Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to introduce the use of PAVA spray to the youth justice secure estate.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Following the roll-out of PAVA spray to the adult male estate, HM Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS) is examining the case for making it similarly available to staff in Young Offender Institutions in the youth estate. Its use is not being considered in Secure Training Centres or Secure Children’s Homes. HMPPS separately have dedicated national response staff who are permitted to use PAVA when authorised to do so to resolve serious incidents in both adult prisons and Young Offender Institutions.
As with any potential safety measure, all available evidence is being assessed to make sure that an informed decision is taken. This assessment includes detailed consideration of the medical and legal implications, including any age-related factors, as well as an evaluation of its implementation in the adult male estate.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete within prison buildings in England and Wales.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Departments have been asked to report on the current picture of suspected and confirmed Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) in their estates as soon as possible. This will be updated on a regular basis as new buildings are identified and surveying and remediation are carried out. The Government published lists of education settings confirmed as having RAAC on Wednesday 6 September and committed to providing further updates.
The potential mitigating actions for prison buildings will be to monitor them, prop them up or replace them, in line with Institute of Structural Engineers guidance.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to audit all prison buildings constructed between 1950 to 1990 for the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete; and, if so, what is their timescale.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Departments have been asked to report on the current picture of suspected and confirmed Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) in their estates as soon as possible. This will be updated on a regular basis as new buildings are identified and surveying and remediation are carried out. The Government published lists of education settings confirmed as having RAAC on Wednesday 6 September and committed to providing further updates.
The potential mitigating actions for prison buildings will be to monitor them, prop them up or replace them, in line with Institute of Structural Engineers guidance.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what mitigating actions are in place for prison buildings when the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete is detected.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Departments have been asked to report on the current picture of suspected and confirmed Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) in their estates as soon as possible. This will be updated on a regular basis as new buildings are identified and surveying and remediation are carried out. The Government published lists of education settings confirmed as having RAAC on Wednesday 6 September and committed to providing further updates.
The potential mitigating actions for prison buildings will be to monitor them, prop them up or replace them, in line with Institute of Structural Engineers guidance.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that women released from prison (1) that have served a short sentence, and (2) that were not sentenced following remand, receive support from the Probation Service.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
One of the strategic aims of the Female Offender Strategy Delivery Plan 2022-25 (Jan 2023) is to protect the public through better outcomes for women on release. We will work to reduce reoffending rates for women leaving custody, focusing on what we know works: a home, a job and access to treatment for substance misuse.
Contracts for holistic rehabilitative services for women deliver bespoke and specialist support to sentenced women (including those that have served short sentences) after their release from prison. These services support women to meet their resettlement and rehabilitative needs, including: help to find accommodation; help to find education, training or employment; support to meet finance, benefit and debt-related needs; help to address dependency issues; support to improve relationships with family or significant others; and support for their emotional wellbeing and social inclusion. These services are available post-release to all women who are subject to Probation supervision and we continue to explore how we might support those released unsentenced.
All women in prison, including those on remand, are supported to meet their immediate resettlement needs and prepare for release by probation staff in prisons and maintain accommodation whilst in prison respectively. This includes sustaining accommodation on reception where possible, making referrals for accommodation and signposting women towards specialist advice for finance and debt support.
A Short Sentence Function is being implemented in all regions which will work with all people on probation with ten months or fewer to serve in prison. This will enable them to be fast tracked and offered direct engagement.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people serving a life sentence have absconded from an open prison and have then been convicted of (1) a serious further offence, or (2) any further offence, while unlawfully at large in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
We are unable to answer these questions within cost limits as the required detail is not within the prison NOMIS system. To obtain a robust estimate would require manually linking each incident to a prisoner, checking police records for all prisoners in scope, extracting and reporting on their criminal history and then linking to an additional database to identify seriousness of offence.
Data on absconds is published annually in the HMPPS annual digest. The latest version can be accessed via the following link: HMPPS Annual Digest, April 2021 to March 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Public protection is our top priority. When a prisoner absconds, police are immediately notified and are responsible for locating the offender. The majority of absconders are quickly recaptured and returned to custody.
Those who abscond face serious consequences, including being returned to closed prison conditions where they may serve up to two additional years on conviction. Prisoners subject to parole decisions will likely face longer before they are released.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people serving a sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) have absconded from an open prison and have been convicted of (1) a serious further offence, or (2) any further offence, while unlawfully at large in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
We are unable to answer these questions within cost limits as the required detail is not within the prison NOMIS system. To obtain a robust estimate would require manually linking each incident to a prisoner, checking police records for all prisoners in scope, extracting and reporting on their criminal history and then linking to an additional database to identify seriousness of offence.
