The Ministry of Justice is a major government department, at the heart of the justice system. We work to protect and advance the principles of justice. Our vision is to deliver a world-class justice system that works for everyone in society.
Oral Answers to Questions is a regularly scheduled appearance where the Secretary of State and junior minister will answer at the Dispatch Box questions from backbench MPs
Other Commons Chamber appearances can be:Westminster Hall debates are performed in response to backbench MPs or e-petitions asking for a Minister to address a detailed issue
Written Statements are made when a current event is not sufficiently significant to require an Oral Statement, but the House is required to be informed.
A Bill to make provision about victims of criminal conduct and others affected by criminal conduct; about the appointment and functions of advocates for victims of major incidents; about the release of prisoners; about the membership and functions of the Parole Board; to prohibit certain prisoners from forming a marriage or civil partnership; and for connected purposes.
To amend the Arbitration Act 1996.
A Bill to make provision about the sentencing of offenders convicted of murder or sexual offences; to make provision about the suspension of custodial sentences; to make provision about the release of offenders, including provision about release on licence; and for connected purposes.
A Bill to make provision about the police and other emergency workers; to make provision about collaboration between authorities to prevent and reduce serious violence; to make provision about offensive weapons homicide reviews; to make provision for new offences and for the modification of existing offences; to make provision about the powers of the police and other authorities for the purposes of preventing, detecting, investigating or prosecuting crime or investigating other matters; to make provision about the maintenance of public order; to make provision about the removal, storage and disposal of vehicles; to make provision in connection with driving offences; to make provision about cautions; to make provision about bail and remand; to make provision about sentencing, detention, release, management and rehabilitation of offenders; to make provision about secure 16 to 19 Academies; to make provision for and in connection with procedures before courts and tribunals; and for connected purposes.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 28th April 2022 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to Make provision about the provision that may be made by, and the effects of, quashing orders; to make provision restricting judicial review of certain decisions of the Upper Tribunal; to make provision about the use of written and electronic procedures in courts and tribunals; to make other provision about procedure in, and the organisation of, courts and tribunals; and for connected purposes.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 28th April 2022 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to make provision about the sentencing of offenders convicted of terrorism offences, of offences with a terrorist connection or of certain other offences; to make other provision in relation to terrorism; and for connected purposes.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 29th April 2021 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to implement the Hague Conventions of 1996, 2005 and 2007 and to provide for the implementation of other international agreements on private international law.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 14th December 2020 and was enacted into law.
To require the Parole Board to take into account any failure by a prisoner serving a sentence for unlawful killing or for taking or making an indecent image of a child to disclose information about the victim.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 4th November 2020 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to consolidate certain enactments relating to sentencing.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 22nd October 2020 and was enacted into law.
A bill to make in relation to marriage and civil partnership in England and Wales provision about divorce, dissolution and separation; and for connected purposes
This Bill received Royal Assent on 25th June 2020 and was enacted into law.
A bill to give effect to Law Commission recommendations relating to commencement of enactments relating to sentencing law and to make provision for pre-consolidation amendments of sentencing law
This Bill received Royal Assent on 8th June 2020 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to make provision about the release on licence of offenders convicted of terrorist offences or offences with a terrorist connection; and for connected purposes.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 26th February 2020 and was enacted into law.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
The proposed Human Rights Act reforms must be withdrawn. The Government must not make any changes to the Human Rights Act, especially ones that dilute people's human rights in any circumstances, make the Government less accountable, or reduce people's ability to make human rights claims.
As Parliament considers the Bill of Rights, the Government must reconsider including abortion rights in this Bill. Rights to abortion must be specifically protected in this legislation, especially as the Government has refused to rule out leaving the European Convention on Human Rights.
Ryan's Law: Widen definition of 'death by dangerous driving'
Gov Responded - 24 Mar 2021 Debated on - 15 Nov 2021The offence of causing 'death by dangerous driving' should be widened to include: failure to stop, call 999 and render aid on scene until further help arrives.
