Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission of 7 May 2019, Torture in the UK: update report, whether he has plans to bring forward legislative proposals to raise the age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales.
Answered by Edward Argar
We have no current plans to change the age of criminal responsibility. We believe that setting the age at 10 provides flexibility in dealing with young offenders and allows for early intervention in a child’s life with the aim of preventing subsequent offending. That is why there are a range of options available to the police to resolve offences and put in place interventions to prevent further offending. Furthermore, the particular needs of a child will be identified through assessment by the local multi-agency youth offending team who can refer them on to other services for further investigation and support.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what comparative assessment he has made of the levels of incarceration in the UK and other European countries; and what steps his Department is taking to prevent unnecessary incarcerations.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The Ministry of Justice does not publish information on rates of imprisonment in England and Wales as part of its statistical releases.
However, the Department is a contributor to the Council of Europe’s “SPACE I” annual report, which provides an overview of the use of custodial sanctions and measures in the Member States of the Council of Europe, including rates of imprisonment for each Member State. The latest report “SPACE I – 2018” can be found at: http://wp.unil.ch/space/space-i/annual-reports/
By law, courts in England and Wales are required to be satisfied that the offence committed is so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified. In the event a custodial sentence is imposed, the law also requires that it should be for the shortest time possible, commensurate with the seriousness of the offence.
We are exploring options to restrict the use of short custodial sentences, but have not at this stage reached any conclusions. There is persuasive evidence showing that they do not work in terms of rehabilitation and helping some offenders turn their backs on crime, and that community sentences, in certain circumstances, are actually more effective in reducing reoffending. The MoJ study ‘The impact of short custodial sentences, community orders and suspended sentence orders on re-offending’ published in 2015 found that over a 1-year follow up period, a higher proportion of people re-offended having been sentenced to custody of under 12 months without supervision on release than other similar people given community orders.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the number of suicide prevention practitioners in prisons.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Suicide prevention is the responsibility of all staff in prisons who have contact with prisoners. This includes prison staff and those employed by partner organisations, including healthcare providers. All staff with prisoner contact are trained in suicide and self-harm prevention, and we have delivered improved training to nearly 25,000 staff since April 2017.
The Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) case management process for prisoners identified as being at risk includes specialist roles for assessors and case managers, and we provide additional training for staff taking on these roles. ACCT relies for its effectiveness on multi-disciplinary working, and contributions from a range of specialist staff, from prison chaplains and psychologists to mental health nurses working for healthcare providers, who bring their specific training and skills to the review teams responsible for managing each individual who is at risk.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing tougher sanctions for people attacking shop workers.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Everyone has the right to feel safe at work and assaults on shop workers are unacceptable.
There are a range of offences someone can be convicted of if they assault a shop worker. Maximum penalties for offences are set by Parliament and include five years’ custody for assault occasioning actual bodily harm and life imprisonment for the most serious cases of causing grievous bodily harm. There are no plans to increase sentences for assault offences.
When making sentencing decisions the courts must follow any relevant sentencing guidelines, produced by the independent Sentencing Council. The Overarching Principles: Seriousness Guideline and Assault Guideline require the court to treat the fact that an offence was committed against those working in the public sector or providing a service to the public as an aggravating factor, making the offence more serious. The Sentencing Council is reviewing its guidelines on assault and a consultation on a revised guideline is anticipated later this year.
On the 5th April the Home Office launched a call for evidence on violence and abuse towards shop staff. The aim of this work is to strengthen our understanding of the issue, including how existing legislation is being applied. The National Retail Crime Steering Group will continue to provide input on tackling this issue.