Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she has made an estimate of the number of domestic abuse offenders who would be included in the Early Release Scheme.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
This Government inherited prisons days from collapse. We had no choice but to take decisive action to stop our prisons overflowing and keep the public safe. On 10 September 2024, the Government therefore took the unavoidable step to move the release point for certain standard determinate sentences from 50% to 40% (‘SDS40’).
SDS40 exclusions include sentences for specified offences linked to domestic abuse irrespective of sentence length including stalking, coercive or controlling behaviour and non-fatal strangulation. By contrast, the last Conservative Government’s End of Custody Supervised Licence (ECSL) scheme had none of these exclusions for domestic abuse connected offences.
We have published SDS40 release data as part of the quarterly Offender Management Statistics, in line with the Lord Chancellor’s commitment to transparency: Standard Determinate Sentence (SDS40) release data - GOV.UK.
On 22 May, the Lord Chancellor also set out the Government’s in-principle response to the Independent Sentencing Review’s findings and recommendations, which will replace SDS40 and help to ensure prisons never run out of space again and dangerous offenders can be kept off the streets.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of increasing the compensation offered to jurors on jury service for (a) mileage and (b) subsistence.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Jury service is an important civic duty, and we want to help jurors feel supported as they undertake this important job. The Government will keep under review all support provided to jurors throughout their service. This includes measures to assist those who may suffer financial hardship. People who are not paid by their employer whilst they are on jury service can claim a loss of earnings allowance from the court, and jurors can apply for a deferral or excusal based upon financial hardship.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she plans to take to increase jurors' compensation in line with inflation.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Jury service is an important civic duty, and we want to help jurors feel supported as they undertake this important job. The Government will keep under review all support provided to jurors throughout their service. This includes measures to assist those who may suffer financial hardship. People who are not paid by their employer whilst they are on jury service can claim a loss of earnings allowance from the court, and jurors can apply for a deferral or excusal based upon financial hardship.