Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his oral statement of 16 October 2023 on Prison Capacity, Official Report column 59, what criteria his Department will use to decide which less serious offenders will be moved out of prison on licence up to 18 days before their automatic release date.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Only lower-level offenders serving a Standard Determinate Sentence and due for automatic release on licence at the half-way point will be considered for removal onto licence under these arrangements. More serious and higher risk offenders whose release is a matter for the Parole Board to assess will not be in scope.
Those serving a sentence for any kind of sexual offence, terror offence or any violent offence with a sentence of more than four years will also automatically be ruled out. Offenders eligible for End of Custody Supervised Licence will be subject to strict licence conditions, as identified by probation in their release management plan.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his oral statement of 16 October 2023 on Prison Capacity, Official Report column 61, when he plans to report to the House on the curtailing of the licence period for offenders held on Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Justice, advised in his statement to this House on 16 October that he would be looking at options to curtail the licence period to restore greater proportionality to Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences in line with recommendation 8 of the report by the Justice Select Committee report. He will revert to Parliament on this as soon as parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department seeks references for candidates appointed to public positions which fall under the remit of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
References are sought for candidates shortlisted for interview for a range of roles falling under the remit of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many items of written correspondence from hon. Members sent to Ministers in his Department have been (a) received and (b) replied to since 1 April 2020; and how many of those responses were responded to by (i) Ministers and (ii) officials.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government recognises the great importance of the effective and timely handling of correspondence.
The Cabinet Office is currently compiling data on the timeliness of responses to Hon. and Rt Hon. members from Government Departments and Agencies. This data will be released, and made available to Members, in due course.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to use alternative buildings to create more court capacity to enable social distancing during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
We are working hard to ensure that justice can continue to be done under these challenging circumstances. HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) officials are looking at how we make the best possible use of the existing estate, as well as creating more capacity. This means considering whether any recently closed courts which are still owned by HMCTS are suitable for reopening, and identifying alternative spaces to further extend provision.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has had with (a) the Secretary of State with for Health and Social Care and (b) the Secretary of State for the Home Department on safeguarding autistic people who come into contact with the criminal justice system.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is committed to meeting the needs of all vulnerable people who come into contact with the criminal justice system, including those with autism. We understand the importance of working closely with partners across government to support this cohort.
In October year, Robert Buckland MP, Secretary of State for Justice, had a bilateral meeting with Matt Hancock MP, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (DHSC). Autism and learning difficulties within the criminal justice system was an agenda item at this meeting.
DHSC and the Department for Education are leading a refresh of the cross-government Autism Strategy, for which the MoJ is one of five signatories. My department is contributing to the refresh, including work to improve data capture on autism, and to increase – through training and awareness – the ability of staff in the criminal justice system to better understand and support individuals with autism.
We are also working to promote Autism Accreditation across the prison estate and probation, and to share best practice from the three prisons and one probation area that have achieved the prestigious award. Autism Accreditation is a quality-assurance scheme run by the National Autistic Society, which demonstrates that a certain level of support is in place for autistic people.
The MoJ is also working with officials across government, including the Home Office, as part of the Cabinet Office-led National Strategy for Disabled People. This represents an opportunity to develop cross-government wide policies to support people with disabilities, including autism.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been imprisoned for failing to pay fines in respect of the non-payment of a TV licence in (a) Wales and (b) England in each year since 2015.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The number of people admitted to prison for failing to pay fines in respect of the non-payment of a TV licence in England and Wales in each year between 2015 and 2018 can be viewed in the attached table.
We have not produced the numbers each year in terms of the England and Wales split due to the small numbers involved which could result in the identification of an individual. However, between 2015 and 2018, one person was admitted to a prison in Wales for non-payment of the fine associated with using a TV without a licence – the remainder were admitted to prisons in England.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the correspondence of the hon. Member for Cardiff West to his Department of 26 June 2018, ref MC57534, on account of which key Government priorities the officials working on the guardianship legislation have not been able to complete the preparation of that legislation.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government is committed to bringing the Guardianship (Missing Persons) Act 2017 into force as soon as possible. This depends upon the creation of the necessary secondary legislation and administrative systems in the courts and the Office of the Public Guardian to define and support the working of the new procedure.
The officials responsible for the implementation of the guardianship legislation work on a wide range of subjects, but the delay in the drafting of the secondary legislation is primarily due to work on the reform of the law relating to the personal injury discount rate. The Civil Liability Bill, which will implement this reform, was passed by the House of Lords on 27 June and introduced into the House of Commons on 28 June. The provisions in the Bill relating to the rate were preceded by public consultation and pre-legislative scrutiny.
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish the average length of custodial sentence for each type of offence given by each magistrate court in England and Wales.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The data on the average length of custodial sentence for every offence given by every magistrate court in England and Wales is not produced or published. The Ministry of Justice analyses court performance and custodial sentence lengths in other ways.
Magistrates’ Court data, for period ending December 2016 is published at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/614427/magistrates-court-tool-2016.xlsx
The most recent figures (year ending September 2017) for average custodial sentence length by offence type can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-september-2017
Please see overview table 5.2c (this table covers both magistrates’ and Crown Courts).
Asked by: Kevin Brennan (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average number of defendants being remanded in custody was by each type of offence for each magistrate court in England and Wales.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The number of defendants remanded in custody by offence group and local justice area in England and Wales in 2016 (latest data currently available) can be viewed in the attached table.
Court proceedings data for 2017 are planned for publication in May 2018.