Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their strategy for ensuring public safety and efficacious offender management in respect of hyper-prolific offenders.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

For the most persistent and problematic offenders in the community, Integrated Offender Management has received a 3-year investment of up to £30 million to ensure those that commit burglary, robbery and theft offences receive robust cross-agency supervision by Police and Probation, and to commission services that will seek to support and address risks and needs of this cohort. We are also piloting three Intensive Supervision Courts which aim to target the root cause of offending behaviour through supervision and interventions delivered by a multi-agency team, overseen by a single judge who will regularly review each participant’s progress.

The courts have a wide range of options to deal with this group of offenders and relevant previous convictions are a statutory aggravating factor which the courts must consider at the point of sentencing. While custody will often be appropriate for these offenders, and in fact is the most common sentence given to prolific offenders, it is right that our courts have the ability to pass an appropriate sentence based on the case in front of them. Robust research has shown lower reoffending rates for sentences served in the community when compared to short custodial sentences.

Through the Better Outcomes through Linked Data (BOLD) programme, we are also taking steps to understand better which factors are most important in leading to reduced reoffending for prolific offenders, in order to help us target our approach for this cohort.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish the number of reoffenders aged 18 years or over by (a) age and (b) offence type for the year ending March 2023.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The number of reoffenders aged 18 years or over by (a) age and (b) offence type for the year ending March 2023 will be published at the end of January 2025.

The attached tables show the number of reoffenders by (a) age and (b) index offence type for the year ending March 2022.

This Government is committed to reducing reoffending, and reoffending rates have fallen from 31.3% in 2011/12 to 25.2% in 2021/22. We are investing in rehabilitation to stop prison leavers falling back into crime – including tackling drug addiction, increasing the number of offenders in work and providing basic, short-term accommodation on release. We are also delivering the Prison Education Service which raises the level of numeracy, literacy and skills of prisoners, with the aim of securing jobs or apprenticeships after they leave custody.

On top of this, we are doubling the number of GPS tags available to courts for sentencing, ensuring more burglars and robbers are tagged which ultimately keeps our communities safer.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he expects to receive the report of HM Chief Inspector of Probation’s thematic review of probation recall culture and practice.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The report of the Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP) thematic review titled 'A thematic review of probation recall culture and practice' was published in November 2020. This was the second part of the review which the Secretary of State had asked the Chief Inspector of Probation to undertake, following the conviction of Joseph McCann for a series of sexual offences committed in 2019. A link to the report is here: A thematic review of probation recall culture and practice (justiceinspectorates.gov.uk).

In December 2023, following a commission by the Secretary of State to the Inspectorate in response to the Justice Select Committee IPP inquiry report, HMIP published a report titled ‘A thematic inspection of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) recall decisions’. A link to this report is here: A thematic inspection of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) recall decisions (justiceinspectorates.gov.uk).

In both reports, the Inspectorate found that the Probation Service were taking proportionate and necessary decisions to recall offenders on licence for public protection.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people received a second life sentence after being released from prison in each year since 2010; and if he will list the offences which resulted in the (a) first and (b) second life sentence for each person.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The answer to this question could only be provided at a disproportionate cost, as it involves linking prison data with the Ministry of Justice extract of the police national computer.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and which offences were committed by people on a suspended sentence order in each of the last three years.

Answered by Gareth Bacon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. The below detail is provided as background information.

A 2019 Ministry of Justice analysis of a matched cohort of over 30,000 offenders shows that those who serve sentences of immediate custody of less than 12 months reoffend at a rate higher than similar offenders given community orders and suspended sentence orders by the courts.

Our latest quarterly statistics, January – March 2022, suggest that 55.5% of people given a custodial sentence of less than 12 months reoffend within one year. For offenders punished with suspended sentence orders with requirements that are served in the community, the reoffending rate is significantly lower at 24.2%.

Based on this evidence, the Government introduced the presumption to suspend short sentences as part of the Sentencing Bill, currently before Parliament. The courts will retain a wide discretion to impose immediate custody in many circumstances.

Offenders will then serve their sentence in the community. When the court imposes a suspended sentence, they can impose requirements on the offender and the sentencing framework provides a flexible range of requirements, such as unpaid work, drug and alcohol treatment, curfew, and electronic monitoring, with the intention of punishing the offender, providing reparation to the community, and addressing any criminogenic or rehabilitative needs of the offender which may otherwise increase the likelihood of their reoffending.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners serving (a) one life sentence, (b) two life sentences and (c) more than two life sentences were released from prison into the community in each year since 2015.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

To determine the number of active life sentences at the point when an offender is released would require manually reading the record files of offenders with multiple life sentences and then linking these together from the different data systems which would incur disproportionate costs.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2024 to Question 14123 on Shoplifting: Reoffenders, what the proven re-offending rate was for an index offence of shop lifting (theft from shops) for the (a) January to March 2021 and (b) January to March 2020 cohort.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The proven reoffending rate for offenders with an index offence of shop lifting (theft from shops), who served a custodial sentence for this offence, for the (a) January – March 2021 cohort was 81.8% and (b) January – March 2020 cohort was 78.3%.

