Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to Report on an unannounced inspection of HMYOI Cookham Wood, published on 16 November 2021, what steps he is taking to help ensure that progress is made against HMIP inspection outcomes at HMYOI Cookham Wood.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Ministry of Justice is currently preparing an action plan which will be published in due course in response to the HMIP inspection report on HMYOI Cookham Wood. The plan will set out steps being taken to address the issues identified including those to reduce violence and providing children with more access to education.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Annual Report of the Independent Monitoring Board at HMP Belmarsh, published on 10 November 2021, whether the Prison Service plans to reinstate the tripling up of prisoners in any cells in HMP Belmarsh.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
There are currently no plans to resume the use of triple cells at HMP Belmarsh.
HMPPS continually monitors the anticipated population and capacity of the prison estate and will always ensure that there is sufficient space to hold those committed to custody from the courts.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions there have been of offences under the Modern Slavery Act in connection with child criminal exploitation (i) for each of the last three years and (ii) in total since 31 July 2015.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
From centrally held Ministry of Justice data, it is not possible to identify how many offences under the Modern Slavery Act were prosecuted or convicted in connection with child criminal exploitation. The Ministry of Justice has published information on prosecutions for offences under the Modern Slavery Act in the ‘Outcomes by Offence’ data tool, available below, but these do not identify the age of the victim:
Offences involving child criminal exploitation will be recorded in court data under their legal offence title.
Information to identify the age and specific offence may be held on court record but to identify them would require a manual search of court records and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many children were known to youth offending services and have had (a) gangs or (b) child criminal exploitation noted as an issue in each of the last three years.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Between April 2017 and March 2020, Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) recorded 67,372 children (26,681 in 2017/18, 21,665 in 2018/19 and 19,026 in 2019/20) receiving a caution or court sentence. This does not include children YOTs worked with who were on bail or remand and did not subsequently receive a caution or court sentence, or children who have not received a pre-court or court disposal, such as community resolutions.
It is not currently possible to specify the proportion of those children who have gang or child criminal exploitation. Data-recording requirements were amended in 2019 and 2020 to collect this data; changes are being made to IT systems to allow this to be analysed and published in due course.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the proportion of people in prisons in England and Wales who have been placed into custody as a place of safety as a result of mental health conditions during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
This Government has committed to remove prison as a place of safety under the Mental Health Act. Instances of prison being used as a place of safety are not recorded centrally; consequently there is no one data source that determines the scale of use. Work is underway to explore the use of prison as a place of safety; whether it is used solely in respect of concerns over mental health, or in conjunction with other factors such as the offending history of the individual; how this information is recorded; and the extent to which it can be quantified.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the implications for Government policy of a potential increase in the (a) scale and (b) severity of (i) untreated and (ii) treated mental health conditions during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Ministry of Justice has been a member of the ministerial cross-government Mental Health and Wellbeing Task and Finish group, co-chaired by the Cabinet Office and the Department of Health and Social Care, since it was established in May 2020. This group was formed to examine and respond to the mental health and psychosocial impacts of the pandemic and it published a COVID-19 Mental Health and Wellbeing Recovery Action Plan on 27 March 2021. (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/973936/covid-19-mental-health-and-wellbeing-recovery-action-plan.pdf).
Protecting prisoners and their mental health and wellbeing has been the priority for HMPPS throughout the pandemic. Mental health services have remained open, often adapting to provide support via digital services. We will continue to monitor and review prisoners’ mental health needs and facilitate access to health services.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to A joint thematic inspection of the criminal justice journey for individuals with mental health needs and disorders, published on 17 November 2021, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect on reoffending of the length of waiting lists for (a) mental health assessments in the community and (b) mental health treatments in the community.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The MoJ welcomes the joint thematic inspection of the criminal justice journey for individuals with mental health needs and disorders and will be providing a formal response and supporting action plan with HMPPS, DHSC and NHSE/I in the new year.
