Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) male and (b) female prisoners who have suffered a traumatic brain injury at some point in their life.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The MoJ does not hold information on the number of male and female prisoners who have suffered a traumatic brain injury. NHS England commission health care services in prison and so may capture this information locally as part of their screening process.
On 6th February 2019, The Disabilities Trust published their ‘Making the Link’ Evaluation Report on their service to support female offenders with acquired brain injury in HMP Drake Hall. The report found that, of the 173 female offenders screened at HMP Drake Hall, 64% reported a history indicative of a brain injury.
In 2017-2018, The Disabilities Trust also ran a Brain Injury Linkworker pilot at six sites in the adult male estate. Findings from this pilot suggest that acquired brain injury is a key issue to be considered within the secure environment. Recent studies that have examined the prevalence of traumatic brain injury in prisons in England and Wales indicate this may affect 46% to 70% of the male population.
It is right that as a society we endeavour to better understand, diagnose and address the symptoms of brain injuries. This is equally true for the Criminal Justice System. We are working closely with NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care to carefully consider the recommendations from both pilots, alongside other emerging evidence, to help determine next steps to better support this cohort of vulnerable offenders.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the average length of prison sentences in (a) England and (b) Wales in each of the last six years.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Information on average custodial sentence length (ACSL) in both England and Wales over the last six years can be viewed in the table.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of prisoners per 100,000 people in (a) England and (b) Wales in each of the last six years.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The Government does not publish information on the number of prisoners per 100,000 people in England and Wales as part of its statistical releases.
However, figures covering the total prison population in England and Wales as at 30 June each year, broken down by establishment, can be found in Table A1.13 of the document “Prison Population: 30 June 2018” at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2018
In addition, the Office for National Statistics publishes mid-year population estimates at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of prisoners serving sentences of less than six months who are homeless upon release in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
It is vital that everyone leaving prison has somewhere stable and secure to live. Having somewhere stable to live acts as a platform for ex-offenders to be able to access the services and support needed to turn their back on crime for good. Published statistics for 2017/18 showing the accommodation status for all offenders released from custody and offenders on community sentences can be viewed here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/729062/accommodation-cirumstances-tables-2018.xlsx
As part of the Government initiative to reduce and ultimately eliminate rough sleeping across England, we will invest £6.4 million over two years in a pilot scheme to help ex-offenders into accommodation from three prisons, namely Bristol, Pentonville and Leeds. The pilots will focus on male prisoners who have served shorter sentences, who have been identified as having a risk of homelessness.
Furthermore, as of the 1 October 2018, Prisons and Probation providers have a “Duty to Refer” anyone who is homeless or at risk of becoming homeless to the Local Authority. Following a referral, Local Authorities are then required to make an assessment, meaning offenders can receive meaningful housing assistance at an earlier stage irrespective of their priority need.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the re-offending rate in relation to prison sentences of (a) less than six months and (b) more than six months.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Adult proven reoffending data, broken down by a custodial sentence length of six months or less and a custodial sentence length of more than six months (including indeterminate sentenced prisoners), can be viewed in the table.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have been granted legal aid in welfare cases in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Information about the volumes of people granted legal aid in welfare benefits cases is published at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/legal-aid-statistics. The latest figures (to September 2018) of Legal Help matter starts (from table 5.1) and Civil Representation granted certificates (from table 6.2) in welfare benefits cases are outlined in the below table.
Year | Legal Help Matter Starts | Civil Representation Granted Certificates |
2008-09 | 135,751 | 51 |
2009-10 | 141,625 | 53 |
2010-11 | 116,081 | 23 |
2011-12 | 102,920 | 22 |
2012-13 | 82,554 | 16 |
2013-14 | 163 | 8 |
2014-15 | 505 | 6 |
2015-16 | 250 | 9 |
2016-17 | 442 | 10 |
2017-18 | 443 | 9 |
The MoJ has spent several months conducting a wide-ranging review of the reforms to legal aid and engaged with more than 100 organisations and individuals as part of the evidence-gathering phase.
Having finalised this engagement at the end of November, the review is now near completion and will be published shortly.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful prosecutions were made under section 130 of the Mental Health Act 1983 in each territorial police force area in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The information is not held centrally by the department, and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his department has made of the (a) number and (b) percentage of personal independence payment cases that have been (i) upheld and (ii) overturned by HM Courts and Tribunal Service at appeal stage in each quarter since January 2015.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Information about the volumes and outcomes of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appeals to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) (SSCS) is published at:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics
Latest figures (to June 2018) indicate that since PIP was introduced, 3.5 million decisions have been made, and of these 9% have been appealed and 4% have been overturned at tribunals.
We are working with the Department for Work and Pensions to understand what could be done to reduce the number of appeals being submitted to the tribunal, through their focus on improving decision-making and the mandatory reconsideration process.
We are also taking forward initiatives with potential to increase the capacity and performance of the tribunal, for instance by introducing case management “triage” sessions, with the aim of reducing the time taken for appeals to reach final determination.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the number of personal independence payment cases appealed to HM Courts and Tribunal Service in each quarter since January 2015.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Information about the volumes and outcomes of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appeals to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) (SSCS) is published at:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics
Latest figures (to June 2018) indicate that since PIP was introduced, 3.5 million decisions have been made, and of these 9% have been appealed and 4% have been overturned at tribunals.
We are working with the Department for Work and Pensions to understand what could be done to reduce the number of appeals being submitted to the tribunal, through their focus on improving decision-making and the mandatory reconsideration process.
We are also taking forward initiatives with potential to increase the capacity and performance of the tribunal, for instance by introducing case management “triage” sessions, with the aim of reducing the time taken for appeals to reach final determination.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2018 to Question 194070 on Wales Office: Procurement, what proportion of procurement contracts his Department awarded to SMEs in each of the last three years.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) does not record the percentage of contracts awarded each financial year with Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) companies. However, the MoJ does have a commitment that a percentage of its spend each year will be with SME’s. The below table provides the spend with SME’s for 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 against the MoJ’s target percentage.
Year | Total Procurement Spend (£m) | Direct Spend with SMEs (£m) | Direct Spend with SMEs as % | Indirect Spend with SMEs (£m) | Indirect Spend with SMEs as % | Total SME Spend as % | Central Government Target Percentage |
15/16 | £4,362 | £1,386 | 29.9% | £196 | 4.2% | 34.2% | 25% |
16/17 | £4,305 | £1,257 | 29.2% | £317 | 7.4% | 36.6% | 33% |
The figures for the MoJ spend with SME’s for 2017/2018 are currently going through the governance and approval process ahead of being published and therefore cannot be released yet. The MoJ target percentage for spend with SMEs will be set out in the MoJ Action Plan due to be published shortly. Since January 2011, details of central government contracts above the value of £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder. Contracts published prior to 26 February 2015 can be viewed at: https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive Those published after 26 February 2015 can be viewed at: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search”