Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners have been sanctioned for (a) not attending and (b) breaching an offending behaviour programme which does not have an impact evaluation.

Attending an accredited offending behaviour programme (OBP) in custody is voluntary, meaning there are not any automatic sanctions for non-attendance. Prisoners who exhibit unacceptable behaviours whilst involved in a programme will face standard disciplinary procedures. Removal from programmes, however, can also take place due to behaviour unrelated to participation in a programme. Sanctions can be implemented through the adjudication process or in relation to Incentives and Earned Privileges (IEP). In order to collect the information requested a matching exercise using prison population and adjudication databases would be required to identify each individual prisoner who was punished under the Prison Rules. As a result, the data could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Accredited Programmes can also be part of a Community Sentence or a Licence Condition, in which case offenders can be breached or recalled to custody for not being compliant. Data relating to breach and recall in these specific instances is not available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.