Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people resident in Wales prior to entering custody, were in prison (a) on remand, (b) sentenced to under 12 months, (c) sentenced to between 12 months and 4 years, (d) sentenced to 4 years and over, in (i) March 2024, (ii) June 2024, (iii) September 2024, and (iv) December 2024.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The requested information has been provided as an Excel file alongside this response. The dataset for December 2024 is a subset of data scheduled to be published as part of the Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK release and cannot be provided in advance of that publication. In addition, the numbers 1 and 2 have been replaced with the symbol ‘≤2’ to avoid any risk of individual identification.
Around 99% of prisoners have an origin location - i.e. addresses that are recorded in our central IT system. If no address is given, an offender’s committal court address is used as a proxy for the area in which they are resident. This information is included in the data provided in the tables attached. No address has been recorded and no court information is available for around 1% of all offenders; these figures are excluded from the tables attached.
It is also important to stress that ithe data shown are not necessarily representative of those who identify as English or Welsh. The results are sorted by origin address (home address on reception into custody) and not nationality.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people resident in Wales prior to entering custody, were held in prison across England and Wales by (a) each local authority area and (b) prison in (i) March 2024, (ii) June 2024, (iii) September 2024 and (iv) December 2024.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The requested information has been provided as an Excel file alongside this response. The dataset for December 2024 is a subset of data scheduled to be published as part of the Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK release and cannot be provided in advance of that publication. In addition, the numbers 1 and 2 have been replaced with the symbol ‘≤2’ to avoid any risk of individual identification.
Around 99% of prisoners have an origin location - i.e. addresses that are recorded in our central IT system. If no address is given, an offender’s committal court address is used as a proxy for the area in which they are resident. This information is included in the data provided in the tables attached. No address has been recorded and no court information is available for around 1% of all offenders; these figures are excluded from the tables attached.
It is also important to stress that ithe data shown are not necessarily representative of those who identify as English or Welsh. The results are sorted by origin address (home address on reception into custody) and not nationality.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people with a home address in Wales prior to entering custody were in prison in (a) March, (b) June, (c) September and (d) December 2024 by prison.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The requested information has been provided as an Excel file alongside this response. The dataset for December 2024 is a subset of data scheduled to be published as part of the Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK release and cannot be provided in advance of that publication. In addition, the numbers 1 and 2 have been replaced with the symbol ‘≤2’ to avoid any risk of individual identification.
Around 99% of prisoners have an origin location - i.e. addresses that are recorded in our central IT system. If no address is given, an offender’s committal court address is used as a proxy for the area in which they are resident. This information is included in the data provided in the tables attached. No address has been recorded and no court information is available for around 1% of all offenders; these figures are excluded from the tables attached.
It is also important to stress that ithe data shown are not necessarily representative of those who identify as English or Welsh. The results are sorted by origin address (home address on reception into custody) and not nationality.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people resident in Wales prior to entering custody were (a) serving an IPP sentence, (b) sentenced to life imprisonment, (c) on recall, (d) serving a non-criminal sentence and (e) serving an unknown sentence in (i) March 2024, (ii) June 2024, (iii) September 2024 and (iv) December 2024.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The requested information has been provided as an Excel file alongside this response. The dataset for December 2024 is a subset of data scheduled to be published as part of the Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK release and cannot be provided in advance of that publication. In addition, the numbers 1 and 2 have been replaced with the symbol ‘≤2’ to avoid any risk of individual identification.
Around 99% of prisoners have an origin location - i.e. addresses that are recorded in our central IT system. If no address is given, an offender’s committal court address is used as a proxy for the area in which they are resident. This information is included in the data provided in the tables attached. No address has been recorded and no court information is available for around 1% of all offenders; these figures are excluded from the tables attached.
It is also important to stress that ithe data shown are not necessarily representative of those who identify as English or Welsh. The results are sorted by origin address (home address on reception into custody) and not nationality.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of routinely publishing disaggregated data for Wales.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice recognises the value of routinely publishing disaggregated data for Wales. This is important for the effective delivery of justice.
