Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many offenders were transferred from prisons in (1) England, and (2) Wales, to prisons in Northern Ireland in (a) 2021, and (b) 2022.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
There were no transfers from prisons in England or Wales to Northern Ireland in 2021. In 2022, three prisoners were transferred from prisons in England and four from prisons in Wales.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many royal pardons have been issued in the last 10 years.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
One Royal Prerogative of Mercy has been issued to Her Majesty the Queen in the last 10 years. Alan Turing was pardoned in December 2013.
In addition, five remission pardons have been granted since 2015. We have not been able to provide the requested information regarding sentence remissions from 2012 to 2015. Information prior to 2015 could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the highest number of total previous offences an offender had committed before being given an immediate custodial sentence in each of last two years.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
Obtaining the necessary information to answer the question fully, requires access to the Police National Computer (PNC). This system can only be accessed via a fixed location in our offices, for security reasons. Access to the PNC has thus been severely restricted since March 2020 due to the national restrictions and the need to minimise non-essential travel.
I will write to the noble Lord in due course with the information requested, once my officials are able safely to access the PNC and will place a copy of my letter in the House Library.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of mental health and wellbeing provision for victims of crime.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
This Government is committed to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of the public, including victims of crime, and to ensuring that the right support is in place to help victims cope and recover both within and beyond the pandemic.
In recognition of the impact of Covid-19 on the wellbeing of victims, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) established the Victim and Witness Silver Command Group in March 2020 in order to identify and assess developing risks and issues that may have an impact on victims of crime, including their mental health support needs. This group continues to meet on a fortnightly basis and its comprehensive membership consists of representatives from across government including representatives from the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England, criminal justice agencies, external stakeholders, and the third sector.
In 2021-22, we will provide just under £151m for victim and witness support services, including an extra £51m to increase support for rape and domestic abuse victims, building on the emergency funding from this financial year to help domestic abuse and sexual violence services meet increased levels of demand.
Additionally, on 23rd November 2020 the Government published 'Staying Mentally Well: Winter Plan 2020 – 21' which includes a commitment, backed by £50 million, to boost capacity and support good-quality discharge for mental health service users from inpatient settings. We have also announced that in 2021/22 the NHS will receive around an additional £500 million to address waiting times for mental health services, give more people the mental health support they need, and invest in the NHS workforce. We are absolutely committed to our ambitions in the NHS Long Term Plan to expand and transform mental health services in England and to investing an additional £2.3 billion a year in mental health services by 2023/24.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many convictions for the sale or distribution of counterfeit pharmaceutical products there were in each of the last four years.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Ministry of Justice publishes information on prosecutions and convictions by detailed offence and figures relating to the offence “Sell or supply adulterated medicinal products or falsifying medical products” can be found in the Principal offence proceedings and outcomes by Home Office offence code data tool available at:
The data tool can be filtered by ‘Detailed offence’, for the above offence. Filter to the following:
“Sell or supply adulterated medicinal products or falsifying medical products (triable either way offences)”
In 2016 there were 4 convictions for the offence of selling or supplying adulterated medicinal products or falsifying medical products. In 2017 and 2018 there were 0 convictions for this offence; and there was 1 conviction in 2019.
Please note that prosecutions and convictions relating to the offence of the sale or distribution of counterfeit pharmaceutical products may fall under some separate summary offences other than the one mentioned above, but these cannot be separately identified.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent overcrowding in prisons.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
We are committed to reducing crowding across the prison estate which is why we are investing up to £2.5bn to provide 10,000 additional prison places to ensure we have the prison places we need to manage incoming demand.
In addition , we have already delivered 2,100 uncrowded prison places at HMP/YOI Berwyn, 206 uncrowded places in a house block at HMP Stocken and continue to work at pace to deliver modern, decent, uncrowded prisons at the former HMP Wellingborough and HMP Glen Parva sites, which are due to open in 2022 and 2023 respectively.