Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of people imprisoned for terror-related offences in each year since 2010 held a previous terror-related conviction and have been re-admitted to prison for subsequent terror-related convictions.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Between January 2013 and December 2020, 7 individuals convicted of a terrorist offence (who have been convicted under the Terrorism Act 2000 and 2006) have been released from prison and then convicted of a further terrorist offence (under the Terrorism Act 2000 and 2006) in England and Wales. Unfortunately, we will be unable to break down this figure further as it may reveal sensitive personal data.
Prior to 2013, release data on Terrorism Act offenders was held at a local and regional level by relevant law enforcement partners, but not recorded centrally by the Ministry of Justice, meaning we are unable to provide data before 2013. Recidivism rates for Scotland and Northern Ireland are not held by the Ministry of Justice as prisons are a devolved matter.
From the year ending June 2014 to year ending June 2020 the number of terrorist prisoners released from prison custody was 387 in Great Britain. This number includes historical terrorism cases which pre-date the introduction of the Terrorist Acts (2000 & 2006) and where an individual was imprisoned pre-2001 following a terrorist investigation, acts of terrorism, or for membership of a proscribed organisation.
We use a range of rehabilitation approaches to manage terrorists before and after they are released from custody and use a robust multi-agency approach to monitor extremists released into the community. Our new legislation means terrorists now face tougher sentences, will stay in prison for longer and be subject to appropriately strict licence conditions on release.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people released on licence with a terror-related conviction have been recalled to prison after breaching their licence conditions in each year since 2010; and what proportion of these were recalled specifically for engaging in subsequent terror-related activity for each year.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The numbers of offenders with a terror-related conviction who have been released on licence and subsequently recalled to prison is set out in the table below. The table also sets out how many of those individuals were recalled in connection with engaging in a terror-related activity.
Year | Number of offenders on licence for a terror-related conviction recalled to prison | Number of offenders recalled specifically for engaging in subsequent terror-related activity |
2010 | 5 | 0 |
2011 | 5 | 1 |
2012 | 3 | 0 |
2013 | 6 | 1 |
2014 | 7 | 0 |
2015 | 3 | 0 |
2016 | 8 | 1 |
2017 | 4 | 0 |
2018 | 4 | 2 |
2019 | 10 | 2 |
2020 (to end of June) | 10 | 0 |
These figures have been drawn from the Public Protection Unit Database held by Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service. As with any large scale recording systems, the figures are subject to possible errors with data migration and processing.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in addition to Government’s guidance on work practices and social distancing, whether he has issued specific additional advice to bailiffs and debt collectors on undertaking their work during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Government has published Covid-secure guidance for those using the taking control of goods procedure. The guidance is titled Working safely during COVID-19: enforcement agents (bailiffs) and is available on Gov.uk. It is kept under review to ensure it continues to reflect the latest public health advice.
In addition to this, the Ministry of Justice has advised that the enforcement trade associations inform their members that they should not enter residential properties in England and Wales for the purpose of enforcement by taking control of goods at this time. This advice is kept under review.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking in relation to the work of the enforcement agency industry to protect people facing financial difficulties as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Government’s guidance titled Working safely during COVID-19: enforcement agents (bailiffs) reiterates that enforcement agents should follow the guidance on vulnerability set out in the National Standards for Taking Control of Goods and ensure they act in accordance with all relevant legislation. This includes signposting individuals to debt advice organisations where appropriate and giving them an adequate opportunity to get assistance and advice.
The guidance also makes clear that enforcement agents should take into account impacts of Covid-19 when considering if an individual should be deemed vulnerable, including whether an individual is or has been symptomatic, self-isolating or shielding.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people convicted of terrorism-related charges have been released before the end date of their sentence in each year since 2010.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
In England and Wales since 2010, no terrorist offender has been released from management by HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) before the end of their sentence. As per Criminal Justice Act 2003, prisoners will serve half of their sentence in custody before being subject to strict probation supervision in the second half – which has happened in most cases. During this time terrorist offenders are subject to strict licence conditions, which can result in recall to custody if they are breached.
Regarding those terrorist offenders who have moved from prison custody to management in the community, the table below provides the data available to the department, from 2013 – 2019. This data was not collected before 2013:
Table 1: Number of TACT convicted prisoners released on conditional licence, from January 1st 2013 to December 31st 2019.*
Year | No. of Conditional Releases |
2013 | 22 |
2014 | 11 |
2015 | 16 |
2016 | 14 |
2017 | 30 |
2018 | 34 |
2019 | 22 |
The Terrorist Offenders (Restriction of Early Release) Act, which came into force on 26 February, now means that the early release of terrorist offenders serving relevant sentences, will now be subject to Parole Board decisions. The Act changes the release arrangements for terrorist offenders serving determinate sentences, moving the earliest point of release, subject to a Parole Board decision from half-way to two thirds of the custodial term.
*Data sources and quality
The above figures relate to TACT Convicted prisoners only, for this reason the numbers do not match the statistics published under the Home Office Statistical Bulletin. 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.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reduce rates of (a) self-harming and (b) suicide in prisons; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Far too many prisoners are self-harming or taking their own life and we know that relationships between staff and prisoners plays an important role in tackling this. We have therefore invested in the recruitment of over 4,500 more prison officers since 2016, an increase which has helped us to roll out the key worker scheme. Key workers provide a consistent individual prison officer with whom prisoners can establish a relationship, build trust and receive encouragement.
We have delivered improved Introduction to Self-Harm and Suicide training to over 25,000 new and existing staff, and we are investing an extra £2.75 billion to modernise prisons, combat drug use and improve the environment in which offenders live.
We are continuing our partnership with the Samaritans, awarding a grant of £500k each year for the three years to 2021. This supports the excellent Listeners scheme, through which selected prisoners are trained to provide emotional support to their fellow prisoners.
Finally, we have also sought to revise and update the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) care planning process designed to manage prisoners at risk of self-harm. Changes to ACCT were piloted between February and June 2019 and, following a full evaluation of the pilot, a revised version will be rolled out across the estate later in the year.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of inmates developing drug problems.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Initiatives including Offender Management in custody are developing and supporting rehabilitative cultures in prison, so that individuals will be supported and, if necessary referred to substance misuse services, including if their circumstances change whilst in custody.
Last year we published The National Prison Drug Strategy which has three strands: restricting supply, reducing demand and ensuring prisoners are encouraged to engage in meaningful activity and treatment interventions.
Illicit substances pose huge challenges in our prisons which is why we are investing £100million in airport-style security - including x-ray body scanners - to stop them getting in. This is part of our £2.75billion investment to make jails safer for offenders and staff, while working closely with healthcare providers to ensure prisoners have the support they need to live drug-free upon release.
Consequently, ensuring that the prison environment provides opportunities to engage in purposeful activity and commit to positive change is key to providing hope for the future and encouraging prisoners to turn away from drugs
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to improve security standards in prisons to prevent the smuggling of illicit substances for inmates.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
We are taking decisive action to improve security to: stop illicit items being smuggled in by prisoners, staff and visitors; to strengthen staff resilience to corruption; and to target organised criminals and staff who exploit prisons as a lucrative illicit market. This package of measures is being funded through the £100m investment to tackle crime from behind bars announced by the Prime Minister last summer.
Enhanced gate security will be deployed to the most challenging prisons in the estate. Cutting-edge x-ray body scanners will target prisoners smuggling illicit items into prisons. We recently announced the first 16 sites to receive this equipment and further installations will follow this year.
Whilst the vast majority of our staff are honest and hardworking, we are also investing new resource to step up our counter corruption capability and strengthen (in scale and reach) intelligence-led operations and investigations with law enforcement partners against those that present the greatest threat of harm to prison security and the community.
We will also equip sites with new technology and staff to enhance staff and visitor searching at the gate. We have already announced the first 7 sites for this provision.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish the full decision of the Parole Board in relation to the case of Ian Simms.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
I entirely understand the distress and concern felt by Marie McCourt and her family at the Parole Board’s decision to release Ian Simms, who has steadfastly refused to say what he did with Helen’s body. My heartfelt sympathies remain with the McCourt family.
The independent Parole Board has published the summary of Ian Simms release. It is uncommon for the Board to publish the decisions in full as each decision contains sensitive, personal and other confidential information. Instead, the Board produces a comprehensive summary for victims and may also publish the summary publicly.
The Secretary of State applied to the Parole Board for the release decision to be reconsidered but that was unsuccessful. The Board’s decision on the reconsideration application has also been published on its website.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) average waiting time is and (b) range of waiting times are for a tribunal hearing for personal independence payment from the date of the case being received by the tribunal service until the date of the hearing in each year since 2014 in (i) St Helens, (ii) Merseyside and (iii) nationally.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
This information is not held centrally.
HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) statistics are not calculated from receipt of the appeal to the hearing, but from receipt of the appeal to the disposal of the case. An appeal is not necessarily disposed of at its first hearing. The final disposal decision on the appeal may be reached after an earlier hearing had been adjourned (which may be directed by the judge for a variety of reasons, such as to seek further evidence), or after an earlier hearing date had been postponed (again, for a variety of reasons, often at the request of the appellant). An appeal may also have been decided at an earlier date by the First-tier Tribunal, only for the case to have gone on to the Upper Tribunal, to be returned once again to the First-tier, for its final disposal.
Information about waiting times for 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 for PIP (to December 2018) indicate that since it was introduced, 3.9 million decisions have been made. Of these, 10% have been appealed and 5% have been overturned at Tribunals.