Commons Select Committees are a formally established cross-party group of backbench MPs tasked with holding a Government department to account.
At any time there will be number of ongoing investigations into the work of the Department, or issues which fall within the oversight of the Department. Witnesses can be summoned from within the Government and outside to assist in these inquiries.
Select Committee findings are reported to the Commons, printed, and published on the Parliament website. The government then usually has 60 days to reply to the committee's recommendations.
We are working hard to deter, detect and disrupt the illegal use of drones to deliver contraband into prisons. We conduct vulnerability assessments across the estate to understand the risk and develop and implement plans to manage and mitigate the threat, including physical countermeasures.
The Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Act 2021 established powers for prisons to authorise the use of counter-drone technology. This Act also enables the police to stop and search those suspected of committing drone-related crimes.
In January this year, we strengthened the legislative framework by introducing Restricted Fly Zones around prisons to disrupt illegal drone use. This strengthens our ability to intercept illicit items being smuggled via drones, and enables the police to fine or prosecute those seeking to undermine prison security.
Recent joint operations with the police and HMPPS have resulted in a number of drone related arrests and disruptions to the activity of serious and organised crime networks. Since June 2016 we have secured over 70 convictions, and those convicted have been sentenced to more than a total of 240 years in prison.
To obtain the information requested, it would be necessary to interrogate a number of separate records for each young person: in some cases, it would also be necessary to speak to the young person. That could not be done without incurring disproportionate cost.
The End of Custody Supervised License (ECSL) Scheme is a targeted measure that will operate in certain areas for a limited period of time where we are moving a prisoner’s release date earlier. We are committed to continue working with the police, prisons, and probation leaders to make further adjustments as required.
Prior to the announcement in Parliament of the extension of ECSL on 11 March, Senior Regional Prison and Probation leaders and Trade Unions were advised of the decision to extend ECSL, to prepare to implement the ECSL changes effectively.
Unlike Labour’s End of Custody License scheme which ran from 2007 to 2010, End of Custody Supervised Licence only operates in specific prisons where it is absolutely necessary. The number of prisons where it is in operation is reviewed constantly and therefore varies as required.
Funding for legal aid is on a demand led basis, the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) does not have a specific budget allocation for delivery of legal aid services in relation to specific categories of law. The table below sets out the total expenditure, on a closed case basis, in relation to asylum seekers’ appeals in gross terms and as a percentage of overall legal aid expenditure for the last 10 years.
Financial Year | Asylum Appeal Expenditure (£M) | Total Legal Aid Expenditure (£M) | Percentage of Legal Aid Expenditure spent on Asylum Appeals |
2013-14 | 13 | 2,017 | 0.6% |
2014-15 | 10 | 1,821 | 0.6% |
2015-16 | 12 | 1,650 | 0.7% |
2016-17 | 17 | 1,615 | 1.1% |
2017-18 | 17 | 1,652 | 1.0% |
2018-19 | 16 | 1,665 | 1.0% |
2019-20 | 18 | 1,679 | 1.1% |
2020-21 | 12 | 1,345 | 0.9% |
2021-22 | 12 | 1,656 | 0.7% |
2022-23 | 13 | 1,835 | 0.7% |
Legal aid is generally available for asylum cases, including appeals, under paragraph 30 of Schedule 1, Part 1 Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO). However, not all cases will qualify for legal aid as eligibility is subject to an assessment of legal merits of the case and of the applicant’s financial resources.
I refer the honourable Member for Stockton North to the answer I gave on 19 February 2024 to PQ 13277 and the answer I gave on the 23 January 2024 to PQ 9675 in relation to the steps being taken to improve timeliness in civil courts.
Due to the nature of Civil claims, data relating to the number of people awaiting hearing is not held centrally. The time to hearing in relation to the small proportion of civil claims which are defended and proceed to trial is published quarterly: Civil justice statistics quarterly - GOV.UK.
