Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of absconds from prison who have committed a sexual assault in 2022 to date.

We are unable to answer this question within cost limits as the required detail may not be on the prison NOMIS system in all cases. To obtain a robust estimate would require linking to and checking police records for all prisoners in scope to identify whether they have committed a sexual offence (or sexual offences).

Public protection is our top priority. When a prisoner absconds, police are immediately notified and are responsible for locating the offender. The majority of absconders are quickly recaptured and returned to custody.

Those who abscond face serious consequences, including being returned to closed prison conditions where they may serve up to two additional years on conviction. Prisoners subject to parole decisions will likely face longer before they are released.