Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) how many prison staff have been tested for COVID-19; and (2) how many prisoners in all prisons have been tested for COVID-19.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
A testing programme is being conducted to help understand the spread of Coronavirus in prisons and how it is transmitted within individual establishments and across the wider estate began on Monday 20 July.
The testing study is taking place across 28 prisons in England and is being carried out in collaboration with the University of Southampton, Public Health England, Department of Health and Social Care and National Audit Office.
Every one of the 20,000 prisoners and 10,000 staff at the 28 sites will be invited to carry out an antigen test, consisting of mouth and nose swabs, to see if they currently have the virus. Participation is completely voluntary but we encourage as many as possible to carry out the test. The test will be repeated two more times with a gap of three weeks between each test.
This testing study follows a pilot of voluntary testing of both staff and prisoners at HMP Littlehey. This consisted of over 1,000 tests being undertaken and pleasingly no positive results were found.
This testing study runs for 9 to 12 weeks to allow all three testing rounds to be completed.
Currently, the establishments which have started undertaking this COVID-19 prevalence Testing Programme are: Bure, Coldingley, Drake Hall, Frankland, Gartree, High Down, Leeds, Lewes, New Hall, Norwich, Send, The Mount, Wandsworth and Wealstun.
As of 5pm 30th July 2020, there have been 2542 prisoner tests with four positive results. There have been 1571 staff tests with three positive results.
With HMPPS staff being able to self-refer for testing the complete number of staff who have been tested for COVID-19 is unknown by HMPPS. While the total number of tests carried out on prisoners since testing began is also unknown, the Ministry of Justice has started publishing a weekly release of Covid-19 related statistics, which includes confirmed COVID-19 cases in prisoners and children in custody. These statistics provide total numbers across England and Wales.
The statistics release can be found here each Friday:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hm-prison-and-probation-service-covid-19-statistics
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many offenders were transferred from prisons in England and Wales to prisons in Northern Ireland in each of the last two years.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
Seven offenders were transferred from prisons in England and Wales to prisons in Northern Ireland in 2018 and eight where transferred in 2019.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what specific offences are categorised as a hate crime; and what are the criteria for such categorisation.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The law responds to hate crime in four ways by:
The Government have invited the Law Commission to review the law relating to hate crime and to make recommendations to the Government for its reform. The review began in March 2019.
Specifically, the Law Commission have been asked to consider the current range of offences and aggravating factors in sentencing, and to make recommendations on the most appropriate models to ensure that the criminal law provides consistent and effective protection from conduct motivated by hatred towards protected groups or characteristics. The review will also take account of the existing range of protected characteristics, identifying any gaps in the scope of protection currently offered under the law and making recommendations to promote a consistent approach.
The Law Commission plan to issue a consultation on this matter in early 2020. Further information on the review can be found on the Law Commission webpage at: https://www.lawcom.gov.uk/project/hate-crime/
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government under what circumstances in cases involving historical abuse victims are entitled to legal representation.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The Government’s first ever cross-government Victims Strategy outlines our commitments to victims of crime.
The Crown Prosecution Service is responsible for the prosecution of criminal cases. Victims of crime are not separately represented in criminal trials.
Victims of historic sexual abuse have access to an independent sexual violence adviser (ISVA). The ISVA’s role is to ensure the victim receives the right support before, during and after legal proceedings. As part of proceedings, a victim may be called to give evidence as a witness for the prosecution. ISVAs will work alongside the Court-Based Witness Service to support the victim to give their best evidence and participate in the court process.
In April this year, the Ministry of Justice awarded £8m in funding to rape support centres to provide emotional and practical support to victims of sexual violence and historic sexual abuse, including the provision of ISVA services. We also provided a grant of £11.2m to Citizens Advice for the delivery of the Court-Based Witness Service.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people currently in UK prisons are not EU citizens.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
As at 31 March 2019, 5,153 Foreign National Offenders from non-EU countries were held in prisons in England and Wales (including the Prison Service run Immigration Removal Centre). As at 31 March 2019, the total prison population was 82,634 at which point prisoners from non-EU countries made up 6% of the total prison population.
The number of non-EU Foreign National Offenders held in prisons in Scotland and Northern Ireland is a matter for the devolved administrations.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the average annual cost of incarcerating a prisoner in (1) 2015, (2) 2016, and (3) 2017.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
An average cost per prisoner, costs per prison place and overall prison unit costs for each private and public sector prison in England and Wales are routinely published by Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service. This information is produced on an annual basis and is published after the end of each financial year.
Information on prison expenditure can be accessed in the Prison and Probation Performance Statistics pages for each financial year on the www.gov.uk website. Prison unit costs can be found within the Excel document titled Costs per prison place and cost per prisoner by individual prison establishment under the ‘Cost by Establishment’ tab.
The most recent published figures for financial year 2017-18 can be accessed on the www.gov.uk website from the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-performance-statistics-2017-to-2018
The table below shows the average annual overall cost per prisoner for financial years 2015-16 to 2017-18.
Financial years | Average Annual Overall Cost per prisoner |
2017-18 | £37,543 |
2016-17 | £35,371 |
2015-16 | £33,931 |
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To note within the table: |
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1. Figures are expressed in nominal terms as per published for respective years. | |
2. Figures are not always comparable across a period due to changes in accounting treatments and scope of business which do not provide a consistent basis. | |
3. Overall costs include the direct establishment costs plus expenditure met at regional or national level by HMPPS/MOJ. | |
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many current prisoners in England and Wales are (1) citizens of other EU member states, and (2) non-EU citizens.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
As at 30 June 2018, 9,066 Foreign National Offenders were held in prisons in England and Wales and the HM Prison and Probation Service run Immigration Removal Centre. Of these, 3,905 were from other Member States of the European Union (EU). The remaining 5,161 were from non-EU countries.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they provide to victims of Northern Ireland related acts of terrorism committed in Great Britain.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The Government is committed to making sure that victims of terrorism (including bereaved families) receive the best possible support both in the immediate aftermath, and in the long term. Under the EU Victims’ Directive, victims of Northern Ireland related acts of terrorism who reside in the UK are entitled to access support services in accordance with their needs.
The Government fund a range of services to provide support to help victims of terrorism cope, and as far as possible recover. We have also developed gov.uk webpages (see victimsofterrorism.campaign.gov.uk) to provide comprehensive advice to victims and to signpost them to support services in the UK.
We also work closely with local authorities to highlight the support available. This support remains available to victims for as long as needed and regardless of when the attack happened.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many new recruits have left the Prison Service in each of the last two years.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The number Prison Service staff who have left the service, by length of service, in the last two years is provided below.
Table 1: HMPPS staff who have left the Prison Service, by length of service1, in the 12 months to December 2016 and 12 months to December 2017
Completed years of service | 12 months to December 2016 | 12 months to December 2017 |
0 | 461 | 682 |
1 | 397 | 319 |
2 | 76 | 288 |
3 | 40 | 59 |
4 | 49 | 25 |
5-9 | 523 | 363 |
10-14 | 532 | 507 |
15-19 | 271 | 266 |
20-24 | 290 | 208 |
25-29 | 269 | 258 |
30+ | 167 | 163 |
Total | 3,075 | 3,138 |
1Length of service in HMPPS 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.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many prisoners convicted of murder were held in an open prison in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
This information is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.