I refer the honourable Member for Stockton North to the answer I gave on 19 February 2024 to PQ 13277 and the answer I gave on the 23 January 2024 to PQ 9675 in relation to the steps being taken to improve timeliness in civil courts.
Due to the nature of Civil claims, data relating to the number of people awaiting hearing is not held centrally. The time to hearing in relation to the small proportion of civil claims which are defended and proceed to trial is published quarterly: Civil justice statistics quarterly - GOV.UK.
Average settlement time for claims going through the Official Injury Claim (OIC) portal at the end of February 2024 was 239 days. This can be broken down to 259 days for represented claimants and 115 days for unrepresented claimants. Further information and data on OIC can be found here: https://www.officialinjuryclaim.org.uk/resources-for-professionals/data/.
Part 3 of the Civil Liability Act 2018 (the Act) requires motor insurers in England and Wales to provide the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) with data on savings arising from its provisions and on how they have been passed on to policy holders. The Act also requires that a report on the savings made must be completed and laid before Parliament by no later than 1 April 2025. The data gathering phase has been completed and the FCA are now working with HM Treasury officials to prepare a report which will be published in line with statutory deadlines.
The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
To preserve the independence of the judiciary, the Lady Chief Justice has the statutory responsibility for judicial training, including magistrates, under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. These responsibilities are exercised through the Judicial College.
Any training provided to magistrates on this matter is therefore for the independent judiciary to determine and it is not for the Government to comment.
Deaths recorded by prison are published as part of our Safety in Custody statistics, updated quarterly, and available in the Deaths Data Tool at the following link: Safety in custody: quarterly update to September 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Please note that deaths at Wandsworth are currently published from 30 June 2023 – end of December 2023. Figures to the end of March 2024 are not due for publication until April 2024 and cannot be released at this time.
Deaths in prison custody figures include all deaths of prisoners arising from incidents during prison custody. They include deaths of prisoners while released on temporary license (ROTL) for medical reasons but exclude other types of ROTL where the state has less direct responsibility.
In addition to deaths in prison custody which occur in hospitals, hospices or nursing homes, a small proportion will occur while in an ambulance on the way to hospital, while the prisoner is under escort.
Every death in custody is a tragedy and we continue to do all we can to improve the safety of prisoners.
We have implemented a revised version of the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) case management approach across the prison estate. Revisions in ACCT v6 include a stronger emphasis on taking a person-centred approach; better multi-disciplinary team working; a consistent quality assurance process and an improved focus on identifying and addressing an individual’s risks, triggers and protective factors.
We are implementing a new safety training package for staff. It brings together related safety topics, including suicide and self-harm prevention and understanding risks, triggers and protective factors.
We fund Samaritans through a grant providing total funding of just under £2 million between 2022 and 2025. This is primarily for the delivery of the Listener scheme (through which selected prisoners are trained to provide support to fellow prisoners in emotional distress).
We have also worked with Samaritans to develop a postvention response to providing support in the period following a self-inflicted death in order to reduce the risk of further deaths. This has been successfully piloted and the renewed grant includes funding for this service to be maintained until March 2025.
The Prison Group Director for London is taking active measures to support the health and well-being of staff and prisoners at HMP Wandsworth. He conducts regular visits to assess and monitor conditions at the prison. Accompanied by lead representatives for Health, Safety and Wellbeing at His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service, he meets regularly with the Governor to discuss any actions that need to be taken to address identified concerns.
In addition, monthly tripartite meetings are held between Regional Estates, Finance and Health and Safety representatives, where decency is a standing agenda item. A Senior Safety Lead has recently been appointed to support local initiatives and work to improve safety outcomes for prisoners. A Task and Finish Group has recently been set up to address concerns about the physical environment of the in-patient unit at HMP Wandsworth, to improve infection prevention and control.
The Prison Group Director for London is taking active measures to support the health and well-being of staff and prisoners at HMP Wandsworth. He conducts regular visits to assess and monitor conditions at the prison. Accompanied by lead representatives for Health, Safety and Wellbeing at His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service, he meets regularly with the Governor to discuss any actions that need to be taken to address identified concerns.
