope of early legal advice and legal representation.
We are currently in the engagement phase of this review and are using this opportunity to gather information from stakeholders and other interested parties to inform our wider consideration on the future of early advice and other forms of legal support in the justice system.
Asked by: Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that legal aid is available to people who need it.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
The Government is currently undertaking a post-implementation review of the impact of the legal aid changes made under Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) and remains committed to publishing the findings by the end of this year.
The post-implementation review will assess the extent to which LASPO targeted legal aid to those who need it most – which was one of the objectives set out at the time of the reforms.
We are currently in the engagement phase of the post-implementation review. The first meetings of the consultative groups took place in April to provide evidence which will inform the review process. Officials within my Department will continue to meet with interested parties throughout the summer. We are using this opportunity to inform our wider consideration on the future of legal support in the justice system.
Asked by: Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to make the practice of up-skirting a sexual offence; and what recent discussions and with whom he has had on that matter.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
I am determined to ensure that the intrusive practice of up-skirting is tackled robustly: there should be no doubt that such acts are unacceptable and illegal.
I am encouraged to see that this disturbing behaviour has been successfully prosecuted on a number of occasions under the offence of outraging public decency. My officials are reviewing the various laws in this area to see if anything further can be done to tackle this intrusive and unpleasant practice.
As part of this work they are considering the Private Member’s Bill put forward by Wera Hobhouse MP. Officials at the Ministry of Justice have met with campaigners and their representatives to discuss their concerns first hand. We hope to have completed this work soon.
Alongside this, I continue to support wider work across government to raise awareness with police and prosecutors of the existing offences available to prosecute upskirting and to ensure that appropriate reference is made to these offences in guidance for investigators and prosecutors.