Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress he has made on developing a three-year strategy for the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) is part of the UK's Women, Peace and Security National Action Plan (NAP), which includes our strategy for tackling and preventing conflict-related sexual violence. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) will be developing an additional three-year strategy on PSVI, which remains a top priority for the British Government.
The FCO, Department for International Development (DFID) and the Ministry of Defence (MOD) will all contribute to this strategy, not only in London but across the network of Embassies in countries where conflict-related sexual violence issues are acute, and in doing so will closely consult civil society organisations and other key stakeholders. This work will be overseen by the joint FCO-DFID Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth and Prime Minister's Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon.
Our PSVI objectives will remain to champion wider restorative justice for survivors and hold perpetrators to account; support all survivors and children born of conflict-related sexual violence, and tackle the stigma they face; and prevent sexual violence in conflict. The Government will ensure the three-year strategy is survivor-centred, working closely with the UK's PSVI Survivor Champions throughout its development.
Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to (a) ensure progress on delivering the thematic strand of stigma contained in the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative and (b) support faith leaders and faith groups to (i) help and (ii) care for women from minority religious communities that have experienced sexual violence in conflict.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) is part of the UK's Women, Peace and Security National Action Plan (NAP), which includes our strategy for tackling and preventing conflict-related sexual violence. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office will be developing an additional three-year strategy on PSVI, which remains a top priority for the British Government. Our PSVI objectives will remain to champion wider restorative justice for survivors and hold perpetrators to account; support all survivors and children born of conflict-related sexual violence, and tackle the stigma they face including those from religious minority communities; and prevent sexual violence in conflict.
We are working with international faith and belief leaders to issue a 'Declaration of Humanity' which calls for the end of sexual violence in conflict and to tackle the stigma so often faced by survivors. We will also provide support to faith leaders and faith groups by training them on how to document and respond to conflict-related sexual violence, and will strengthen access to holistic care for all survivors, including for women from minority religious communities who have experienced sexual violence. We will ensure that the three-year strategy is survivor-centred, working closely with the UK's PSVI Survivor Champions throughout its development.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the value was of the Youth Justice Board grant to each local authority in each year from 2010.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Table A attached sets out the total funding the Youth Justice Board (YJB) has given to local authorities in each year from 2009/10 to 2017/18 as published in the 2017/18 annual youth justice statistics (published totals for 2018/19 are not yet available). Table B breaks this down by local authority. The majority of this funding helps support the day-to-day business of Youth Offending Teams (YOTs), but it also includes some discrete additional grants for specific projects or initiatives, for example funding for restorative justice. The annual recorded value of the additional grants is set out in Table C.
Due to a change in reporting processes the additional grants given in 2014/15 and 2015/16 were not included in the published totals in the 2017/18 youth justice statistics. The totals for these years therefore differ between Table A (where the additional grants are not included) and Table B (where they are included).
Reductions in the grant over the past decade have been made alongside a decrease in statutory caseloads and as part of wider savings.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what representations he has received from representatives of local authorities on Youth Justice Board grants.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and Youth Justice Board (YJB) receive regular representations from local authorities on a wide range of issues relating to the youth justice system, including in relation to grants.
The YJB Good Practice Grant contributes directly to YOS’ statutory work - including preparing pre-sentence reports and supervising youth offenders during sentence as well as front-line work to reduce offending and re-offending by young people. It also contributes to work to prevent children offending and coming into the youth justice system in the first instance. In addition to the YJB Good Practice Grant, the YJB also offer discrete additional grants for specific projects or initiatives, for example funding for restorative justice. The YOS also receives funding from their local authority, health, probation, the police, and, where applicable, the Welsh Government.
The YJB will be allocating a total of £72.2m in grants for 19/20, meaning that overall allocation for the front line will be greater than the previous year. This will be broken down into £70.7m for the Good Practice Grant and £1.5m that will be allocated throughout the year for additional projects supporting front line services.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total value of Youth justice grants provided to local authorities to fund Youth Offending Teams was in each year since 2010, by council.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Table A attached sets out the total funding the Youth Justice Board (YJB) has given to local authorities in each year from 2009/10 to 2017/18 as published in the 2017/18 annual youth justice statistics (published totals for 2018/19 are not yet available). Table B breaks this down by local authority. The majority of this funding helps support the day-to-day business of Youth Offending Teams (YOTs), but it also includes some discrete additional grants for specific projects or initiatives, for example funding for restorative justice. The annual recorded value of the additional grants is set out in Table C.
Due to a change in reporting processes the additional grants given in 2014/15 and 2015/16 were not included in the published totals in the 2017/18 youth justice statistics. The totals for these years therefore differ between Table A (where the additional grants are not included) and Table B (where they are included).