In addition, monthly tripartite meetings are held between Regional Estates, Finance and Health and Safety representatives, where decency is a standing agenda item. A Senior Safety Lead has recently been appointed to support local initiatives and work to improve safety outcomes for prisoners. A Task and Finish Group has recently been set up to address concerns about the physical environment of the in-patient unit at HMP Wandsworth, to improve infection prevention and control.
Across the Ministry of Justice, we are focused on improving productivity through streamlining and strengthening key processes and funding innovative schemes that will drive down reoffending, delivering better value for taxpayers and a more efficient justice system. The Office for National Statistics publishes estimates for productivity across the public sector, and my officials are working with them to improve the way that productivity is measured for the justice sector. HMPPS is also in the process of refreshing the staffing resource model for prisons, which will support productivity by refining how we attribute target staffing to delivery outcomes, and support prioritisation of resources at both a local and national level.
We are also investing in digital and technological initiatives in prisons, which will increase staff productivity by reducing administrative burden on staff. This means staff time can be spent more meaningfully on core, purposeful tasks, such as running the regime, building on staff-prisoner relationships, and engaging more effectively with vulnerable prisoners.
I welcome the Chancellor’s public sector productivity review and, as part of this, the Ministry of Justice has been working to identify new opportunities for improving productivity across HMPPS and the MoJ. As announced in the Spring Budget, the Government is investing £170m into the justice system over the next four years to improve productivity and deliver a justice system fit for the modern era. This includes a £6m investment to accelerate the development of digital services to replace legacy systems and improve productivity, and £16m to increase prison workshop activity to boost employability and focus resources on rehabilitative activities.
End of Custody Supervised Licence (ECSL) began in October 2023, and an analysis of its use will be based on one year’s worth of data and published on an annual basis in line with other statistics, such as deaths of offenders in the community.
The sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) was abolished in 2012. For those still serving the sentence, it is for the independent Parole Board to determine whether to release an IPP prisoner by considering the evidence presented and applying the statutory release test.
On 16 October 2023 the Lord Chancellor announced to the Parliament reforms to ensure that convicted rapists (and those convicted of the most serious sexual offences) must serve 100% of their custodial term in prison. These reforms will be legislated for in the Sentencing Bill. Since 2010, offenders convicted of rape are serving longer in prison, with sentences rising almost 3 years, from approximately 6.5 years in 2010 to approximately 9.5 years now – an over 40% increase.
The Youth Custody Service (YCS) is a specialist service which forms part of His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service, which is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice. Governors of young offender institutions are officials of the Ministry of Justice and members of the YCS. Headquarters staff in the YCS are in frequent daily communication with governors of young offender institutions, with the Director of HMYOI Parc, and with the senior leadership teams at Oakhill Secure Training Centre and those secure children’s homes in which young people sentenced to custody are placed. Owing to their frequency, it is not possible to calculate the number of meetings that have taken place within the last 12 months although contact between YCS HQ and sites is a daily occurrence.
The YCS will shortly be launching a regular event at which Governors of public sector young offender institutions, the Directors of HMYOI Parc and Oakhill Secure Centre, and Registered Managers from secure children’s homes come together to share best practice and experience of managing children at their sites. In addition, a new staff exchange programme will shortly be launched, to enable staff in each sector of the youth estate to gain experience of how children and young people are supervised and cared for in other sectors.
The Youth Custody Service (YCS) is a specialist service which forms part of His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service, which is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice. Governors of young offender institutions are officials of the Ministry of Justice and members of the YCS. Headquarters staff in the YCS are in frequent daily communication with governors of young offender institutions, with the Director of HMYOI Parc, and with the senior leadership teams at Oakhill Secure Training Centre and those secure children’s homes in which young people sentenced to custody are placed. Owing to their frequency, it is not possible to calculate the number of meetings that have taken place within the last 12 months although contact between YCS HQ and sites is a daily occurrence.
