Asked by: Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many children were (1) convicted of knife possession, (2) convicted of a second offence of knife possession, and (3) sentenced to custody for knife possession offences, in each month between July 2014 and November 2015 inclusive, broken down by ethnicity and by age group.
Answered by Lord Faulks
The data requested is set out in the table below. Data from October and November 2015 will be available after figures for this period have been published in the knife possession sentencing quarterly statistics on www.gov.uk. The figures in the tables will be subject to change as the cases that are currently in the system eventually reach a court outcome.
In July 2015, a new minimum custodial sentence for repeat knife possession came into force. Out of the 456 days covered by this data, there were just 76 days in which the minimum sentence was applicable. The average time from charge to court outcome is 86 days, so it is unlikely that any repeat possession offences could be tried under the new legislation.
Table 1 shows the number of juvenile cautioning and sentencing occasions for knife possession offences by age group for each month between July 2014 and September 2015.
Table 2 shows the number of juvenile cautioning and sentencing occasions for knife possession offences, where the juvenile has one previous caution or conviction for the possession of a knife or offensive weapon, by age group for each month between July 2014 and September 2015.
Table 3 shows the number of juvenile sentencing occasions for knife possession offences resulting in an immediate custodial sentence by age group for each month between July 2014 and September 2015.
Table 4 shows the number of juvenile cautioning and sentencing occasions for knife possession offences by ethnic appearance for each month between July 2014 and September 2015.
Table 5 shows the number of juvenile cautioning and sentencing occasions for knife possession offences, where the juvenile has one previous caution or conviction for the possession of a knife or offensive weapon, by ethnic appearance for each month between July 2014 and September 2015.
Table 6 shows the number of juvenile sentencing occasions for knife possession offences resulting in an immediate custodial sentence by ethnic appearance for each month between July 2014 and September 2015.
Asked by: Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will provide statistics detailing civil legal aid claims and grants by sector broken down by protected characteristics since January 2010.
Answered by Lord Faulks
Legal aid is a vital part of our justice system, but we cannot escape the continuing need to reduce the deficit. The Coalition Government reformed legal aid to reduce its cost and ensure the system commands the confidence of the public. As part of our public sector equality duty, the Legal Aid Agency has made it a contractual requirement that providers have an Equality and Diversity policy in place.
The number of civil claims by sector broken down for protected characteristics are shown in the tables below for the period 2010-11 to 2014-15. Figures for grants or applications at this level of detail are not held for the Legal Help and Controlled Legal Representation categories of civil legal aid and so figures for grants have not been provided.
The not for profit sector providers are shown based on the administrative system classification and all other providers are classified as solicitor firms. Where values for the protected characteristics are not held, unknown or the claimant has preferred not to state their answer, they are included within the unknown category.
The MoJ routinely publishes statistics on client characteristics for each area of legal aid on an annual basis on the government website.
Asked by: Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the quantities and types of drugs found in each prison, and the additional sentences given to those caught.
Answered by Lord Faulks
We take a zero tolerance approach to drugs in prison.
Strict measures are in place to tackle visitors who smuggle or attempt to smuggle drugs into prison. This includes arrest and prosecution where there is sufficient evidence. Likewise, any prisoner found in possession of drugs will face disciplinary action, which could include a further prosecution and sentence.
In addition, as of 10 November 2015, we have introduced new laws so that those who smuggle packages, including new psychoactive substances, over prison walls will face up to two years in custody.
NOMS collects data on drug finds on a central database. Historically, this data has not included retrievable information on the quantity of the drug find. In October 2015, changes were made to reporting forms to improve data collection to include quantity. The tables below provide figures for (a) the quantities and (b) the types of drugs found in prisons in England and Wales over a two month period between October and November 2015.
It is not always possible to attribute a drug find to an individual prisoner. In those cases where a drug find has been attributed to a particular prisoner, NOMS does not collate centrally information on any additional sentences handed down and to do so would involve disproportionate cost.
Notes to Tables:
Asked by: Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government (1) how many, and (2) what percentage of, prison governors have worked at two or more prisons in the last five years.
Answered by Lord Faulks
Of the governors of public sector prisons in post at 30 September 2015, a total of 90 (85%) had worked at two or more prisons in the previous five years.
