Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications for probate grants were received by his Department in September (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) 2023.
Answered by Mike Freer
The number applications for probate received in September (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) 2023 are as follows:
(a) 21,742
(b) 23,480
(c) 22,158
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many illegal drugs have been seized (a) since the £100 million funding for prison x ray scanners was completed in 2020 and (b) in the comparable time period before that funding was allocated.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Delivery of the £100m Security Investment Programme was completed in March 2022 and included measures to prevent the smuggling of illicit items, such as drugs, into prisons. Under this investment, 75 additional X-ray body scanners were deployed, resulting in full coverage of the entire closed adult male prison estate. Between July 2020 and October 2022 there were approximately 28,000 positive indications on these X-ray body scanners.
The number of incidents where drugs are found in prisons in England and Wales is published in the HMPPS Annual Digest through the incidents data tool. Between April 2020 and March 2022, there were 37,995 drug find incidents in prisons in England and Wales. In comparison, between April 2018 and March 2020, there were 39,900 drug find incidents in prisons in England and Wales.
This reports the number of drug find incidents rather than the amount of drugs found, and incidents can include different quantities of drugs. It is important to consider with incidents of drug finds in prisons, that an increase in numbers may be as a result of more items being found, rather than more items being present in prisons.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce the number of offenders on licence that are recalled to prison.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Public protection is our priority. The decision to recall on offender on licensed supervision is taken on the professional advice of senior probation staff following consideration of safe alternatives to recall. Recalled individuals will remain in prison for only as long as necessary to protect the public.
HM Chief Inspector of Probation’s thematic review on Probation Recall Culture & Practice, published in 2020 following the case of Joseph McCann, found that “…public protection and the protection of victims are central to probation service decision-making on recall…alternatives to recall are routinely considered where appropriate, but this does not compromise the focus of decision-making on public protection.”
The Chief Inspector is currently undertaking a thematic review of recalls of offenders serving a sentence of imprisonment for public protection (IPP). We expect to receive the report in early 2024 and will consider its findings very carefully.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to update the Disclosure of Youth Criminal Records processes for records becoming sealed.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The Government has no plans for criminal records to be “sealed”. The Government agrees with the 2017 Justice Select Committee report, ‘Disclosure of youth criminal records’, which found that, whilst there may be some merits in this, it would create “unsustainable pressures” on the body responsible for deciding if a record should be sealed. As the report recommended, we are instead focused on reforming the existing automatic filtering system.
In November 2020, we implemented secondary legislation that changed the rules governing criminal records disclosure for those working with children, vulnerable adults or in a position of public trust, removing (for example) the requirement to disclose youth cautions. Further changes introduced by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 significantly reduce the length of time that someone needs to disclose their criminal record for custodial sentences of under four years and community sentences.
We believe that these reforms will continue to ensure we strike the right balance between public protection and ensuring that individuals, and in particular children, who committed minor offences can move on with their lives as quickly as possible.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many additional Probation Service staff he expects to recruit by 2024.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Between 19 September 2023 and 31 December 2023 and based on latest monthly returns from the business, the Probation Service is anticipating recruiting a gross figure of 843 FTE (Full Time Equivalent) staff.
These additional staff include permanent joiners and fixed-term appointments. However, this figure is likely to change in future months as updated information on recruitment progress is made. No trainee Probation Officer recruitment is included as intakes generally start in early March and September each year.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the volume of illegal drugs found in prisons between (a) 2013 and 2017 and (b) 2018 and 2022.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The number of incidents where drugs are found in prisons in England and Wales is published in the HMPPS Annual Digest through the incidents data tool.
a) Between 2013 and 2017, there were 41,354 drug find incidents in prisons in England and Wales.
b) Between 2018 and 2022. There were 92,130 drug find incidents in prisons in England and Wales.
It is important to consider with incidents of drug finds in prisons, that an increase in numbers may be as a result of more items being found, rather than more items being present in prisons.
Delivery of the £100m Security Investment Programme was completed in March 2022 and included measures to prevent the smuggling of illicit items such as drugs into prisons. The Investment included deployment of Enhanced Gate Security at 42 high-risk sites and 75 additional X-ray body scanners, giving full coverage across the closed adult male prison estate.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of re-offending amongst former prisoners in each of the last five years.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The average overall proven reoffending rate for adults released from custody in England and Wales was 38.0% in 2020/21 (the latest year for which reoffending data is available), down from 48.4% in 2016/17.