The YCS will shortly be launching a regular event at which Governors of public sector young offender institutions, the Directors of HMYOI Parc and Oakhill Secure Centre, and Registered Managers from secure children’s homes come together to share best practice and experience of managing children at their sites. In addition, a new staff exchange programme will shortly be launched, to enable staff in each sector of the youth estate to gain experience of how children and young people are supervised and cared for in other sectors.
The Youth Custody Service (YCS) is a specialist service which forms part of His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service, which is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice. Governors of young offender institutions are officials of the Ministry of Justice and members of the YCS. Headquarters staff in the YCS are in frequent daily communication with governors of young offender institutions, with the Director of HMYOI Parc, and with the senior leadership teams at Oakhill Secure Training Centre and those secure children’s homes in which young people sentenced to custody are placed. Owing to their frequency, it is not possible to calculate the number of meetings that have taken place within the last 12 months although contact between YCS HQ and sites is a daily occurrence.
The YCS will shortly be launching a regular event at which Governors of public sector young offender institutions, the Directors of HMYOI Parc and Oakhill Secure Centre, and Registered Managers from secure children’s homes come together to share best practice and experience of managing children at their sites. In addition, a new staff exchange programme will shortly be launched, to enable staff in each sector of the youth estate to gain experience of how children and young people are supervised and cared for in other sectors.
The Youth Custody Service (YCS) is a specialist service which forms part of His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service, which is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice. Governors of young offender institutions are officials of the Ministry of Justice and members of the YCS. Headquarters staff in the YCS are in frequent daily communication with governors of young offender institutions, with the Director of HMYOI Parc, and with the senior leadership teams at Oakhill Secure Training Centre and those secure children’s homes in which young people sentenced to custody are placed. Owing to their frequency, it is not possible to calculate the number of meetings that have taken place within the last 12 months although contact between YCS HQ and sites is a daily occurrence.
The YCS will shortly be launching a regular event at which Governors of public sector young offender institutions, the Directors of HMYOI Parc and Oakhill Secure Centre, and Registered Managers from secure children’s homes come together to share best practice and experience of managing children at their sites. In addition, a new staff exchange programme will shortly be launched, to enable staff in each sector of the youth estate to gain experience of how children and young people are supervised and cared for in other sectors.
The Youth Custody Service (YCS) is a specialist service which forms part of His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service, which is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice. Governors of young offender institutions are officials of the Ministry of Justice and members of the YCS. Headquarters staff in the YCS are in frequent daily communication with governors of young offender institutions, with the Director of HMYOI Parc, and with the senior leadership teams at Oakhill Secure Training Centre and those secure children’s homes in which young people sentenced to custody are placed. Owing to their frequency, it is not possible to calculate the number of meetings that have taken place within the last 12 months although contact between YCS HQ and sites is a daily occurrence.
The YCS will shortly be launching a regular event at which Governors of public sector young offender institutions, the Directors of HMYOI Parc and Oakhill Secure Centre, and Registered Managers from secure children’s homes come together to share best practice and experience of managing children at their sites. In addition, a new staff exchange programme will shortly be launched, to enable staff in each sector of the youth estate to gain experience of how children and young people are supervised and cared for in other sectors.
The requested information has been provided in table form below. Please note that the sum of these populations does not match the recorded total population on the day. This is because some of the prisoners in (b) are also counted in (c). A prisoner could be the sole occupant in cell for 2 people and would be included in (b) and the same prisoner in the same cell would also be included in (c).
Categories | Number |
(a) alone in a cell intended to accommodate one person | 51701 |
(b) alone in a cell intended to accommodate two persons | 882 |
(c) in a cell or dormitory intended to accommodate more than one person | 13857 |
(d) with another person in a cell intended for one person | 22095 |
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The determination of the maximum crowded capacity of a particular establishment is a matter of operational judgement, considering risks to safety and stability. In times of severe population pressure, establishments will be expected to hold as many prisoners as they can safely accommodate, but it is equally clear that that number should be determined by the operational managers responsible for managing the prison, not by a central process or by wider supply and demand issues.
