Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of implementing a new approach to help tackle hyper prolific offending through (a) the monitoring of offenders, (b) effective intervention programmes and (c) the enforcement of appropriate legal penalties; and whether she has had discussions with the Police Service of Northern Ireland on the potential impact of its Reducing Offenders Unit on crime rates.

We take prolific offending seriously and recognise that prolific offenders commit a disproportionate number of offences. Between 2000 and 2021, for example, prolific offenders represented nearly 10% of offenders but accounted for just over 50% of convictions.

That clearly cannot continue. That is why the Lord Chancellor asked David Gauke to specifically consider the issue of prolific offenders as part of the Sentencing Review, to ensure that we have fewer crimes committed by prolific criminals.

Prolific offenders often have a complex set of needs, and to tackle the underlying causes of offending community sentences may also have rehabilitative requirements attached, including drug, alcohol and mental health difficulties. We are:

• Better linking data within and across Departments to better understand and support individuals with complex needs, such as prolific offenders.
• Piloting Intensive Supervision Courts which target the root cause of offending through supervision and intervention delivered by a multi-agency team.