Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the change in the custody recall rate since 2015 for (a) women and (b) men.

The introduction of the Offender Rehabilitation Act (ORA) 2015 meant that offenders serving sentences of under 12 months were released on licence, thereby significantly increasing the overall number of offenders on licensed supervision in the community and thus liable to be recalled for breaching their licence conditions. Consequently, and as predicted, ORA led to an increase in the number of recalls. The number of quarterly recalls throughout 2016 and 2017 was relatively stable and below a peak of about 6000 in 2015 quarter 3.

From 2018, the number of quarterly recalls started increasing noticeably and reached a peak of about 7000 in 2019 quarter 3, although we have seen consecutive quarterly decreases in recalls up to 2020 quarter 1 (the latest period for which data are available).

There are a number of reasons for the increase in recalls in 2018 and 2019, including the greater numbers of prisoners released on in the Home Detention Curfew (HDC) Scheme, after changes were made to that Scheme in 2018, thereby increasing the number liable to be recalled. Additionally, HM Prison and Probation Service issued essential fresh guidance on recall, in response to evidence that some probation officers did not fully understand the purpose of recall and the threshold which had to be met for recall.

(a) The number of quarterly recalls of females increased generally, going from about 350 in 2015 quarter 3 to about 520 in 2019 quarter 3. Because a higher proportion of female offenders fall within the ORA category, ORA has had a disproportionate

upward effect on the number of females recalled. However, the number of quarterly recalls of females has trended downwards from early 2019 to 2020 quarter 1.

(b) The number of quarterly recalls of males reduced from about 5,650 in 2015 quarter 3 and stayed relatively stable throughout 2016 and 2017. It started to increase in 2018 to a peak of about 6,500 in 2019 quarter 3, although we have seen consecutive quarterly decreases in recalls of males up to 2020 quarter 1.

Public protection is our priority. Offenders on licence are subject to strict licence conditions and supervision. When an offender breaches a condition of their licence the Probation Service will undertake a thorough risk assessment to determine whether it is necessary, for the protection of the public, to recall that offender to prison.