We are delivering 20,000 additional modern uncrowded prison places, the largest prison build programme since the Victorian era, ensuring the right conditions are in place to rehabilitate prisoners, helping to cut crime and protect the public. We have already delivered c.5,900 places including through our two new 1,700-place prisons, HMP Five Wells and HMP Fosse Way and we are on track to have delivered around 10,000 places in total by the end of 2025.
We are also investing in our prisons to make them safer for both prisoners and staff by taking a preventative approach to safety, making key changes to the physical environment and testing new technology. We will continue to invest in critical prison maintenance and renewal to ensure that we keep as much capacity as possible in use and fit for purpose.
The number of incidents of weapon finds in prisons in England and Wales is published in the HMPPS Annual Digest through the Finds Incidents Data Tool.
The figures include incidents occurring within escort areas. These figures represent the number of incidents where weapons were found - multiple weapons can be found and recorded as one incident.
Weapons drive violence, undermine safety and security and have no place in our prisons.
Our £100 million Security Investment Programme, aimed at reducing crime in prisons, including reducing the smuggling of illicit items such as weapons, was completed in March 2022. This investment delivered 75 additional X-ray body scanners resulting in full coverage across the closed adult male estate. As of October 2023, we have recorded 46,925 positive indications, helping to tackle the smuggling of weapons and other illicit items into prisons. The investment also funded Enhanced Gate Security at 42 high-risk sites, enhancing our routine searching of staff and visitors. 84 X-ray baggage scanners have also been installed at 49 sites to further strengthen our ability to detect the smuggling of illicit items including weapons.
In January this year, we introduced Restricted Fly Zones around prisons to disrupt illegal drone use. This strengthens our ability to intercept illicit items, such as weapons, being smuggled via drones, and enables the police to fine or prosecute those seeking to undermine prison security.
Nobody convicted of serious violence will be released early and anyone convicted of any sexual or terror offence is automatically excluded. Unlike Labour’s End of Custody Licence scheme, which ran from 2007 to 2010, all offenders who may be eligible for release will be subject to the same set of licence conditions that would apply had they been released automatically.
Those licence conditions will reflect the risk management release plan prepared by probation staff and what is necessary to safely manage the offender in the community. The offender can be immediately recalled to prison if they do not comply or otherwise behave in a way that is assessed to be putting the public at risk.
In contrast to Labour’s approach, we have introduced an additional safeguard, whereby it remains at the discretion of the prison service to block the ECSL release of any prisoners where releasing an offender earlier presents a heightened risk than if they were released at their automatic release date.
End of Custody Supervised Licence (ECSL) allows certain lower-level offenders to be released before their automatic release date. Unlike Labour’s scheme, which ran from 2007 to 2010, all offenders will be released onto strict licence conditions.
Nobody convicted of serious violence will be released early and anyone convicted of any sexual or terror offence is automatically excluded. In contrast to Labour’s approach, we have also introduced an additional safeguard, whereby it remains at the discretion of the prison service to block the ECSL release of any prisoners where releasing an offender earlier presents a heightened risk than if they were released at their automatic release date.
We remain committed to addressing the outstanding caseload at the Crown Court and have introduced a raft of measures to speed up justice for victims, such as recruiting up to 1,000 Crown Court judges and tribunal members this financial year, continuing the use of 20 Nightingale courtrooms to increase the capacity of our courts system, and increasing the fees paid to defence and prosecution lawyers by 15% in recognition of the essential work they do in facilitating the administration of justice.
As a result of the growth in the outstanding caseload during Covid and the subsequent Criminal Bar Association action, we recognise that there are some cases in the outstanding caseload which are taking longer to progress through the system. While the judiciary already look to prioritise cases involving vulnerable victims and witnesses, the Senior Presiding Judge for England and Wales announced on 6 March 2024 that around 181 rape cases which have been outstanding for more than two years will be listed by the end of July 2024, demonstrating a renewed commitment to tackling the toughest cases still awaiting trial.