Information on reoffending rates up to 2021 can be found online in our Proven Reoffending Collection: Proven reoffending statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions prisoners who were granted temporary release on compassionate grounds failed to return to prison on the date they were required to do so in each of the last five years.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The table below shows the number of prisoners that failed to return to English and Welsh prisons from temporary release on compassionate grounds in each of the last five years.
Number of prisoners that failed to return from temporary release1,2,3 on compassionate release4 in England and Wales, 2018-19 to 2022-23 | |
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Year | Number of failures to return5 |
2018-19 | 2 |
2019-20 | 5 |
2020-21 | 4 |
2021-22 | 4 |
2022-23 | 3 |
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(1) Figures can include incidents within the youth estate, but exclude incidents at Medway STC | |
(2) A temporary release failure after a release on temporary licence (ROTL) occurs when a prisoner fails to adhere to any condition written into the licence that permits their temporary release. Such conditions include the date and time by which the prisoner is required to return to the prison and may also place restrictions on where the prisoner may go and whom they may visit during the period of release, etc. | |
(3) Failure to return after release on temporary licence is the subset of the above where an offender has not returned to the establishment by midnight on the date of return given in the licence. | |
(4) Figures for compassionate release include where the type of temporary release was either 'funeral/visiting dying relative', 'medical treatment' (special purpose medical only) or 'other compassionate release' | |
(5) The figures include all failures to return, not only those where failure to return is the most serious type of failure | |
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Data Sources and Quality | |
These figures have been drawn from the HMPPS Incident Reporting System. Care is taken when processing and analysing returns but the detail is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Although shown to the last case, the figures may not be accurate to that level. | |
The Prison Rules in England and Wales provide that a prisoner may be allowed to leave prison for short periods on temporary licence (ROTL). ROTL under special purpose licence (SPL) is permitted for compelling compassionate reasons not directly linked to resettlement; for example, to allow the prisoner to attend medical appointments.
Public protection is our priority. All offenders must meet strict criteria and pass a full risk assessment, involving all relevant agencies, before being considered for release on temporary licence (ROTL).
By providing opportunities to work, learn and build family ties, temporary release from prison helps ensure offenders don't return to crime when they leave prison. Evidence shows the vast majority abide by their temporary release conditions, with the compliance rate standing at well over 99%. In 2022-23, for example, there were 7,165 temporary releases for compassionate reasons and only 3 failures to return. Non-compliance is, and will continue to be, dealt with robustly.
Justice matters in Northern Ireland are devolved.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his timeline is for delivering the 20,000 additional modern prison places announced by his Department on 18 February 2022.
Answered by Damian Hinds
So far c.5,400 places have been delivered. This includes two new c.1,700 place prisons, HMP Five Wells, which opened last year, and HMP Fosse Way, which accepted its first prisoners at the end of May. At least 6,400 prison places are anticipated to be delivered by the end of May 2024, rising to over 8,000 by the end of May 2025, including places already delivered to date. In addition to these places, we have extended the lease at HMP Dartmoor, maintaining 680 places from December 2023.
Our prison builds are complex capital projects, which are being delivered within challenging market conditions. Securing planning permission is a significant factor in timelines; we have submitted planning appeals following refusal of three applications for sites in Lancashire, Leicestershire, and Buckinghamshire and await decisions. Given the planning appeals are ongoing and subject to a recovered decision by DLUHC, it would not be appropriate to comment further. If planning is successful, these prisons would open as soon as possible to meet the pressing demand on prison places.
We will push for earlier delivery of places wherever possible, and we are continuing to press ahead with further options to delivery capacity across the estate.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to reply to the correspondence from the hon. Member for East Londonderry of 2 March 2023 on non-disclosure of legal aid costs.
Answered by Mike Freer
The Ministry of Justice takes the handling of correspondence seriously and in this instance, due to an administrative error, there was a delay in responding. We apologise for the delay and will respond to the correspondence in question within one week.