Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to lay an amended Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme before the House during the current Parliamentary session.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
It is my intention to lay an amended Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012 before the House as soon as Parliamentary time allows. This will remove the pre-1979 same roof rule and enable victims whose applications for compensation had previously been refused under this rule, to reapply.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October to Question 176311 on Offences Against Children: Sentencing, of the 3,234 people given custodial sentences in 2017 how many were (a) men and (b) women.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Of the 3,234 offenders who received immediate custodial sentences at the Crown Court in 2017 for child sexual abuse offences, 3,186 were male and 48 were female. This information can be found in Table 1.
The number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody for child sexual abuse offences at the Crown Court between 2010 and 2016 can be found in Table 2. This information is broken down by sentences of up to and including one year, over one year up to and including five years, over five years and up to and including ten years, over ten years and less than life, and life sentence. Information on plea entered is provided for offenders sentenced at the Crown Court only and is not provided for offenders sentenced at a magistrates’ court as this information is not held centrally within the Court Proceedings Database.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October to Question 176311, how many people were given prison sentences for child sexual abuse offences of (a) up to one year, (b) one to five years, (c) five to 10 years and (d) 10 years or more by plea in each year between 2010 and 2016.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Of the 3,234 offenders who received immediate custodial sentences at the Crown Court in 2017 for child sexual abuse offences, 3,186 were male and 48 were female. This information can be found in Table 1.
The number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody for child sexual abuse offences at the Crown Court between 2010 and 2016 can be found in Table 2. This information is broken down by sentences of up to and including one year, over one year up to and including five years, over five years and up to and including ten years, over ten years and less than life, and life sentence. Information on plea entered is provided for offenders sentenced at the Crown Court only and is not provided for offenders sentenced at a magistrates’ court as this information is not held centrally within the Court Proceedings Database.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October to Question 176311, how many of the 3,234 people who were given prison sentences for child sexual abuse offences in 2017 had previously been convicted of other child sexual abuse offences.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Information on how many people who were sentenced to immediate custody for child sexual abuse offences at the Crown Court in 2017 had previously been convicted of other child sexual abuse offences is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were given prison sentences for child sexual abuse offences of (a) up to one year, (b) one to five years, (c) five to 10 years and (d) 10 years or more by plea entered in 2017.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody for child sexual abuse offences at Crown Court in 2017 can be found in Table 1. This information is broken down by sentences of up to and including one year, over one year up to and including five years, over five years and up to and including ten years, over ten years and less than life and life sentence. Information on plea entered is provided for offenders sentenced at Crown Court however not for magistrates’ court as this information is not held centrally within the Court Proceedings Database.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will ensure that claims made through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority relating to child sexual abuse are only considered by caseworkers who have had specific training in the nature and effect on the individual of such abuse.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse published its Interim Report on 25 April. The Report contains a series of recommendations for specific changes, one of which was specifically directed at the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). This was that:
- CICA ensures that claims relating to child sexual abuse are only considered by caseworkers who have specific and detailed training in the nature and impact of child sexual abuse.
The Government welcomes the Report and is now considering the Inquiry’s recommendations very carefully. We will respond fully in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will commission a review of hate crime legislation and its operation as recommended by the Law Commission in 2014.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Hate crime is despicable and has no place in British society. The Government has repeatedly taken action to reduce hate crime, increase reporting and improve support for victims including through the 2016 Hate Crime Action Plan.
The Criminal Justice Act 2003 already offers enhanced sentences powers for any offence which is racially or religiously aggravated, or where the offender demonstrated hostility or was motivated by hostility towards the victim because of their sexual orientation or disability or because they were transgender. Such offences merit an increased sentence within the maximum available for the offence.
The Ministry of Justice keeps the current law, and the Law Commission’s recommendations, under review.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will extend the definition of aggravated offences to include crimes motivated by hostility based on disability, sexual orientation and transgender identity as recommended by the 2014 Law Commission review of hate crime legislation.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Hate crime is despicable and has no place in British society. The Government has repeatedly taken action to reduce hate crime, increase reporting and improve support for victims including through the 2016 Hate Crime Action Plan.
The Criminal Justice Act 2003 already offers enhanced sentences powers for any offence which is racially or religiously aggravated, or where the offender demonstrated hostility or was motivated by hostility towards the victim because of their sexual orientation or disability or because they were transgender. Such offences merit an increased sentence within the maximum available for the offence.
The Ministry of Justice keeps the current law, and the Law Commission’s recommendations, under review.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the average length in months of custodial sentences for racially or religiously (a) aggravated offences and (b) non-aggravated offences in (i) 2013, (ii) 2014, (iii) 2015, (iv) 2016 and (v) 2017.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Sections 29 to 32 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 create specific racially or religiously aggravated offences based on offences of wounding, assault, damage, harassment and threatening/abusive behaviour.
The average custodial sentence length in months for a) these specific racially or religiously aggravated offences, and b) their non-aggravated counterparts in (i) 2013, (ii) 2014, (iii) 2015, (iv) 2016 and (v) 2017, can be viewed in the table.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will bring forward proposals to reduce the potential risk of the judicial system being used to delay investigations by regulatory bodies where there is an ongoing risk to children.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
We are determined to maintain our resolute focus on protecting children and vulnerable victims and tackling crimes committed against them. We keep the criminal justice system under review and remain open to evidence that further change and improvement is needed. It is right however, that where criminal investigations are actively progressing that regulatory bodies take that into account.