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the wider take-up of restorative justice as a form of reconciliation in South Sudan.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
Transitional and restorative justice mechanisms have a vital role to play in addressing the culture of impunity that persists in South Sudan, and in promoting healing and reconciliation for the victims of human rights violations and abuses. We welcome the recommitment made by the parties to the conflict in the recent peace agreement to establish such mechanisms, including the Commission on Truth, Reconciliation, and Healing, the Compensation and Reparations Authority, and the Hybrid Court for South Sudan.
Through engagement by Ministers and senior officials, and alongside our Troika partners, we continue to urge the Government of South Sudan and all other parties to the agreement to fulfil their commitments, to bring an end to the divisions and conflict for the sake of the people of South Sudan.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, following the report by the Prison Reform Trust Prison: the facts, which found that 70 per cent of sentences given to women in 2016 were for six months or fewer and 84 per cent of women entering prison had committed a non-violent crime, they have any plans to review the passing of short sentences on women and to promote the use of community sentences and restorative justice for women who commit crime.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
Protecting the public will always be our top priority. Under this government, the most serious offenders are more likely to go to prison, and for longer, helping protect the public and keep communities safe.
There is persuasive evidence that short custodial sentences do not work in terms of rehabilitation and that community sentences, in certain circumstances, are more effective in reducing reoffending, and therefore keeping the public safe. The MoJ study ‘The impact of short custodial sentences, community orders and suspended sentence orders on re-offending’ published in 2015 found that over a 1-year follow up period, a higher proportion of people re-offended having been sentenced to custody of under 12 months without supervision on release than other similar people given community orders (around 3 percentage points).
We will therefore be looking at what more we can do to emphasise that short custodial sentences should be viewed as a last resort. We also want to ensure that the public and judiciary have confidence in non-custodial sentences, such as effective community orders, which directly tackle the causes of reoffending, including alcohol or drug abuse.
On 27 June we published our strategy for female offenders, which sets out the Government’s commitment to a new programme of work for female offenders.
We have committed to a pilot for residential women’s centres in at least five sites across England and Wales. The aim of the pilot will be to develop a robust evidence base about what could be effective, sustainable and scalable models for improving outcomes for female offenders and reducing the numbers and frequency of women entering and re-entering custody on short custodial sentences.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his policy is on the use of restorative justice for young offenders.
Answered by Phillip Lee
Restorative justice is a key part of the rehabilitation of young people in both the community and custody.
Conducted by youth offender panels, Referral Orders are community orders imposed by the sentencing court. They are underpinned by the principles of ensuring a restorative approach and a positive outcome for all those affected by the offence. Youth offender panels conduct referral orders in accordance with restorative principles and practice, enabling children and young people to recognise the consequences of their offending and to be accountable for their actions. Enabling the voice of the victim to be heard is central to the Referral Order and the victim should be offered information about the order, consulted as to their wishes and invited to be involved in a restorative process.
When in custody, conflict resolution strategies are used as part of a wider Behavioural Management Strategy, applying Restorative Justice Principles to resolve conflict between young people. In addition, staff are being trained as Restorative Justice Facilitators, with the aim of all the public-sector youth secure establishments earning a Restorative Justice Quality Mark.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what evidence his Department has on the effect of participation in out-of-court restorative justice on re-offending rates.
Answered by Rory Stewart
You may find it helpful to see that the Home Office and Ministry of Justice jointly commissioned an evaluation of a number of restorative justice pilots, which can be found here: https://restorativejustice.org.uk/sites/default/files/resources/files/Does%20restorative%20justice%20affect%20reconviction.pdf
The evaluation found that the pilots were effective in reducing the frequency of reoffending by 14% (Shapland et al 2008). However, the findings do not distinguish between restorative justice out-of-court and post-conviction restorative justice.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reduce incidences of violence in HM Feltham Young Offenders Institution.
Answered by Phillip Lee
Keeping all children and young people in custody safe is a key priority for the Youth Custody Service. We are taking active steps to address and reduce the levels of violence for all those who live and work within the Youth Estate, including Feltham.
A number of initiatives have recently been implemented to tackle violence and drive performance improvements within the Youth Estate. A holistic style approach to managing behaviour within the youth estate has led to the implementation of Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint (MMPR) in all under-18 Young Offender Institutions (YOI) and Secure Training Centres. In public sector Young Offender Institutions, local psychological teams have been put in place to carry out assessments of young people involved in multiple perpetrator/serious assaults. A new structured approach to the delivery of interventions for young people has been introduced to ensure that interventions delivered are either accredited or formally approved. Restorative justice practises have also been rolled out.
At Feltham specifically, we have around 100 new officers currently in training - with the first officers on the landings in April - helping to get to the root causes of violence and improve safety.
In addition, the first Enhanced Support Unit within the Youth Estate opened at Feltham in November 2017 to support and manage young people who are deemed to have exceptionally complex needs and high-risk behaviours.