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Written Question
Prisoners: Ethnic Groups
Monday 5th December 2022

Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many individuals from each ethnic group were in prison in England and Wales in each of the last five years, broken down by religion.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The table attached provides the information requested, as of 30 September in each of the last five years.


Written Question
Prisons: Pepper Spray
Monday 5th December 2022

Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government on how many occasions PAVA spray incapacitant has been (1) drawn, and (2) drawn and deployed, in prisons since 1 April 2019, broken down by (a) ethnicity, and (b) religion, of each prisoner.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

We ensure all our prison officers are trained in how to use PAVA professionally, safely and lawfully and that it is only used when necessary and proportionate.

There has been a total of 470 incidents involving PAVA since 1 April 2019. Of those, PAVA was drawn and deployed in 320 incidents and 150 were drawn only.  See below for a breakdown by ethnicity and religion.

The data provided for this response is collected as internal management information and reflects the data held at the date of extraction. It is not quality assured in the same way as data prepared for publication and is subject to change.

From Apr 2019

2020

2021

To 22/11/2022

Total

Total Number of Incidents:

55

104

148

163

470

Total Number of Drawn and Deployed Incidents

42

62

103

113

320

Total Number of Drawn only Incidents

13

42

45

50

150

Ethnicity:

Ethnicity

Individuals Impacted

Drawn and Deployed

Drawn only

Asian/Asian British

64

54

10

Black/Black British

396

316

80

Mixed

118

85

33

Other ethnic group

24

19

5

White

375

255

120

Not recorded

8

3

5

Total

985

732

253

Religion:

* denotes figures less than 5 which have been suppressed to avoid disclosure of information about individuals

Religion

Individuals Impacted

Drawn and Deployed

Drawn only

Buddhist

*

*

*

Christian

431

318

113

Hindu

*

*

*

Jewish

*

*

*

Muslim

279

217

62

Sikh

*

*

*

Other

20

15

5

No religion

236

171

65

Not recorded

8

4

4

Total

985

732

253

PAVA is used in incidents such as prisoner on prisoner violence, therefore the number of incidents differs from the number of individuals impacted. Data for 2022 is to date (as of 22/11/22).


Written Question
Reoffenders: Sentencing
Wednesday 30th November 2022

Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) male, and (2) female, prisoners are currently in prison having been recalled, and are serving a custodial sentence of (a) less than 12 months, (b) between 12 months and two years, (c) between two and four years, (d) between four and five years, (e) between five and seven years, (f) between seven and 10 years, (g) between 10 and 14 years, and (h) 14 years or more.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The answer is given in the table below. In order to protect the public, offenders on licence are liable to be recalled to prison at any time if they breach their licence conditions in such a way as to demonstrate increased risk, such that the risk may no longer be effectively managed in the community.

Table 1: Recall prison population, by recorded sentence length(1) and sex, as at 30 Sep 2022; England & Wales

Total

Male

Female

Total

10,448

10,053

395

Less than 12 months

680

621

59

12 months to less than 2 years

911

857

54

2 years to less than 4 years

2,206

2,091

115

4 years to less than 5 years

954

914

40

5 years to less than 7 years

1,315

1,281

34

7 years to less than 10 years

1,247

1,215

32

10 years to less than 14 years

639

627

12

14 years or over

243

239

4

Other / Not Recorded(2)

2,253

2,208

45

NOTES

(1) For recalled prisoners this should correspond with the original sentence length, but there may be cases for which this instead reflects the 'length of recall'

(2) This includes those recalled from indeterminate sentences who do not have a recorded sentence length.

Date Sources and Quality

The figures in these tables 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.

Source: prison-NOMIS (ref. PQ HL3589)


Written Question
Prisoners
Wednesday 30th November 2022

Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) people in total, and (2) foreign nationals, are currently in prison, broken down by offence category.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The table below provides the information requested in relation to all prisoners in England and Wales, and to foreign nationals held in prison in England and Wales, by offence group as of 30 September 2022, the latest date for which information is available.


Written Question
Prisoners' Release: Parole Board
Wednesday 30th November 2022

Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many people serving an extended determinate sentence have been released from prison; and of those, how many were released after their first Parole Board hearing in each of the last five years.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The table below sets out the number of releases of prisoners serving an extended determinate sentence (EDS) who are eligible for release via parole as part of their EDS in each of the last five years in which full data are available.

Year of Release

Total EDS First-Time Releases

Total EDS Releases at First Hearing

2017

143

55

2018

243

116

2019

352

137

2020

506

226

2021

533

220

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


Written Question
Prisoners: Ethnic Groups
Wednesday 30th November 2022

Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many people are currently in prison aged (1) 18 to 24, and (2) 25 to 29, broken down by ethnicity.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

Relevant data are provided in the statistical publication Ethnicity and the Criminal Justice System. The most recent publication includes a snapshot of data for 30 June 2020. The relevant figures can be found in Table 6.01, which is reproduced in the attachment.

Data for 30 June 2021 and 30 June 2022 will be included in the next publication, which is scheduled for November 2023.


Written Question
Health Services: Prisons
Monday 28th November 2022

Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many permanent full-time equivalent (FTE) healthcare staff are currently in post for each prison in England and Wales; and what is the target number of FTE healthcare staff in each case.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

This information is not held centrally. National Health Service regional commissioners hold contracts with a number of healthcare providers to deliver health services within each prison. While the contract specifies the services which should be provided, it may not stipulate the number of staff which should be employed or the specific roles of health professionals to fulfil those services.


Written Question
Prisoners: Higher Education
Monday 28th November 2022

Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many prisoners are currently participating in higher education courses.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The latest available figures (October 2022) show that 1435 prisoners were studying with the Open University. In addition, 50 learners were enrolled on Access to Higher Education courses, with support from the Prisoners’ Education Trust.

We have recently changed the law to allow prisoners to begin apprenticeships whilst in custody, working in key industries such as hospitality and construction.

Information on the support available for prisoners wishing to undertake Higher Education is available in prison libraries.


Written Question
Prisoners on Remand
Friday 25th November 2022

Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many people are currently in prison who have been held on remand for longer than (1) six months, (2) one year, and (3) two years, broken down by offence category.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The number of people who had been held in prison on remand for longer than six months, one year and two years on 31 December 2021, also broken down by offence group, is provided in the attached tables.

The department’s latest prison population data as part of the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly is available up to 30 September 2022 and can be found here: Offender Management Statistics quarterly: April to June 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).


Written Question
Prisoners on Remand
Friday 25th November 2022

Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many people in prison had been held on remand for longer than (1) six months, (2) one year, and (3) two years, on (a) 31 December 2021, and (b) up to the current date.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The number of people who had been held in prison on remand for longer than six months, one year and two years on 31 December 2021, also broken down by offence group, is provided in the attached tables.

The department’s latest prison population data as part of the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly is available up to 30 September 2022 and can be found here: Offender Management Statistics quarterly: April to June 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).