Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many assaults there were on prison officers in prisons and young offender institutions in each year from 2010 to the last year for which records are available.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
Figures for each full year up to 2017, the latest for which data is available, are given in the table below.
Year | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
Assaults on prison officers | 2,848 | 3,132 | 2,987 | 3,266 | 3,640 | 4,963 | 6,844 | 8,429 |
Incidents of self-harm | 26,979 | 24,647 | 23,158 | 23,230 | 25,843 | 32,313 | 40,160 | 44,651 |
Self-inflicted deaths | 58 | 58 | 61 | 76 | 89 | 90 | 122 | 70 |
Remand prisoners % of self-inflicted deaths | 55% | 40% | 31% | 38% | 29% | 40% | 27% | 29% |
These figures include Immigration Removal Centres run by Her Majesty's Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS). “Remand” includes both prisoners who have not been convicted, and those who have been convicted but not yet sentenced. Classifications of deaths are provisional until confirmed by an inquest. “Self-inflicted death” includes any death of a person who has apparently taken their own life, irrespective of intention. This includes not only suicides but also accidental deaths resulting from the person’s own actions. This classification is used because it is not always known whether a person intended to kill themselves.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what land or buildings owned by, leased by, or under the control of, the Ministry of Justice they are seeking to dispose of, and for what purposes.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The Department’s estate is comprised of a wide range of premises, including prisons, courts, probation premises, administrative offices and other land holdings. The Ministry of Justice keeps its estate under review to ensure that it meets the needs of the business.
In line with central guidance, surplus property is generally first offered to other departments for reuse, free schools, or transfer to the Homes and Communities Agency for much needed new homes or development. It is then offered to the open market. Leasehold properties are also exited via lease break options and lease expiry opportunities.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many reviews have been announced in Parliament by the Ministry of Justice in the last six years; how many have been completed; how many are still ongoing; and what is the timescale for completion of those reviews still ongoing.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
There is no formal definition of “reviews”. All announcements by Ministers in my Department are placed in Parliamentary records.
Accounts of progress are given within the normal course of Parliamentary business.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their policy on the UK withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights.
Answered by Lord Faulks
The Government’s position on the European Convention of Human Rights remains clear. We cannot rule out withdrawing forever, but our forthcoming proposals do not include it. We are confident that we can replace the Human Rights Act with a Bill of Rights and reform our relationship with the Strasbourg Court.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have for the housing of prisoners in the event of the closure of HM Prison Holloway and HM Prison Pentonville.
Answered by Lord Faulks
On 9 November 2015, the Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice announced their intention to build a prison estate which allows prisoners to be rehabilitated, thereby enabling them to turn away from a life of crime. This will involve closing old and inefficient prisons which do not support the aims of a redesigned estate and replacing them with modern facilities that support rehabilitation.
The Secretary of State for Justice announced on 25 November 2015 that HM Prison and Young Offender Institution Holloway will close as the first part of this programme. The buildings at Holloway are poorly designed and the site is cramped. The majority of sentenced women will transfer to HM Prison and Young Offender Institution Downview, which we which will open this spring. Downview has been refurbished and will provide better facilities and more appropriate conditions for sentenced women than Holloway. However, where suitable, the opportunity is being taken to ensure sentenced women are placed in accommodation elsewhere that reflects their specific needs, including proximity to home.
Many remand prisoners currently held at Holloway will move to HM Prison and Young Offender Institution Bronzefield, which has modern, high quality accommodation.
No other decisions have yet been made about the future of other prisons in England and Wales.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what effect the tribunal charge is having on claims before industrial tribunals, with particular reference to discrimination and equal pay claims.
Answered by Lord Faulks
On 11 June we announced the start of the post-implementation review of the introduction of fees in the Employment Tribunals. This review will consider, so far as is possible, the impact the fees have had on those with protected characteristics who use the Employment Tribunals and the types of case they bring.
The review will report in due course.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are planning to take to end fraudulent whiplash insurance claims.
Answered by Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
The Government is determined to crack down on the compensation culture and insurance fraud.. We therefore announced, in the Autumn Statement, that we will limit the right to damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity in low value whiplash claims and raise the small claims limit for personal injury claims to £5,000.
These reforms build on previous measures taken forward by the Ministry of Justice to control costs, strengthen the medical evidence process and reduce incentives to pursue fraudulent and unnecessary whiplash claims.
The Government will consult on the detail of the new measures in due course.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proposals they have to strengthen legislation in order to prevent cyber bullying.
Answered by Lord Faulks
Legislation that can be used to prosecute cyber-bullying related offences includes the Protection from Harassment Act 1997; the Public Order Act 1986; the Malicious Communications Act 1988; and the Communications Act 2003. The Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 made changes to the relevant offences in these last two Acts which will help to ensure that people who commit them are prosecuted and properly punished.
The Government believes that this is sufficient and therefore does not intend to introduced specific additional legislation to address the issue of cyberbullying.
Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what facilities are available for prisoners at HMP Wandsworth to participate in acts of worship.
Answered by Lord Faulks
HMP Wandsworth is a large, diverse London prison catering for approximately 1620 men and comprising two units, a B-category local prison and a C-category resettlement unit. The religious affiliation of these prisoners is similarly diverse and is supported by a large multi-faith chaplaincy team. Recent HMIP inspections of the prison have given positive reports of chaplaincy provision and access to religious services.
The prison has a good range and quality of religious space that allows each faith group to meet regularly in suitable surroundings. These include a designated mosque, a church and two multi-faith chaplaincy rooms that are adaptable and used by the Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Orthodox and Jehovah Witness faith communities.
All prisoners are seen on arrival by the chaplaincy team and their religious affiliation ascertained. For the smaller faith groups, prisoners will be followed up by the individual chaplains and invited to a weekly time of worship. All faith groups have at least a minimum of one hour of weekly corporate worship and the offer of additional religious classes. For Christian and Muslim denominations, because of the substantial numbers involved, prisoners are asked to request whether they would like to attend a weekly time of worship.