Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy to publish statistics on the (a) nationality and (b) visa status of offenders convicted in England and Wales every 12 months.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice currently publishes the self-declared nationality of those entering custody as well as those in the prison population as part of their quarterly Offender Management Statistics: Offender management statistics quarterly: July to September 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
We refer all recorded foreign national offenders awarded a custodial sentence to the Home Office who can carry out immigration checks alongside consideration of each case for deportation. An offender’s nationality and immigration status is not routinely collected by the courts. We are working with the Home Office to explore the potential for the publication of further statistical data related to the nationality and immigration status of offenders.
The removal of foreign national offenders is a Government priority and my department continues to work closely with the Home Office to maximise the number of deportations.
On 11 March, the Government set out a plan to increase the number of foreign national offenders removed through:
the recruitment of 400 additional caseworkers and streamlining the end-to-end removal process;
extending foreign national conditional cautions to foreign national offenders with limited leave to remain; and
amending deportation policy to enable foreign national offenders given suspended sentences of 6 months or more to be considered for deportation.
These actions build on our expansion of the Early Removal Scheme to allow for removal of foreign national offenders up to 18 months before the end of the custodial element of their sentence and expediting prisoner transfers with priority countries such as Albania and seeking to conclude new transfer agreements with partner countries.
Published figures show that FNO returns have increased following the pandemic, in the latest 12-month period (ending December 2023) by 27% when compared to the previous 12-month period. Between January 2019 and December 2023 17,795 FNOs have been removed.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to issue guidance to the police on requirements to refer to the Crown Prosecution Service when using the new diversionary caution for hate crime offences.
Answered by Gareth Bacon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
As set out in the Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts Act 2022, the Government legislated for a reformed two-tier cautions framework in England and Wales.
We have consulted on a draft Code of Practice to support future implementation. This covers the use, administration, and scrutiny of Diversionary and Community Cautions. The draft Code of Practice stipulates that a Diversionary or Community Caution may be given for a hate crime case but only once authorisation has been obtained from the Crown Prosecution Service. The draft Code of Practice was put to public consultation from 2 August to 13 October 2023 and invited views on the operational impact of the draft Code, including the approach to excluded offences.
Currently, we are analysing the consultation responses received to inform any necessary revisions to the draft Code of Practice and we will publish a Government response to the consultation in due course.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of people convicted of hate crimes in magistrates' courts were sentenced to undergo a rehabilitative programme in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Gareth Bacon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
We do not centrally hold data on offences motivated by hostility or prejudice towards an individual based on a personal characteristic. This information may be held on court record, however, the information requested can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The latest data on the number of offenders starting a community order or suspended sentence order supervised by the Probation Service with a rehabilitative programme imposed can be found in the Offender Management Statistics quarterly publication here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/653854823099f9000d7f30a4/Probation_Q2_2023.ods.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what rehabilitative programmes are provided by the Probation Service to help tackle hate crime; and whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the impact of these programmes on levels of recidivism.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
There are no rehabilitative programmes or interventions designed specifically to address hate crime. Hate crime offences are typically driven by a range of underlying factors that are shared with other types of offending for which there are a range of programmes and interventions available that may be suitable. What programme(s) or intervention(s) may be most suitable for someone convicted of hate crime offences is determined based on the nature of the offence and an assessment to determine eligibility and the specific rehabilitative needs of the offender.
A number of studies and evaluations have been carried out in recent years on HMPPS rehabilitative programmes and interventions, and can be found by visiting https://www.gov.uk/crime-justice-and-law#research_and_statistics.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the reoffending rates were for people convicted of (a) racially-aggravated, (b) religiously-aggravated and (c) other hate crime offences who (i) received a (A) caution and (B) fine and (ii) were imprisoned in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Gareth Bacon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
We do not centrally hold data on other hate crime offences. This information may be recorded by individual police forces and in court records, however the information requested can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
There are 79,456 offenders in the latest reoffending cohort (October – December 2021) which can be found in the Proven Reoffending Statistics review, here:
Proven reoffending statistics: October to December 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made on the effectiveness of the criteria for releasing prisoners who have committed a serious crime.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This Government has ensured that the courts have the fullest range of sentencing powers available to deal effectively with serious offenders, with release provisions that protect the public.
Those who commit the most serious offences may be given a life sentence, where the court sets a minimum period in custody (the tariff) after which the prisoner may be released by the Parole Board only if it is satisfied that detention is no longer necessary to protect the public. Other serious sexual and violent offenders may be given an Extended Determinate Sentence or a Sentence for Offenders of Particular Concern where they must serve their custodial term in full unless the Parole Board assesses they are safe to release before that point, having served at least two-thirds in prison. In the Victims and Prisoners Bill, we are strengthening the test which the Parole Board must apply when considering the release of prisoners. The new test makes clear that protecting the public must be the sole consideration - a prisoner must not be released unless there is no more than minimal risk of the prisoner committing a further offence that would cause serious harm. We also introduced a Serious Terrorism Sentence where a minimum custodial period of 14 years is imposed which must be served in full.