The proven reoffending rate for offenders with an index offence of robbery, who served a custodial sentence for this offence, for the (a) January – March 2021 cohort was 23.8% and (b) January – March 2020 cohort was 27.8%.

The overall proven reoffending rate for (a) January – March 2021 was 24.3% and (b) January – March 2020 was 24.7%. Reoffending rates in recent cohorts have been affected to varying degrees by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This Government is committed to reducing reoffending, and reoffending rates have fallen from 31.3% in 2011/12 to 25.2% in 2021/22. We are investing in rehabilitation to stop prison leavers falling back into crime – including tackling drug addiction, increasing the number of offenders in work, and providing basic, short-term accommodation on release. Further, in October last year, the Lord Chancellor announced his intention to legislate for a presumption to suspend short custodial sentences of 12 months or less. The offender would then serve their sentence in the community and courts will retain discretion to impose a sentence of immediate custody where necessary. Our latest quarterly statistics, January – March 2022, suggest that 55.5% of people given a custodial sentence of less than 12 months reoffend within one year. For offenders punished with Suspended Sentence Orders with requirements that are served in the community, the reoffending rate is significantly lower at 24.2%.

On top of this, we are doubling the number of GPS tags available to courts for sentencing, ensuring more burglars and robbers are tagged which ultimately keeps our communities safer.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2024 to Question 14123 on Shoplifting: Reoffenders, what the proven re-offending rate was for an index offence of robbery for the (a) January to March 2021 cohort and (b) January to March 2020 cohort.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The proven reoffending rate for offenders with an index offence of shop lifting (theft from shops), who served a custodial sentence for this offence, for the (a) January – March 2021 cohort was 81.8% and (b) January – March 2020 cohort was 78.3%.

The proven reoffending rate for offenders with an index offence of robbery, who served a custodial sentence for this offence, for the (a) January – March 2021 cohort was 23.8% and (b) January – March 2020 cohort was 27.8%.

The overall proven reoffending rate for (a) January – March 2021 was 24.3% and (b) January – March 2020 was 24.7%. Reoffending rates in recent cohorts have been affected to varying degrees by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This Government is committed to reducing reoffending, and reoffending rates have fallen from 31.3% in 2011/12 to 25.2% in 2021/22. We are investing in rehabilitation to stop prison leavers falling back into crime – including tackling drug addiction, increasing the number of offenders in work, and providing basic, short-term accommodation on release. Further, in October last year, the Lord Chancellor announced his intention to legislate for a presumption to suspend short custodial sentences of 12 months or less. The offender would then serve their sentence in the community and courts will retain discretion to impose a sentence of immediate custody where necessary. Our latest quarterly statistics, January – March 2022, suggest that 55.5% of people given a custodial sentence of less than 12 months reoffend within one year. For offenders punished with Suspended Sentence Orders with requirements that are served in the community, the reoffending rate is significantly lower at 24.2%.

On top of this, we are doubling the number of GPS tags available to courts for sentencing, ensuring more burglars and robbers are tagged which ultimately keeps our communities safer.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the re-offending rate is for people serving a custodial sentence for shop lifting.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

This Government is committed to tackling reoffending, and we are investing in the areas which the evidence suggests can help an individual turn their back on crime, including accommodation, employment and substance misuse treatment.

We are delivering a new Prison Education Service, we are supporting ex-offenders into housing, we have changed the law so prisoners can take up apprenticeships and we are introducing Incentivised Substance-Free living wings for drug recovery.

The proven reoffending rate for offenders who had an index offence of burglary and served a custodial sentence for this offence has been updated since the Answer of 18 January 2024 to Question 9527. The rate for the latest period available, the January – March 2022 cohort, now stands at 45.6%. This is a decrease of 2.7 percentage points.

The proven reoffending rate for offenders in the January – March 2022 cohort who had an index offence of shop lifting (“theft from shops”) and served a custodial sentence for this offence was 80.7%.

The proven reoffending rate for offenders in the January – March 2022 cohort who had an index offence of robbery and served a custodial sentence for this offence was 21.7%.

