Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of people given a custodial sentence for assaulting an emergency worker have been released before the half way point of their sentence on home detention curfew since the introduction of that offence.

HDC is a robust scheme which allows prisoners to work towards rehabilitation in the community, while remaining subject to strict conditions. If they breach these, they face being returned to custody.

The latest available data shows that, by 31 December 2019, 1,610 people had been sentenced to immediate custody for a main offence of assaulting an emergency worker contrary to section 1 of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 since it came into force in November 2018. By 31 March 2020, 98 people sentenced to immediate custody for such an offence had been released on HDC. We are not able to give the proportion of those sent to prison who have been released on HDC as it is possible that some of those sentenced by 31 December 2019 will have been released on HDC since 31 March 2020.