Data on absconds is published annually in the HMPPS annual digest. The latest version can be accessed via the following link: HMPPS Annual Digest, April 2021 to March 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Public protection is our top priority. When a prisoner absconds, police are immediately notified and are responsible for locating the offender. The majority of absconders are quickly recaptured and returned to custody.
Those who abscond face serious consequences, including being returned to closed prison conditions where they may serve up to two additional years on conviction. Prisoners subject to parole decisions will likely face longer before they are released.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people serving a sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection had their first parole hearing (1) on, or (2) after, tariff expiry and were either (a) directed, or (b) not directed, for release, following their hearing in each year since 2009.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
By law any prisoner serving an Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence who has completed the minimum term (tariff) set by the Court at the point of sentence is eligible to be considered for release. However, the Parole Board will direct the prisoner’s release where it concludes that it is no longer necessary on the grounds of public protection for the prisoner to remain confined.
The Secretary of State must refer a prisoner’s case to the Parole Board at the end of their minimum tariff period and, if release is not directed, at least every two years thereafter. The Parole Board is responsible for the listing of cases referred to it. Ministers or officials may not intervene in this process.
The total number of prisoners serving an IPP sentence that had their first parole hearing after 2009 and were either (a) directed for release, or (b) not directed for release, following the hearing, is shown in the following table:
Hearing/Outcome Year | Release | Not directed for Release (including open condition decisions) |
2009 | (Note 3 below refers) | |
2010 | 39 | 1,033 |
2011 | 90 | 1,207 |
2012 | 69 | 658 |
2013 | 70 | 618 |
2014 | 49 | 344 |
2015 | 59 | 366 |
2016 | 64 | 246 |
2017 | 54 | 205 |
2018 | 48 | 127 |
2019 | 29 | 74 |
2020 | 18 | 46 |
2021 | 14 | 30 |
Notes:
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bellamy on 30 November 2022 (HL3458), how many of those people were serving an extended determinate sentence with a custodial tariff of (1) six months or less, (2) more than six months but less than 12 months, (3) more than 12 months but less than two years, (4) more than two years but less than four years, (5) more than four years but less than six years, (6) more than six years but less than 10 years, and (7) more than 10 years.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The table below sets out the minimum terms of imprisonment (custodial tariffs) of prisoners serving an extended determinate sentence (EDS) who are eligible for release via parole as part of their EDS, who were released after their first parole review in each of the last five years in which full data is available.
Sentence length | Release year | ||||
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
Six months or less | 0 | 0 | * | * | * |
More than six months to less than twelve months | 0 | 0 | * | 0 | * |
From twelve months to less than two years | 4 | * | 8 | * | 6 |
From two years to less than four years | 38 | 31 | 38 | 59 | 43 |
From four years to less than six years | 72 | 137 | 166 | 208 | 192 |
From six years to less than ten years | 26 | 59 | 118 | 197 | 232 |
Ten years or more | 3 | * | 20 | 31 | 58 |
Data sources and quality:
1. Some prisoners were released without accessing the parole process because they were deported or, exceptionally, left prison following early release on compassionate grounds
2. Some parole hearings were not completed as a result of the prisoner receiving a new sentence or being transferred to secure hospital under the Mental Health Act 1983.
3. Total figures in the table do not match published total releases for EDS offenders, as some EDS offenders are not eligible for release via parole as part of their EDS.
4. The figures in this table have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
5. Disclosure control: An asterisk (*) has been used to suppress values of one or two. This is to prevent the disclosure of individual information. Further suppression may be applied where needed.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people serving a life sentence had their first parole hearing on or after tariff expiry; and, for each year since 2009, how many of these were (1) directed for release, or (2) not directed for release, following the hearing.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
By law any prisoner serving a life sentence who has completed the minimum term (tariff) set by the Court at the point of sentence is eligible to be considered for release, but will actually be released only when the Parole Board concludes that it is no longer necessary on the grounds of public protection for them to remain confined.
The total number of prisoners serving a life sentence that had their first parole hearing on or after tariff expiry; and were (1) directed for release, or (2) not directed for release, following the hearing, is shown in the following table;
| Number of Life Sentenced Offenders | |
Year | Release | Not directed for release |
2009 | * | * |
2010 | 40 | 32 |
2011 | 70 | 64 |
2012 | 77 | 31 |
2013 | 91 | 30 |
2014 | 74 | 41 |
2015 | 87 | 69 |
2016 | 119 | 98 |
2017 | 119 | 64 |
2018 | 110 | 76 |
2019 | 108 | 89 |
2020 | 133 | 72 |
2021 | 106 | 93 |
*Records from before 2010 could not be located using administrative systems.
Notes:
Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that this data has been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by HM Prison & Probation Service. Consequently, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.