The overall proven reoffending rate for the January – March 2022 cohort was 25.5%.

The overall proven reoffending rate has decreased from 31.3% in 2011/12 to 25.2% in 2021/22.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the re-offending rate is for people serving a custodial sentence for robbery.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

This Government is committed to tackling reoffending, and we are investing in the areas which the evidence suggests can help an individual turn their back on crime, including accommodation, employment and substance misuse treatment.

We are delivering a new Prison Education Service, we are supporting ex-offenders into housing, we have changed the law so prisoners can take up apprenticeships and we are introducing Incentivised Substance-Free living wings for drug recovery.

The proven reoffending rate for offenders who had an index offence of burglary and served a custodial sentence for this offence has been updated since the Answer of 18 January 2024 to Question 9527. The rate for the latest period available, the January – March 2022 cohort, now stands at 45.6%. This is a decrease of 2.7 percentage points.

The proven reoffending rate for offenders in the January – March 2022 cohort who had an index offence of shop lifting (“theft from shops”) and served a custodial sentence for this offence was 80.7%.

The proven reoffending rate for offenders in the January – March 2022 cohort who had an index offence of robbery and served a custodial sentence for this offence was 21.7%.

The overall proven reoffending rate for the January – March 2022 cohort was 25.5%.

The overall proven reoffending rate has decreased from 31.3% in 2011/12 to 25.2% in 2021/22.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2024 to Question 9527 on Burglary: Reoffenders, whether the re-offending rate for people serving a custodial sentence for burglary has changed since that Answer.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

This Government is committed to tackling reoffending, and we are investing in the areas which the evidence suggests can help an individual turn their back on crime, including accommodation, employment and substance misuse treatment.

We are delivering a new Prison Education Service, we are supporting ex-offenders into housing, we have changed the law so prisoners can take up apprenticeships and we are introducing Incentivised Substance-Free living wings for drug recovery.

The proven reoffending rate for offenders who had an index offence of burglary and served a custodial sentence for this offence has been updated since the Answer of 18 January 2024 to Question 9527. The rate for the latest period available, the January – March 2022 cohort, now stands at 45.6%. This is a decrease of 2.7 percentage points.

The proven reoffending rate for offenders in the January – March 2022 cohort who had an index offence of shop lifting (“theft from shops”) and served a custodial sentence for this offence was 80.7%.

The proven reoffending rate for offenders in the January – March 2022 cohort who had an index offence of robbery and served a custodial sentence for this offence was 21.7%.

The overall proven reoffending rate for the January – March 2022 cohort was 25.5%.

The overall proven reoffending rate has decreased from 31.3% in 2011/12 to 25.2% in 2021/22.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish data on reoffending by individuals under the age of 18 for the year ending March 2023; and if he will provide a breakdown of those figures by (a) age and (b) offence type.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Details of the reoffending rates for juveniles, by age and index offence committed, for the year ending March 2022 (the latest for which data is currently available) are attached.

Proven reoffending is measured over a one-year follow-up period, after release from custody or receiving a non-custodial disposal. A proven reoffence is an offence that leads to a new court conviction, caution, reprimand, or warning in the one-year follow-up or within a further six-month waiting period to allow the offence to be proven in court. The most recently available annual data is therefore April 2021 – March 2022.

The overall juvenile proven reoffending rate has fallen from 40.4% in 2011/12 to 32.2% in 2021/22.

Reducing youth reoffending remains a key priority. That’s why we are piloting more intensive community alternatives to custody for children, which can be more effective in reducing reoffending. At the same time, the Government is working to improve outcomes and reduce reoffending rates for the small number of children sentenced to custody. For this reason, we are trialling secure schools as an alternative to Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) and Secure Training Centres (STCs). Secure schools will be “schools with security” rather than “prisons with education” and will have education, healthcare and purposeful activity at their heart.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce reoffending rates in (a) Bournemouth East constituency and (b) the South West.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Prison and Probation service in the South West published their joint Reducing Reoffending Plan for 2022–25 on 9 August 2021, which sets out our priorities to reduce reoffending, prevent victims and keep communities safe. Both the Plan and the Annual Update for 2023 update can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regional-reducing-reoffending-plans.

Alongside taking forward the priorities in the regional Reducing Reoffending Plan, Dorset Probation, which includes Bournemouth East, is engaged with the local Community Safety Partnership which brings together key partners in the area to work together to reduce crime and offending.

Found: result in the mismanagement of cases of violence against women and girls and may lead to emboldened reoffenders

Found: result in the mismanagement of cases of violence against women and girls and may lead to emboldened reoffenders