Most prisoners serve a standard determinate sentence of imprisonment which, in most cases, means release is automatic at the half-way point on licence for the remainder of the sentence. In the Police Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, for those sentenced to 4 years or more for certain serious sexual and violent offences, we strengthened the provisions to require those offenders to serve two-thirds of their sentence in prison, to better reflect the severity of their crimes. The Act also introduced a new power to prevent the automatic release of prisoners who receive a standard determinate sentence, if they pose a danger to the public.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of enabling families of victims of crime to participate in the process of taking decisions on prisoner release.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Victims can already participate in the process of considering a prisoner’s release in a number of ways.
Any victim, or bereaved family member, of a serious sexual or violent offence where an offender receives a custodial sentence of 12 months, or more is entitled to join the Victim Contact Scheme. Victims who join the Scheme will be allocated a Victim Liaison Officer who will provide the victim with regular updates including key information about how the sentence and release processes operate. Victims can request that the offender on release is subject to specific licence conditions for their safety and peace of mind, such as exclusion zones and non-contact conditions. These requests must be considered by the Probation Service.
Where the prisoner’s release is subject to a review by the independent Parole Board then, in addition to requesting licence conditions, victims may also submit a Victim Personal Statement to explain to the Parole Board how the crime has affected the victim and their family. We have committed to going further by allowing victims the opportunity to make written submissions to the Parole Board. Information in the submissions could include their views on the offender’s potential release and questions to the Parole Board. This change will be enshrined in the updated Victims’ Code which is expected to be introduced in 2024.
The decision on whether to grant parole is based entirely on risk. Where a victim has information relevant to the assessment of future risk, there are mechanisms in place that enable the victims’ information to be provided to the Parole Board by the Probation Service. This approach protects the victim from being liable to be called as a witness to the parole hearing and subject to questioning by the Panel or the prisoner and/or their legal representative.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of checks on decisions made by (a) prison governors and (b) other prison and probation authorities on the release of prisoners.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Most prisoners are released automatically or by the Parole Board but prisoners serving standard determinate sentences of at least 12 weeks, but less than four years may be considered for release before their automatic release date under the Home Detention Curfew (HDC) scheme. Decisions on HDC are taken on behalf of the Secretary of State by the prison Governor or delegated decision-maker, informed by a report from probation who assess the suitability of release to the proposed address.
HDC provides a managed transition from custody to the community for lower risk offenders serving sentences of less than four years. Offenders are released subject to strict licence conditions including electronically monitored curfew and only once a robust risk management plan is in place.
The operation of the scheme is kept under review and a new Policy Framework was issued in June 2023. This added specified offences linked to domestic abuse to the list of offences that presume offenders unsuitable for the scheme. This followed changes we made last year to mandate checks with police and children’s services for domestic abuse and safeguarding risk information in all HDC cases. The new Framework, building on learning since it was last issued in 2019, also made the assessment more robust, ensuring account is taken of the risks presented overall, and not just to those at the address; and that all necessary information-sharing takes place before there is a decision to release on HDC.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to protect domestic abuse victims when the person who abused them has been released from prison.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Probation Service works with other agencies to manage the risks perpetrators pose on release from prison and to ensure the safety and wellbeing of victims, potential victims, and children. For domestic abuse offenders convicted of relevant sexual or violent offences this will be under Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA). Where the offender is released on licence, there may be specific conditions designed to protect victims from unwanted contact with offenders.
HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) updated its Domestic Abuse Policy Framework in September 2022. (Domestic abuse policy framework - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). It sets out the expectations for managing domestic abuse cases clearly and comprehensively.
When parliamentary time allows, we will legislate so that those convicted of controlling or coercive behaviour (CCB) with a sentence of twelve months or more imprisonment or a suspended sentence will be automatically subject to MAPPA. This will place a duty on the Police, the Probation Service and a range of other agencies to share information and work together to manage the risks the individual poses. In the meantime, we will start work now on an operating model for HMPPS and the Police to use the ViSOR public protection database to share information on CCB offenders while they are subject to supervision.
A project later this year will test the effectiveness of electronic monitoring with domestic abuse offenders on licence, including testing how it can protect existing and potential victims of domestic abuse offences.
In July 2021, we commenced a three year pilot of polygraph testing with high-risk domestic perpetrators released from prison on licence. If the pilot is successful in strengthening how we risk manage domestic abuse perpetrators, we will roll this out across England and Wales.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of undertaking an inquiry into historic abuse at Medomsley Detention Centre.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The government has the deepest sympathy for the men who suffered sexual or physical abuse while detained at Medomsley Detention Centre.
A judicial review claim has been launched in regard to the government’s decision not to hold a public inquiry into Medomsley. It would be inappropriate to comment further while legal proceedings are ongoing.