The Ministry of Justice already collects, disaggregates and routinely publishes a wealth of data for Wales, including headline data on prison population (for example by age, offence group and ethnicity, and whether on remand or sentenced) and headline safety in custody data (for example deaths, self-harm and assaults on staff). We routinely publish a variety of probation data too, for example numbers of offenders starting community orders, accommodation, and employment activity. In addition, nearly all published courts and tribunals data is available for England and Wales separately.
In line with our approach to all our statistical publications, we continue to keep the content under review.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people released on home detention curfew were recalled to prison in (a) Wales and (b) England in each of the last 20 years.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We have provided the requested information in the Tables 1 and 2 below.
Data on total HDC recalls from 2015 onwards can be found in Table 1. A further breakdown of HDC recalls prior to 2015 could only be supplied at disproportionate cost.
Table 1: Recalls from Home Detention Curfew to prisons in England and prisons in Wales, 2015 to 2023
Year | England | Wales |
2015 | 551 | 19 |
2016 | 523 | 13 |
2017 | 582 | 40 |
2018 | 1,575 | 93 |
2019 | 2,296 | 142 |
2020 | 2,040 | 154 |
2021 | 1,503 | 117 |
2022 | 1,284 | 92 |
2023 | 1,304 | 65 |
Data sources and quality
The figures in this table 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.
Methodological note
Recall data presented here are calculated on the basis of those who were recalled (and subsequently returned to custody) in this period, how many were on HDC. This is different to the method used in Offender Management Statistics Quarterly which looks at the number released to HDC who were later recalled. Numbers will therefore not be comparable.
Source: Prison NOMIS
Table 2: HDC releases from prisons in England and prisons in Wales, 2004 to 2023
Year | England | Wales |
2004 | 18,514 | 781 |
2005 | 16,586 | 710 |
2006 | 13,157 | 509 |
2007 | 11,063 | 365 |
2008 | 11,403 | 318 |
2009 | 11,144 | 390 |
2010 | 11,915 | 335 |
2011 | 12,364 | 363 |
2012 | 12,330 | 473 |
2013 | 9,958 | 461 |
2014 | 8,228 | 386 |
2015 | 8,236 | 375 |
2016 | 8,613 | 429 |
2017 | 8,773 | 547 |
2018 | 13,699 | 1,070 |
2019 | 11,854 | 978 |
2020 | 9,884 | 905 |
2021 | 8,575 | 818 |
2022 | 7,950 | 781 |
2023 | 7,213 | 707 |
Data sources and quality
The figures in this table 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.
Source: Prison NOMIS
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were released on home detention curfew in (a) Wales and (b) England in each of the last 20 years.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We have provided the requested information in the Tables 1 and 2 below.
Data on total HDC recalls from 2015 onwards can be found in Table 1. A further breakdown of HDC recalls prior to 2015 could only be supplied at disproportionate cost.
Table 1: Recalls from Home Detention Curfew to prisons in England and prisons in Wales, 2015 to 2023
Year | England | Wales |
2015 | 551 | 19 |
2016 | 523 | 13 |
2017 | 582 | 40 |
2018 | 1,575 | 93 |
2019 | 2,296 | 142 |
2020 | 2,040 | 154 |
2021 | 1,503 | 117 |
2022 | 1,284 | 92 |
2023 | 1,304 | 65 |
Data sources and quality
The figures in this table 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.
Methodological note
Recall data presented here are calculated on the basis of those who were recalled (and subsequently returned to custody) in this period, how many were on HDC. This is different to the method used in Offender Management Statistics Quarterly which looks at the number released to HDC who were later recalled. Numbers will therefore not be comparable.
Source: Prison NOMIS
Table 2: HDC releases from prisons in England and prisons in Wales, 2004 to 2023
Year | England | Wales |
2004 | 18,514 | 781 |
2005 | 16,586 | 710 |
2006 | 13,157 | 509 |
2007 | 11,063 | 365 |
2008 | 11,403 | 318 |
2009 | 11,144 | 390 |
2010 | 11,915 | 335 |
2011 | 12,364 | 363 |
2012 | 12,330 | 473 |
2013 | 9,958 | 461 |
2014 | 8,228 | 386 |
2015 | 8,236 | 375 |
2016 | 8,613 | 429 |
2017 | 8,773 | 547 |
2018 | 13,699 | 1,070 |
2019 | 11,854 | 978 |
2020 | 9,884 | 905 |
2021 | 8,575 | 818 |
2022 | 7,950 | 781 |
2023 | 7,213 | 707 |
Data sources and quality
The figures in this table 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.
Source: Prison NOMIS
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) community sentences, (b) deferred sentences, (c) conditional discharges and (d) custodial sentences have been given in (i) Wales and (ii) England in each of the last 20 years.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on sentences given at criminal courts in England and Wales between January 2010 and June 2024 in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics.
The attached table provides the requested breakdown of sentences for England (Tab 1) and Wales (Tab 2) for the requested time period 2004 to 2009.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what training is available through the medium of Welsh for probation officers in Wales.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Currently, whilst we do not offer national training for Probation Officers in Welsh we can provide learning materials and effective practice briefings in Welsh upon request.
We are dedicated to fostering a workplace environment that encourages and embraces the use of the Welsh language in daily work practices. This commitment includes a staff Welsh language forum, and we will soon be launching a Welsh Language Skills Policy focused on supporting our staff.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) standard delivery, (b) fast delivery, and (c) oral pre-sentence reports have been produced in (i) Wales and (ii) England in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Pre-sentence reports (PSRs) provide an expert assessment of the nature and causes of the offender's behaviour, the risk the offender poses and to whom, as well as an independent recommendation of the options available to support the independent judiciary in deciding the appropriate sentence. The decision on whether to direct the preparation of a PSR and any adjournment to produce that report is, along with the sentence itself, a matter for the independent judiciary. Since 2014, the following numbers of PSRs have been produced in Wales and England:
Wales
Type | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
Wales total | 10,470 | 10,385 | 9,297 | 8,134 | 7,915 | 7,357 | 6,097 | 6,221 | 5,943 | 6,488 |
Standard Delivery PSR | 1,230 | 976 | 603 | 425 | 413 | 438 | 433 | 520 | 442 | 585 |
Fast Delivery PSR written | 4,942 | 5,593 | 4,257 | 4,004 | 3,903 | 2,796 | 2,882 | 3,306 | 3,339 | 3,680 |
Fast Delivery PSR oral | 4,298 | 3,816 | 4,437 | 3,705 | 3,599 | 4,123 | 2,782 | 2,395 | 2,162 | 2,223 |
England
Type | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
England total | 131,462 | 148,893 | 138,999 | 121,508 | 105,313 | 95,647 | 61,980 | 82,436 | 77,297 | 84,880 |
Standard Delivery PSR | 32,523 | 24,774 | 8,993 | 4,314 | 3,292 | 2,848 | 2,132 | 3,028 | 3,119 | 4,374 |
Fast Delivery PSR written | 64,078 | 76,934 | 58,720 | 45,411 | 39,419 | 41,833 | 39,970 | 59,217 | 55,036 | 61,979 |
Fast Delivery PSR oral | 34,861 | 47,185 | 71,286 | 71,783 | 62,602 | 50,966 | 19,878 | 20,191 | 19,142 | 18,527 |
Excludes breach, deferred sentence and court review reports (for further details please see the guide to offender management statistics, available at: Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK).
Between April and June 2020, the number of cases processed at the criminal courts was substantially reduced as a result of the operational restrictions that were put in place on 23 March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the impact of these operational restrictions continued into subsequent periods, the figures in more recent periods have recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
The figures for England include a handful of pre-sentence reports prepared by the National Security Division (NSD), which was introduced in 2021 under the Probation Reform Programme and is specifically tasked with the enhanced monitoring of terrorists, serious organised criminals and very high-risk offenders.
Data quality: The figures in these tables 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.
Data source: National Delius case management system
Information on the numbers of PSRs for England and Wales is published as part of the Ministry of Justice’s official statistics available at: Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK.