Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 23 July 2021 to Question 33876 on Prisoners, if he will provide numbers rather than percentages for the figures set out in that answer.

Information on the criminogenic[1] and responsivity[2] needs of offenders is captured through the Offender Assessment System (OASyS). The most recent figures were published on 18 July 2019 in the ‘Identified needs of offenders in custody and the community from OASyS,’[3] based on a snapshot as at 30 June 2018.

It is important to note that at the time of this analysis (2018), annual male prison population was more than 20 times greater that the female prison population (79,450 vs 3,847). Raw numbers may therefore provide a misleading picture of the difference in prevalence of criminogenic and responsivity needs among men and women in prison. Therefore, rates and percentages are preferred methods for adjusting for the difference in population size.

Identified adult needs by sex and need, from OASys Assessments taken from 30 June 2018

[1] There are eight criminogenic needs measured in OASys: which are linked to offending behaviour (Accommodation, Employability, Relationships, Lifestyle, Drugs Misuse, Alcohol Misuse, Thinking & Behaviour and Attitudes).

[2] Learning Disability and Challenge, Mental Health Problem, and an Indicator of low maturity (The indicator for low level of maturity is for the aid of practitioners, and the clinical rule is that this is flagged for males aged 18-25 only).

[3] The total number of needs refer to the number of flags for both the criminogenic needs and responsivity needs under that sentence type/length. A person can have multiple needs identified.