Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress he has made on implementing the key findings from the 2016 Farmer Review on cutting the cycle of re-offending.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The report of Lord Farmer’s review, The Importance of Strengthening Prisoners Family Ties to Prevent Reoffending and Reduce Intergenerational Crime, commissioned in 2016, was published on 10 August 2017. It made 19 recommendations designed both to improve and to standardise the provision of family services across the prison estate in England and Wales.
All of the recommendations have been actioned and all but one linked to new training already embedded as part of our core business.
The changes we have implemented include the introduction of a secure social video calling service in all prisons; a Families Performance Metric for prisons; and additional HMPPS funding to strengthen prisons’ communication with prisoners’ families
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to help reduce the processing time for probate applications.
Answered by Mike Freer
Despite record level of receipts in 2022 the average length of time taken for a grant of probate following receipt of the documents required has been maintained at between 5 and 8 weeks.
HMCTS has increased resources to meet the higher demand following an increased number of estates requiring probate and is further increasing resourcing to further bring down overall timeliness on digital and paper applications.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to tackle illegal drug use within the prison system.
Answered by Damian Hinds
As part of the cross-government Drugs Strategy, MoJ received up to £120m funding to get more offenders into treatment. We work closely with NHS England to ensure that all those who need drug treatment in prison have access to a full range of high-quality treatment, with a focus on abstinence-based recovery.
To do this we are rolling out up to 18 new Drug Recovery Wings, providing a dedicated space for prisoners to focus on achieving abstinence from illicit drugs and prescribed substitutes such as methadone. We are also opening 100 Incentivised Substance Free Living Wings, recruiting Drug Strategy Leads in all male category C and women's prisons to coordinate a whole system approach to tackling drugs, as well as Health and Justice Coordinators nationwide to ensure continuity of care for prison leavers.
We have also invested £100m in prison security to prevent drugs from entering prison in the first place through our Security Investment Programme, including reducing the conveyance of illicit items such as drugs and mobile phones.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on what the average custodial sentence for a person convicted of murder was in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Edward Argar
The Ministry of Justice holds data on the average length of the minimum term (sometimes known as a ‘tariff’) for life sentences for murder convictions, as is set out below.
Year of Sentence | Mean Tariff (years) | Mean Tariff (months) |
2012 | 20 | 244 |
2013 | 20 | 246 |
2014 | 20 | 245 |
2015 | 20 | 248 |
2016 | 20 | 251 |
2017 | 20 | 248 |
2018 | 21 | 253 |
2019 | 21 | 255 |
2020 | 21 | 254 |
2021 | 21 | 252 |
Data sources and quality
Note that the minimum term is the time between date of sentence and tariff expiry date. The figures do not include whole-life orders. The numbers are subject to revision as more data become available; any changes in the numbers since the last publication of this information is as a result of more sentencing data becoming available.
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.
Source: Public Protection Unit Database.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department last undertook a review of the sentencing guidelines for murder.
Answered by Edward Argar
Murder convictions must attract a mandatory life sentence. Schedule 21 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (now Schedule 21 of the Sentencing Act 2020) introduced statutory guidance to be applied by the independent courts when setting the minimum term of imprisonment, which is followed by release on licence.
The Government regularly reviews Schedule 21, most recently as part of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 which expanded the list of whole life order (WLO) starting points to include the premediated murder of a child and enabled judges to impose a WLO on those aged 18-20 in exceptional circumstances.
Furthermore, in 2021 the Government commissioned an independent expert, Clare Wade KC, to undertake a review of domestic homicide sentencing. The review was delivered to the department in June 2022 and the Government is carefully considering its recommendations and next steps.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average custodial sentence length is for a prisoner convicted of a knife crime.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The Ministry of Justice publishes quarterly ‘Knife and Offensive Weapons Statistics’ available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/knife-possession-sentencing-quarterly.
Information on sentence lengths can be found within the main data tables, specifically, table 3 Information on repeat offenders can be found in tables 7 to 9 (inclusive).
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of granting a pay rise to prison officers.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Prison Officer pay rates are reviewed annually through the Prison Service Pay Review Body (PSPRB) process. The PSPRB process for 2022/23 is currently underway.
When considering our proposals to the Prison Service Pay Review Body (PSPRB) we carefully consider the expected impact on recruitment, retention and staff morale of any proposed pay award. We have recently submitted our evidence to the PSPRB for the coming pay round which proposes a pay award for all Prison Officers.
PSPRB information be found on the Gov UK website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/prison-services-pay-review-body.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the risks faced by prison officers in London; and what steps he is taking to improve the safety of prison officers.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Violence against our dedicated staff will never be tolerated. We work closely with the Police and the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure that prisoners who are violent towards staff will face the full consequences of their actions. We continue to support the effective use of the current 6,000 Body Worn Video Cameras across the estate, enabling every operational band 3-5 officer on duty to carry a camera, gathering vital evidence to enable prosecutions, and improve safety outcomes.
Continuous analysis is being undertaken to look at staff assaults within prison, and we are committed to making prisons a safe place to work and providing prison officers with the right support, training, and tools to empower them to do their jobs. As London prisons ease restrictions, they will be focusing on analysing regime and violence data to improve our understanding of the links between the two, using the opportunity we have in re-opening our regimes to engage in conflict resolution and restorative justice work. Safety is a key priority area for prisons, and we have committed to invest £34m of ring-fenced investment over the next three years to improve key safety outcomes by making prisons safer for both prisoners and staff. Further, we are continuing to deliver on our £100 million security investment programme with X-ray body scanners being installed in prisons across the estate along with the establishment and expansion of our Serious Organised Crime unit, and Crime in Prisons taskforce.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that people subject to short custodial prison sentences do not become homeless upon leaving prison.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Our Prisons Strategy White Paper sets out our vision that no one who is subject to probation supervision is released from prison homeless.
There will be a Short Sentence Function implemented in all regions by June 2022 who will work with all people on probation with 10 months or less to serve in prison. This will enable them to be fast tracked and offered direct engagement.
All sentenced people (including those on short term sentences) are eligible for support from specialist providers, including accommodation specialists. They will receive support prior to release to address their identified needs, including sustaining tenancies as appropriate.
We have introduced a new provision of temporary accommodation and support for up to 12 weeks after release for prison leavers at risk of homelessness. Initially launched in 5 probation regions, we will expand this service nationally.
In 2021, we also introduced Housing Specialists in twenty prisons, including four women’s prisons, to support prisons and probation in their strategic response to reducing homelessness. We intend to increase these to 48 across England and Wales, including across the women’s estate.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what housing support is provided to women held on remand; and what steps his Department takes to help ensure that people with tenancies do not lose them while in custody.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
We know women released from prison face significant barriers to securing suitable accommodation. Earlier support to find accommodation, whilst they are held on remand, can help.
Women on remand are supported to meet their immediate resettlement needs and prepare for release by Probation pre-release staff in prisons. We have committed to supplementing the existing support from Probation staff with access to specialist accommodation support, including the sustaining of tenancies as appropriate and finance and debt support, for all women on remand or sentenced in custody. We aim to have commenced this additional provision by the summer of this year.
In 2021, we also introduced Housing Specialists in twenty prisons, including four women’s prisons, to support prisons and probation in their strategic response to reducing homelessness. We intend to increase these to 48 across England and Wales, including across the women’s estate.