Asked by: Lord Marlesford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many deaths of people serving custodial sentences there have been in each of the last five years; and for each year, how many of those deaths were the result of (1) suicide, (2) violence, and (3) natural causes.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
The Government publishes statistics on deaths in custody quarterly, and updated detailed tables annually. The most recent tables were published on 26 January 2018 and cover the year to the end of December 2017.
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
Total1,2 | 215 | 243 | 257 | 354 | 295 |
Self-inflicted | 76 | 89 | 90 | 122 | 70 |
Natural Causes | 131 | 145 | 147 | 204 | 184 |
Homicide | 4 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 3 |
Other3 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 25 | 38 |
of which |
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|
|
|
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Other/Non-natural | 4 | 6 | 12 | 11 | 4 |
Awaiting further information | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 34 |
(1) All classifications of deaths remain provisional until confirmed at inquest.
(2) Figures include incidents at HMPPS run Immigration Removal Centres.
(3) A proportion of the most recent two years' figures for 'other' deaths are expected to be re-classified as natural causes or self-inflicted deaths.
The Government takes very seriously its responsibility to keep prisoners safe, and while the latest figures show a welcome fall in the number of deaths in total and self-inflicted deaths in particular, we can and must do more. We have established a prison safety programme through which we are taking forward a comprehensive set of actions to reduce deaths in custody, including: rolling out revised and improved training for staff in assessing and managing the risk of suicide and self-harm amongst prisoners (which has already reached nearly 15,000 staff); improving support for prisoners in their early days in custody; revising the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork case management process for those identified as being at risk; and renewing our partnership with the Samaritans by confirming a further three years' grant funding for their valuable Listeners Scheme.
Asked by: Lord Marlesford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average annual cost of holding someone serving a custodial sentence.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
The average annual overall cost per prisoner in financial year 2016-17 was £35,371. The Overall Costs include the direct establishment costs plus expenditure met at regional or national level. This information is produced on an annual basis and is published after the end of each financial year.
Additional information on prison unit costs can be accessed from the Prison and Probation Performance Statistics pages for each financial year at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-performance-statistics-2016-to-2017
Asked by: Lord Marlesford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many prisoners there are; and what is the breakdown by nationality of those who are not UK citizens.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
As of 30 June 2017, there were 85,863 prisoners in Ministry of Justice run prisons and Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs) in England and Wales. 9,756 were foreign national prisoners, with 6,792 of these serving a custodial sentence. A breakdown of nationalities and sentenced foreign prisoners held as of 30 June, for the last five years can be found in the government published statistics which have been given in the attached annexes.
All Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) sentenced to custody are referred to the Home Office at the earliest opportunity to be considered for deportation. This Government is absolutely committed to removing FNOs, and during the financial year 2016 / 2017, a record number of 6,343 FNOs were removed from prisons, IRCS and the community.
Asked by: Lord Marlesford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many non-UK citizens have been given custodial sentences in each of the last five years; and how many in each year have been recommended for deportation on release from prison.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
As of 30 June 2017, there were 85,863 prisoners in Ministry of Justice run prisons and Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs) in England and Wales. 9,756 were foreign national prisoners, with 6,792 of these serving a custodial sentence. A breakdown of nationalities and sentenced foreign prisoners held as of 30 June, for the last five years can be found in the government published statistics which have been given in the attached annexes.
All Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) sentenced to custody are referred to the Home Office at the earliest opportunity to be considered for deportation. This Government is absolutely committed to removing FNOs, and during the financial year 2016 / 2017, a record number of 6,343 FNOs were removed from prisons, IRCS and the community.
Asked by: Lord Marlesford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether a current list of those serving custodial sentences in HM Prisons is available online to (1) the police, (2) HM Passport Office, and (3) HM Revenue and Customs.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
Within each prison there is a Police Liaison Officer, who has access to National Prisoner Offender Database and can therefore see who is serving a custodial sentence within the said Prison.
The department also do a National Prisoner Offender Database extract called OFFLOC that is a complete extract on a regular basis that is imported into the Police National Computer (PNC) system so the Police have the information available directly via their own system and also share information with other agencies like DWP, via an extract.
Although the Police, HM Passport Office and HM Revenue and customs currently don’t have direct access as the database is hosted on a restricted network, the MoJ shares information with other Government departments when needed subject to a risk assessment and an information sharing agreement is in place.
The department don’t share information without a specific need, due to the sensitive nature of the information, and this is covered under the Data Protection Act to keep information secure and only share with people that need to see it.
Asked by: Lord Marlesford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government in what circumstances freelance journalists are required by virtue of their occupation to register with the Information Commissioner.
Answered by Lord Faulks
The Data Protection Act 1998 requires data controllers to register with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), unless they are exempt. A data controller is the person who determines why and how personal data will be processed and is normally an organisation but can be an individual, for example a sole trader or freelance journalist. The ICO’s website contains further guidance on who is required to register and the exemptions that apply. http://ico.org.uk/for_organisations/data_protection/registration
Asked by: Lord Marlesford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many prisoners have absconded or escaped from each of Her Majesty's prisons or other custodial establishments in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Lord Faulks
Category A escapes remain extremely rare occurrences. The table below provides details of the two Category A escapes that have occurred in the last 10 years; both have been recaptured.
Table 1: Category A Escape occurring between April 2002 and March 2013
Year | Number of Category A escapers | Days spent unlawfully at large |
2011/12 | 1 | 418(1) |
2012/13 | 1 | 0(2) |
Neither prisoner escaped from a prison establishment.
(1) This prisoner escaped from prison contractor transport, through force of arms.
(2) This prisoner escaped from the witness box during a court hearing and was recaptured in less than 1 hour.
As a result of improved risk assessment procedures the number of prisoners absconding from open prisons has reduced significantly over the last 10 years. There were 225 absconds in 2013-14 compared to 1,301 in 2003-04.
Figures for the number of escapes and absconds, by prison, since 1995 are provided in the Prison Digest contained in the Prison and Probation Trusts Performance Statistics. This can be found at:
Asked by: Lord Marlesford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Category A prisoners have escaped in each of the last 10 years; and how long after the escape each was recaptured or how long each such uncaptured prisoner has been at large.
Answered by Lord Faulks
Category A escapes remain extremely rare occurrences. The table below provides details of the two Category A escapes that have occurred in the last 10 years; both have been recaptured.
Table 1: Category A Escape occurring between April 2002 and March 2013
Year | Number of Category A escapers | Days spent unlawfully at large |
2011/12 | 1 | 418(1) |
2012/13 | 1 | 0(2) |
Neither prisoner escaped from a prison establishment.
(1) This prisoner escaped from prison contractor transport, through force of arms.
(2) This prisoner escaped from the witness box during a court hearing and was recaptured in less than 1 hour.
As a result of improved risk assessment procedures the number of prisoners absconding from open prisons has reduced significantly over the last 10 years. There were 225 absconds in 2013-14 compared to 1,301 in 2003-04.
Figures for the number of escapes and absconds, by prison, since 1995 are provided in the Prison Digest contained in the Prison and Probation Trusts Performance Statistics. This can be found at: