Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether time spent in court cells as a disposal to a conviction in lieu of a fine is categorised as a custodial sentence for the purposes of determining that the conviction cannot be filtered from a standard or enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service certificate.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The Police Act 1997 sets out the circumstances for the disclosure of certain convictions and cautions on a standard or enhanced criminal record certificate issued by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). In particular, the Act provides for the disclosure of any conviction receiving a custodial sentence. The DBS relies on information recorded on the Police National Computer (PNC) that determines whether a conviction should be disclosed under the Act.
Time spent in court cells as a disposal to a conviction in lieu of a fine is not categorised as a custodial sentence. The sentence is treated as a fine and any time spent in custody is a committal in default of payment of the fine.
Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Community Rehabilitation Companies in delivering resettlement plans.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The latest performance statistics can be found in the ‘Community Performance Quarterly Management Information Release: update to September 2018’ on Gov.uk at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/community-performance-quarterly-update-to-september-2018
These figures show that CRC performance against target for completion of resettlement plans was at 95.5% for this period.
The Government has acted decisively in response to issues with CRC performance by bringing forward the end of CRC contracts and consulting on a range of proposals to better integrate probation provision. The contract changes we agreed with CRCs last year include £22m per year in additional funding for Through The Gate services, which will mean approximately 500 more staff working with offenders in prison after April 2019.
We have launched a consultation on proposals to introduce more effective future delivery arrangements. We want to learn from what has worked well and what hasn’t and better integrate public, private and third sector providers in future arrangements. Our changes will put in place a more stable and resilient probation system, which works effectively to protect the public and tackle reoffending.
Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been assessed by Community Rehabilitation Companies and National Probation Services for a resettlement plan in the 12 weeks prior to release from prison in each of the last three years.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The Department regularly publishes data showing the percentage of offenders who have had a resettlement plan written by Community Rehabilitation Companies (SLM013). The latest release can be found via the following link;
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/community-performance-quarterly-update-to-september-2018
It is vital that everyone leaving prison has somewhere safe, stable and secure to live. Overcoming the many barriers offenders face to securing suitable accommodation is something that Ministry of Justice cannot do in isolation.
The Secretary of State for Justice and the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government are both members of the cross-Government Rough Sleeping and Homelessness Taskforce and the Reducing Reoffending Board. Homelessness of ex-offenders is a key issue that is discussed at these meetings.
Through this work, we are investing up to £6.4m in a joint pilot scheme to support individuals released from three prisons, namely Bristol, Leeds and Pentonville. We have now launched our Invitation to Tender, to secure suppliers in the three pilot areas. This is a concrete step in our commitment to tackling rough sleeping.
Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many former prisoners who have had support via the resettlement plan were (a) sleeping rough, (b) other homeless and (c) in unsettled accommodation after (i) four, (ii) 12 and (iii) 26 weeks in each year since introduction of Community Rehabilitation Companies.
Answered by Rory Stewart
This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
It is vital that everyone leaving prison has somewhere safe, stable and secure to live. Overcoming the many barriers offenders face to securing suitable accommodation is something that Ministry of Justice cannot do in isolation.
The Secretary of State for Justice and the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government are both members of the cross-Government Rough Sleeping and Homelessness Taskforce and the Reducing Reoffending Board. Homelessness of ex-offenders is a key issue that is discussed at these meetings.
Through this work, we are investing up to £6.4m in a joint pilot scheme to support individuals released from three prisons, namely Bristol, Leeds and Pentonville. We have now launched our Invitation to Tender, to secure suppliers in the three pilot areas. This is a concrete step in our commitment to tackling rough sleeping.
Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans are in place to support local authorities to work closely with Community Rehabilitation Companies and the National Probation Service in identifying homeless ex-offenders.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) and the National Probation Service (NPS) are required to facilitate access to housing for the offenders that they are managing. This includes working together with local partners to help offenders find and maintain accommodation as part of a package of support tailored to meet their individual needs.
We know that Through The Gate provision is not currently meeting the standard we require. That is why we are investing an additional £22m per annum over the remaining life of the CRC contracts to ensure that CRCs deliver an enhanced Through The Gate service to offenders leaving prison. This investment will support approximately 500 additional CRC staff to deliver Through The Gate in prisons. Alongside this investment there will be a new specification, to be introduced shortly, which will ensure that CRCs complete specific tasks, including to help every prisoner to secure and maintain settled accommodation.
We are also investing £6m as part of the Government’s Rough Sleeping Strategy in pilot schemes bringing together prisons, local authorities, probation providers and others to plan, secure and sustain accommodation for offenders on release.
We regularly publish the performance of CRCs, including measures showing the percentage of offenders who have settled accommodation on release from custody. The latest information can be found in the ‘Community Performance Quarterly Management Information Release: update to June 2018’ on Gov.uk at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/community-performance-quarterly-mi-update-to-june-2018
Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether any targets are in place for Community Rehabilitation Companies and the National Probation Service to reduce the number of ex-offenders that are homeless.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) and the National Probation Service (NPS) are required to facilitate access to housing for the offenders that they are managing. This includes working together with local partners to help offenders find and maintain accommodation as part of a package of support tailored to meet their individual needs.
We know that Through The Gate provision is not currently meeting the standard we require. That is why we are investing an additional £22m per annum over the remaining life of the CRC contracts to ensure that CRCs deliver an enhanced Through The Gate service to offenders leaving prison. This investment will support approximately 500 additional CRC staff to deliver Through The Gate in prisons. Alongside this investment there will be a new specification, to be introduced shortly, which will ensure that CRCs complete specific tasks, including to help every prisoner to secure and maintain settled accommodation.
We are also investing £6m as part of the Government’s Rough Sleeping Strategy in pilot schemes bringing together prisons, local authorities, probation providers and others to plan, secure and sustain accommodation for offenders on release.
We regularly publish the performance of CRCs, including measures showing the percentage of offenders who have settled accommodation on release from custody. The latest information can be found in the ‘Community Performance Quarterly Management Information Release: update to June 2018’ on Gov.uk at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/community-performance-quarterly-mi-update-to-june-2018
Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were (a) released from each prison and (b) recorded as homeless on release from each prison in each of the last five years.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The exact information could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost, but we have closely related data, detailed below.
It is vital that everyone leaving prison has somewhere safe and secure to live. Having somewhere stable to live acts as a platform for ex-offenders to be able to access the services and support needed to turn their back on crime for good. Published statistics for 2017/18 showing the accommodation status for all offenders can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/community-performance-quarterly-mi-update-to-march-2018
Published statistics on releases by prison can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly
As part of the Government initiative to reduce and ultimately eliminate rough sleeping across England, we are investing up to £6.4 million over two years in a pilot scheme to help ex-offenders into accommodation from three prisons, namely Bristol, Pentonville and Leeds. The pilots will focus on male prisoners who have served shorter sentences, who have been identified as having a risk of homelessness. We have launched our Invitation to Tender, to secure suppliers in the three pilot areas. This is a concrete step in our commitment to tackling rough sleeping.
Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many meetings he has held with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to discuss homelessness of ex-offenders.
Answered by Rory Stewart
It is vital that everyone leaving prison has somewhere safe, stable and secure to live. Overcoming the many barriers offenders face to securing suitable accommodation is something that Ministry of Justice cannot do in isolation.
The Secretary of State for Justice and the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government are both members of the cross-Government Rough Sleeping and Homelessness Taskforce and the Reducing Reoffending Board. Homelessness of ex-offenders is a key issue that is discussed at these meetings.
Through this work, we are investing up to £6.4m in a joint pilot scheme to support individuals released from three prisons, namely Bristol, Leeds and Pentonville. We have now launched our Invitation to Tender, to secure suppliers in the three pilot areas. This is a concrete step in our commitment to tackling rough sleeping.
Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether offences of shop theft of goods worth £200 or less are classified summary-only crimes since the introduction of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Section 176 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 inserted into the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 a deeming provision (section 22A) whereby shop theft of goods worth £200 or less (‘low-value shoplifting’) is treated as a summary only offence unless the accused elects to be tried by a judge and jury.
Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many women whose home address is in North Wales served sentences of (a) less than six months and (b) six months or more at HMP Styal in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The department is unable to identify the total number of women in each year as the information is not centrally held. Table 1 in the attached instead sets out the number of women with a home address in North Wales held at HMP Styal who were serving less than/more than 6 months at quarterly intervals over the last 5 years.
Table 2 attached, shows the number of women remanded to HMP Styal by a court in North Wales since 2014.
There is persuasive evidence that short custodial sentences do not work in terms of rehabilitation and that community sentences, in certain circumstances, are more effective in reducing reoffending, and therefore keeping the public safe. We will therefore be looking at what more we can do to emphasise that short custodial sentences should be viewed as a last resort.
In June we published our female offender strategy which makes clear that we want fewer women serving short sentences in custody and more remaining in the community, making use of women’s centres to address needs such as substance misuse and mental health problems.