The Government is committed to tackling the causes of reoffending to keep our communities safe. We know there is a link between homelessness and reoffending; offenders without settled accommodation are around 50 percent more likely to reoffend. As part of the Beating Crime plan, MoJ have delivered a new transitional accommodation service for offenders leaving prison at risk of homelessness. Launched initially in five probation regions this July it is offering up to 12 weeks temporary accommodation and support to prison leavers to facilitate them into settled accommodation.
My department is supporting efforts to ensure those with mental health needs are referred to community services for assessment and treatment in a timely fashion through such work as the NHS’ RECONNECT scheme which provides a care after prison custody service to support patients through all healthcare pathways including mental health. Integrated Offender Management (IOM) schemes include clear pathways to support mental health services to help address the root cause of criminal behaviour. By facilitating offenders’ access to these services, we are helping them turn their back on crime.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to A joint thematic inspection of the criminal justice journey for individuals with mental health needs and disorders, published on 17 November 2021, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect of prison leaver homelessness on reoffending linked to mental ill-health.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The MoJ welcomes the joint thematic inspection of the criminal justice journey for individuals with mental health needs and disorders and will be providing a formal response and supporting action plan with HMPPS, DHSC and NHSE/I in the new year.
The Government is committed to tackling the causes of reoffending to keep our communities safe. We know there is a link between homelessness and reoffending; offenders without settled accommodation are around 50 percent more likely to reoffend. As part of the Beating Crime plan, MoJ have delivered a new transitional accommodation service for offenders leaving prison at risk of homelessness. Launched initially in five probation regions this July it is offering up to 12 weeks temporary accommodation and support to prison leavers to facilitate them into settled accommodation.
My department is supporting efforts to ensure those with mental health needs are referred to community services for assessment and treatment in a timely fashion through such work as the NHS’ RECONNECT scheme which provides a care after prison custody service to support patients through all healthcare pathways including mental health. Integrated Offender Management (IOM) schemes include clear pathways to support mental health services to help address the root cause of criminal behaviour. By facilitating offenders’ access to these services, we are helping them turn their back on crime.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to A joint thematic inspection of the criminal justice journey for individuals with mental health needs and disorders, published on 17 November 2021, what recent discussions he has had with Ministerial colleagues in the Department for Health and Social Care on the (a) steps needed to increase the use of Mental Health Treatment Requirements and (b) information-sharing and rates of attendance at Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangement meetings by mental health providers.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Ministry of Justice welcomes the joint thematic inspection and will be providing a formal response and supporting action plan in the new year.
Working with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England we will be increasing the availability of Primary Care Mental Health Treatment Requirements to cover at least 50% of all courts by 2023. We are also preparing to launch a campaign with sentencers and court staff to raise awareness of MHTRs where they are available and to promote their use.
The Secretary of State’s statutory guidance to (MAPPA) responsible authorities has a dedicated chapter on mentally-disordered offenders, emphasising the importance of information sharing with and by medical practitioners, to inform risk assessment and risk management. The guidance is available at https://mappa.justice.gov.uk/MAPPA/view?objectID=5682416.
Officials have also undertaken significant work to build awareness on the part of medical practitioners of the role of MAPPA and of their part in the effective delivery of these arrangements in individual cases.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Annual Report of the Independent Monitoring Board at HMP Altcourse, published on 11 November 2021, whether it is HM Prison and Probation Service policy to record the use of rigid bar handcuffs (a) as a use of force and (b) otherwise.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Operational guidance on the use of rigid bar handcuffs, and the HM Prison and Probation Service policy on the use of force state that any use of handcuffs is considered a use of force, and must only be used when necessary, reasonable and proportionate to the seriousness of the circumstances. Following the use of rigid bar handcuffs, staff must complete a statement to justify their decision.
Use of rigid bar handcuffs must be discussed at a subsequent local Use of Force committee meeting and lessons learned shared with all staff. This can include, for example, discussions on alternatives which may have de-escalated the situation and any further training that may be required.