Alongside this, we are doing more than ever to support victims throughout their criminal justice journey, introducing our 24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Line, quadrupling victim support funding by 2024/25 compared to 2010, and increasing the number of Independent Sexual and Domestic Violence Advisors (ISVAs and IDVAs) to around 1,000 by 2024/25.
PAVA is intended to protect staff and prisoners in very serious assaults. Safe implementation of PAVA use is accompanied by clear and explicit guidance ensuring staff are confident as to when PAVA spray should be used. Staff can use the PAVA spray where there is serious violence or an imminent or perceived risk of it, and there is an immediate need to create a safe and protective environment. It has been rollout out to prison officers in the adult estate only.
PAVA may be deployed by specialist staff, on the authority of the Gold commander, in Young Offender Institutes that hold those under 18 years of age as a tactical option to resolve an incident for the safety of young people and staff.
PAVA has been deployed once in 2019 at Feltham (A). There have been no other uses the under-18 YOI estate.
There has been an increase in PAVA use as HMPPS have rolled out to all adult male prisons and therefore it is available to more staff to respond to violent incidents where appropriate.
The information requested is in the attached tables for adult YOIs and prisons.
In September 2022, following the conclusion of the Criminal Legal Aid Independent Review, we uplifted fees for all defence advocates by 15%, which we expect will see a typical criminal barrister earn nearly £7,000 more a year. Fees for prosecution advocates were subject to 15% increase by the CPS in May 2023.
We also increased the fee for advocates who undertake s.28 cases (which provides for a special measure enabling certain vulnerable victims and witnesses to have their cross-examination and re-examination pre-recorded and played at trial) from £670 (exc. VAT) to £1,000 (exc. VAT). The s.28 fees and special and wasted preparation fees brought the overall increase for barrister fees from 15% to 17%.
The CPS recognise that barristers’ wellbeing should be supported and therefore have provided CPS Advocate Panel members dealing with potentially distressing casework access to their Employee Assistance Programme since September 2023.
I am hopeful that our latest funding increase for s.28 cases will help to retain Rape and Serious Sexual Offences barristers and ensure these cases continue to be prioritised. The Lord Chancellor is holding a roundtable on Wednesday 13 March to discuss this issue further.
In September 2022, following the conclusion of the Criminal Legal Aid Independent Review, we uplifted fees for all defence advocates by 15%, which we expect will see a typical criminal barrister earn nearly £7,000 more a year. Fees for prosecution advocates were subject to 15% increase by the CPS in May 2023.
We also increased the fee for advocates who undertake s.28 cases (which provides for a special measure enabling certain vulnerable victims and witnesses to have their cross-examination and re-examination pre-recorded and played at trial) from £670 (exc. VAT) to £1,000 (exc. VAT). The s.28 fees and special and wasted preparation fees brought the overall increase for barrister fees from 15% to 17%.
The CPS recognise that barristers’ wellbeing should be supported and therefore have provided CPS Advocate Panel members dealing with potentially distressing casework access to their Employee Assistance Programme since September 2023.
I am hopeful that our latest funding increase for s.28 cases will help to retain Rape and Serious Sexual Offences barristers and ensure these cases continue to be prioritised. The Lord Chancellor is holding a roundtable on Wednesday 13 March to discuss this issue further.
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.
The information requested could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.
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.
The information requested could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.
The information requested could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.
All prisons have systems in place for the day-to-day management of regime delivery. Each prison has a regime management plan that clearly sets out the full range of prisoner activities and services delivered within the prison, morning and afternoon, from Monday to Friday.
All types of education, including distance learning, are factored into a prison’s regime management plan as part of the purposeful activity that prisoners undertake.
The information requested could only be obtained at a 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.
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.
