Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many individuals are serving an imprisonment for public protection sentence in England and Wales.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The information you ask for is available in the public domain in so far as it relates to those serving the IPP sentence in prison; however, I have provided it for ease of reference. As at 31 March 2019, 2,403 prisoners were serving IPP sentences and who have never been released, and a further 1,063 prisoners were in custody having been recalled from the community.
Data on prisoners serving IPP sentences are published quarterly as part of the Offender Management Statistics bulletin: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2018
It is for the independent Parole Board to review the detention of those prisoners serving an IPP sentence who have completed their tariff period. The Board will direct the release of these prisoners only if it is satisfied that the levels of risk posed to the general public are reduced enough that the National Probation Service and its partner agencies can safely manage them in the community under supervision.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average length of time is that a prison officer remains working in their role.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The average length of time a Band 3-5 prison officer working in their role, for those in post as at 31st March 2019 is 10.1 years.
Average working time in role is calculated by taking total length of service of all prison officers divided by the number of prison officers (Headcount), as at 31st March 2019.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what statistics his Department holds on the number of (a) perinatal women in custody and (b) babies born on prison estates.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Information relating to births and pregnancy is recorded locally. Work is currently underway to look at what information related to pregnancy and birth can be collected centrally.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress he has made on plans to revise the Prison Service Instruction for Mother and Baby Units which expired at the end of last year; and whether those plans will include mandatory standards for the care and support of all pregnant women and new mothers in custody, including those who are separated from their babies.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
There are plans to conduct a full review of the Mother and Baby Unit instruction imminently, and will consult with stakeholders in the summer. As part of the review we will look at what can usefully be included within the instruction to support all pregnant women and new mothers. This will also take account of mothers who are separated from their babies. The review will involve consultation from colleges in other government departments as well as our stakeholders.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how often the judiciary in family courts including the lay bench have mandatory specialist training on domestic abuse.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, responsibility for the training of the judiciary rests with the Lord Chief Justice as Head of the Judiciary. This is exercised through the Judicial College under judicial direction. The Lord Chief Justice requires judges and magistrates to attend induction training before sitting in Private Family law cases, which includes a module on dealing with domestic abuse, and thereafter attend continuation training for the family jurisdiction, which also includes a domestic abuse module, on a minimum of a three-year cycle. Judicial guidance on domestic abuse in child arrangements and contact cases is provided by Practice Direction 12J and vulnerable persons’ participation by Practice Direction 3AA which are available under the procedure rules on the justice website.
The Judicial College produces two core training packs on domestic abuse specifically for magistrates: one for the criminal jurisdiction, and one for the family jurisdiction about domestic abuse and its effects, including the effect of domestic abuse on children. The Family Court Bench Book to support magistrates was updated and re-published in 2018.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many children are currently being represented by children and family court advisory and support service guardians in courts in England.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
In total, the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) is acting as a Guardian for 25,440 children (22,007 in public law and 3,433 in private law Rule 6.4 cases).
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many fact-finding hearings where domestic abuse is alleged have been conducted since the revised Practice Direction PD12J – Domestic Abuse was introduced on 2 October 2017.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Ministry of Justice does not hold the requested data. Family court statistics are published on a quarterly basis in the Family Court Statistics Quarterly, which is publicly available on gov.uk. However, this data does not distinguish between fact-finding hearings and the number of hearings overall.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how often Cafcass professionals undergo mandatory specialist training on domestic abuse.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Cafcass provides all social work staff who join with specialist training on domestic abuse. Cafcass has a range of tools for identifying domestic abuse, assessing its impact and making recommendations to the court about programmes to address perpetrator behaviour and the implications for child arrangements.
Guidance and programmes have been developed in collaboration with a range of organisations with specialist knowledge of domestic abuse. In addition to training, Cafcass has: monthly ‘Learning and Development Bulletins’ highlighting recent learning; ‘knowledge alerts’ that are shared when new practices are in place; ‘development days’ for teams on relevant topics; eLearning (via Cafcass’ eLearning platform which includes learning specific to domestic abuse) and; the Cafcass Library which provides up-to-date information.
Cafcass has recently made several commitments to improve training around domestic abuse. Cafcass has commissioned additional training from Barnardo’s on the domestic violence risk identification matrix tool, with a view to considering how this material can complement the Cafcass domestic abuse pathway. Cafcass also works closely with Respect on best practice for working with perpetrators as part of national commissioning of perpetrator programmes.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress he is making in the development of the new women centres announced on 27 June 2018; and if he will ensure that such provision will be made available in Wales.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We are working with local and national partners to develop a pilot for ‘residential women’s centres’ in at least five sites across England and Wales.
Over the next few months, we are undertaking an initial engagement process with stakeholders and potential providers and partners to refine the design and delivery model for the pilot. This will support our co-design approach for taking forward the pilot.
As part of this engagement process, we want to identify the most suitable areas for the pilot sites. It is not possible yet to say where they will be at this time. However, as with other areas, we are keen to engage with stakeholders and partners in Wales to determine appetite and suitability.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assistance his Department provides for women engaged with the criminal justice system as a result of domestic abuse.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
We recognise that female offenders often have complex circumstances, including backgrounds of domestic abuse, and we are committed to addressing their needs. We are developing a strategy to improve outcomes for female offenders in the community and in custody.
We are taking steps to provide assistance for women engaged with the criminal justice system who have experienced domestic abuse. This includes a confidential 24-hour helpline, run by Refuge and Women’s Aid, which is available in all women’s prisons and provides practical and emotional support and advice.
We have also invested £1m between 2016 and 2020 to support local areas to develop holistic, multi-agency approaches which aim to address the complex needs of female offenders and women at risk of offending, including those who have suffered domestic abuse.
We are committed to publishing a draft Domestic Violence and Abuse Bill. This will be accompanied by a programme of non-legislative work, and an additional £20m of funding to support victims of domestic abuse. Our aim is that all victims and survivors of domestic abuse will benefit from measures brought forward following consultation, including women engaged with the criminal justice system.