Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of increasing the sentencing powers of Magistrates in accordance with Section 154 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 on the number of outstanding cases at Crown Courts.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The government keeps this policy under review, but an assessment of the impact on outstanding cases at the Crown Court cannot be made available at this time.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department plans to publish the delayed Proven reoffending statistics: January to March 2019.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
A delay to the proven reoffending statistics publication for the January to March 2019 offender cohort, originally scheduled for release on Thursday 28 January 2021, was announced in December 2020. This was due to the late delivery of data which had a subsequent effect on the production of the Police National Computer (PNC) data extract required for producing the proven reoffending statistics. Since this announcement, a new lockdown has been introduced and access to the PNC, a system which can only be accessed via a fixed location in our offices, has been further limited. This has delayed the process of producing the proven reoffending statistics further. A revised publication date will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many outstanding (a) Magistrate's court cases and (b) Crown court cases there were in (i) March 2020 and (ii) January 2021.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The volume of outstanding cases in the criminal courts is published routinely. The latest monthly data available for the number of cases outstanding in (a) the magistrates’ courts and (b) in the Crown Court of England and Wales, is November 2020. The table below sets out the outstanding number of cases in March 2020 and November 2020.
Monthly management information (MI) for January 2021 is expected to be available from 11th March 2020. Weekly MI that covers the period from March 2020 to 27th December 2020 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmcts-weekly-management-information-during-coronavirus-outbreak
Month | Magistrates' 1-4 Outstanding | Crown 1,2 Outstanding |
Mar-20 | 338,675 | 40,037 |
Nov-20 | 403,568 | 53,950 |
Notes:
1) The management information presented in this table reflects what is recorded on relevant case-management systems on the date of extraction. The case-management systems are continually updated and so the information presented will differ from previously published information.
2) The management information presented is different from the quarterly MOJ official statistics published due to timing and definitional reasons. The official statistics go through a more comprehensive quality assurance and analysis process to ensure quality and coherence.
3) Only criminal cases are included (civil and enforcement cases are excluded). Any cases entered in error have been removed.
4) Figures above include all case offence types. However, MOJ published statistics are filtered to include only the following offence types: Triable-either-way, Indictable Only, Summary Motoring, Summary Non-Motoring, Breaches.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his Department's policy was on temporary release from prison over the Christmas 2020 period.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
By providing opportunities to work, learn and build family ties, release on temporary licence (ROTL) from prison helps prevent offenders from returning to crime when they leave prison.
Most ROTL has been suspended during the pandemic to help limit the spread of the virus and protect the NHS. Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has worked closely with public health authorities to plan when and where to re-introduce ROTL safely. Resumption of the full range of ordinary ROTL activities, including release to domestic addresses, has not been possible to date and temporary release is currently limited to essential work and compassionate reasons, such as accessing medical treatment.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convicted murderers were recorded as being transgender in each year for which information is available.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Date | Number of serving prisoners convicted of murder reporting as being transgender |
31 March 2016 | 9 |
31 March 2017 | 15 |
31 March 2018 | 16 |
31 March 2019 | 20 |
This data is not available prior to 2016 or currently available for 2020. Individuals may contribute towards totals in multiple years.
We expect all prisoners to be treated fairly, lawfully and decently, with their rights and safety properly respected. Thorough and appropriate assessment of risk is of paramount importance for the management of all those in our care, regardless of an individual’s gender or any protected characteristic they may or may not have.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department took to mark International Men's Day on 19 November 2020.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
International Men’s Day offers an opportunity to highlight how outcomes for men and boys can be improved and to talk about some of the important work going on every day across Government to do this.
The Ministry of Justice marked International Men’s Day with the following range of activities:
- Eight events for colleagues to mark International Men’s Day lead by the Staff Networks. These events included an awareness building session on prostate cancer and an intersectional event covering the support available to men who have suffered domestic abuse.
- Articles and blogs featured on the organisation’s intranet to mark International Men’s Day.
- Other activities across MoJ have included a workshop on men’s health that signposted staff to useful information, links and other resources; the annual Men’s Health and Wellbeing event where over 200 colleagues attended; and an awareness event preventing male suicide and self-harm.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many district governors there are in the prison system; and what average pay rise those district governors have received in the last three years.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Average increases for governor grades in public sector prisons in each of the last three years were:
| Number of Awards | Average Increase (£) |
2020/21 |
|
|
Prison Group Directors | N/A | N/A |
Governor (Band 11) | 77 | £3,437 |
Governor (Band 10) | 45 | £3,523 |
2019/20 |
|
|
Prison Group Directors | 17 | £800 |
Governor (Band 11) | 73 | £3,501 |
Governor (Band 10) | 38 | £3,047 |
2018/19 |
|
|
Prison Group Directors | 7 | £540 |
Governor (Band 11) | 66 | £3,411 |
Governor (Band 10) | 43 | £2,900 |
As senior civil servants salaries for Prison Group Directors (PGDs) are set by the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB). Increases for other Governor grades are determined through the independent Prison Service Pay Review Body process. No figures are available for 2020/21 as SCS pay awards have not yet been implemented.
Staff numbers based on staff in post as at 31st March who received a pay award that year.
Staff who had left prior to pay award being implemented each year are excluded from figures.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's internal guidance for officials on the drafting of answers to parliamentary questions; and if he will set out his Department's step by step sign off procedure before Ministerial approval is given to answers.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
This government values the ongoing work of MPs and Peers whose scrutiny, whether through written Parliamentary Questions or other methods, is an invaluable part of our democratic process.
The Ministry of Justice’s internal guidance for answering parliamentary questions was updated and published on the Department’s intranet in April 2020. I will arrange for a copy of the attached guidance to be placed in the Libraries of the House.
In addition, the Cabinet Office has produced guidance for civil servants on drafting answers to parliamentary questions. This may be found on the gov.uk website at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/drafting-answers-to-parliamentary-questions-guidance
Parliamentary questions are cleared by Senior Civil Servants in the relevant policy area, then Special Advisers, before receiving final sign off from Ministers.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the biggest pay rise given to someone in his Department was in (a) percentage and (b) cash terms in the last 12 months.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Between the period of 01/07/19 - 30/06/2020 the biggest pay rise given to someone in the Department was (a) 7.6 in percentage terms and (b) £7,059 in cash terms.
This pay increase, determined through the independent Prison Service Pay Review Body process and calculated as a percentage increase, was for Prison Service staff. HMPPS received the highest pay rise.
Figures are based on staff in post as at 30 June who received their pay awards in September which were backdated to 1 April. Figures do not include annual pay increases for staff in the National Probation Service which have yet to be confirmed and paid and excludes pay award for SCS grades as not yet implemented.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the highest number of previous theft offences was for people convicted of a further theft offence and not given a sentence of immediate custody in each of the last three years; and what the chronological sentencing history for all previous such offences was for those people.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Obtaining the necessary information to answer these questions involves accessing the secure Police National Computer (PNC) system, which my relevant officials were unable to do in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although PNC access has now re-started, work to catch up the data loading needs to be completed before these questions can be answered and there is reduced capacity to do this due to the need to adhere to social distancing guidelines. I will write to the Hon Member in due course with the information requested and will place a copy of my letter in the Library.
You may wish to note that the latest available data is included in the responses to the following PQs provided in February: 13960–13962, 13967, 13968 and 14632–14636 (https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2020-02-07/13960#).