Asked by: Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prisoners recorded as taking car driving lessons or tests in the last five years absconded or attempted to abscond during a lesson or test.
Answered by Lord Faulks
There is no record of any offender failing to return to prison from temporary release which was authorised to allow them to take driving lessons or tests in the past five years.
Release on temporary licence is designed to prepare prisoners for their eventual release. Public protection is our priority and all offenders considered for temporary release are fully risk assessed.
Prisoners are only permitted to take a driving lesson or test if this is required to help their rehabilitation, for example, by improving their employment prospects, thus reducing their likelihood of reoffending.
Asked by: Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many offenders who are foreign nationals are currently serving a sentence for murder or manslaughter in prisons in England and Wales.
Answered by Lord Faulks
Foreign criminals who break our laws should be properly punished but not at the expense of the British taxpayer.
In the last year we have returned more than 5,000 foreign prisoners to their home country. Prisoner transfer agreements are just one way the Government can remove these criminals from the United Kingdom.
As at 30 September 2015, there were 732 foreign nationals serving a sentence for murder or manslaughter in prisons in England and Wales.
Asked by: Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the total spent, above basic salaries, on staff on detached duty at young offender institutions in England and Wales in each month between October 2014 and October 2015 inclusive.
Answered by Lord Faulks
The deployment of staff between prisons on detached duty is a regular and normal part of prison resourcing. It allows staff to be allocated from prisons with the capacity to provide them, to those where additional staffing is required.
The total amount spent on staff on detached duties above basic salaries could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much revenue has been raised from call charging associated with the legal aid telephone gateway.
Answered by Lord Faulks
Between March 2014 and January 2015 the LAA phased out the use of 0845 access numbers for CLA and replaced them with 0345 numbers.
This means there is a single national point of contact for CLA without callers having to pay extra to call them.Calls to 03 numbers cost no more than a national rate call to a 01 or 02 number and count towards inclusive minutes in the same way as 01 and 02 calls. This applies to calls from any type of line including mobile, fixed line or payphone.
The LAA provides clear information about the costs of making a call. Individuals can also check whether they may qualify for legal aid via a free digital service on gov.uk before requesting a call back. They also have the option of asking CLA staff to make a return call.
Asked by: Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government (1) how many prison staff, and (2) what proportion of prison staff, have received Prevent awareness training for each (a) prison, and (b) young offender institution.
Answered by Lord Faulks
The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has a range of Prevent awareness training and briefing packages available for staff. Since April 2015 data has been collated recording the amount of training provided to staff in prisons and probation on extremism awareness.
Between April 2015 and September 2015, 4,100 hours of training were delivered to over 4,900 staff in prisons directly managed by NOMS. The training is targeted at staff in prisoner facing roles. A further 650 staff from contracted establishments have also received training during this period. There figures do not include any staff trained before April 2015.
Since April 2015 new Prison Officers receive Extremism Awareness Training as part of their entry level training, a total of 1,566 since this date.
Some of the training sessions described above were delivered to staff from more than one prison and therefore to provide information on proportions of staff trained from each establishment would involve disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prisoners who have previously absconded remain in open conditions.
Answered by Lord Faulks
In May 2014, the Coalition Government introduced a new policy so that prisoners with a history of escape, absconding or serious temporary release failure during the current sentence are prevented from transfer to open conditions, other than in the most exceptional circumstances. There has been only one case satisfying the condition of exceptional circumstances since the policy was implemented. In addition, any prisoner who absconds from an open prison is immediately returned to a higher security prison.
When the policy was implemented, it was not applied retrospectively. Prisoners already in open conditions were reassessed by senior officials in the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), and any who were assessed as presenting an unacceptable risk in such conditions in light of their previous non-compliance were returned to closed prisons, with the remainder allowed to remain in open conditions because of their compliance with the regime and favourable risk assessment.
On 4 December 2015, there were 15 prisoners in open prisons who were recorded as having absconded between 1 April 2004 and 21 May 2014 when the policy change came into force.
Reliable electronic records for absconds and temporary release failures prior to 2004 are not available, therefore only incidents since 2004 could be considered. The data set used here includes prisons classified as having their predominant function to be open. These figures 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.