The number of these orders is not recorded centrally. The current recording system only collates data on the total number of parental orders made and there is no capability to break the data into further sub-sets of the different types of surrogacy arrangements. Such information can only be obtained through individual analysis of court files at disproportionate cost since they would require a manual search of court records. The Government has no plans to record this information centrally, doing so would require fundamental changes to existing IT systems.
You will be aware that in March 2023 the Law Commission of England and Wales published a joint report with the Scottish Law Commission; “Building families through surrogacy: a new law". The report puts forward recommendations for a robust new system to govern surrogacy in the UK, including recommendations specifically for the family court system.
The Government is currently considering all of the recommendations within the report and will publish a full response in due course. If and when further action is taken in response to the report, we will consider the collection of data in this area rather than risk making piecemeal changes.
The number of these orders is not recorded centrally. The current recording system only collates data on the total number of parental orders made and there is no capability to break the data into further sub-sets of the different types of surrogacy arrangements. Such information can only be obtained through individual analysis of court files at disproportionate cost since they would require a manual search of court records. The Government has no plans to record this information centrally, doing so would require fundamental changes to existing IT systems.
You will be aware that in March 2023 the Law Commission of England and Wales published a joint report with the Scottish Law Commission; “Building families through surrogacy: a new law". The report puts forward recommendations for a robust new system to govern surrogacy in the UK, including recommendations specifically for the family court system.
The Government is currently considering all of the recommendations within the report and will publish a full response in due course. If and when further action is taken in response to the report, we will consider the collection of data in this area rather than risk making piecemeal changes.
As of 4 March 2024, there were 3,828 open claims by prisoners against His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS). The nominal amount of claims against HMPPS is of the order of £62 million but that figure is not indicative of any ultimate liability. HMPPS does not hold data on claims made by prisoners against independent insurers. The number and value of claims has remained fairly consistent over recent years. A significant number of open claims and proportion of the total value of claims are historic and relate to incidents that are alleged to have occurred in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
HMPPS successfully defends around two-thirds of all litigation cases brought by prisoners. Where damages are awarded to prisoners, we seek to ensure that payments are offset against any outstanding debts owed to victims and the courts.
HMPPS has been working closely with The Traveller Movement since the publication of ‘Pre-Sentencing Report Toolkit Fair Sentencing for Romani (Gypsy), Roma and Irish Traveller People’.
We are working through the report together to see how the some of the findings can better support our work.
As part of the HMPPS Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) Strategy, an Aide Memoir: ‘Preparing pre-sentence reports for ethnic minority people’ was published in December 2023, giving specific guidance and information regarding GRT community members. We will add to this as appropriate through the above-mentioned collaboration. We will also carefully consider the findings of the report regarding future policy reviews and updates.
The number of defendants dealt with via Single Justice Procedure (SJP) notifications at the magistrates’ courts is published as part of the National Statistics series ‘Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly’. Additionally, this series also provides the total number of defendants dealt with in the magistrates’ court, these can be used to calculate the proportion of SJPs in the magistrates’ caseload.
The latest published data is available to September 2023 and can be found in Tables T1 & T2 which are accessible by the following link: Criminal court statistics quarterly: July to September 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The Single Justice Procedure (SJP) was introduced under the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015. Prior to the introduction of the procedure, in accordance with the Equalities Act 2010, an equality impact assessment was undertaken in relation to SJP. This concluded that on the basis of the available evidence, the planned change in summary justice would not lead to any positive or negative impact on people with protected characteristics.
HMCTS committed to the Justice Select Committee to collect protected characteristic data in all reform services. This includes protected characteristic data for SJP, which has been monitored since 2023.
The decision to prosecute under SJP is a decision for the prosecutor and not the Government.
There were 251 distinct days in which Single Justice Procedure (SJP) cases were heard in a magistrates’ court between October 2022 and September 2023.
The latest published data on completed SJP cases is available to September 2023 and can be found in Table T1 which is accessible at the following link: Criminal court statistics quarterly: July to September 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Based on this information, the average number of SJP cases completed per working day is 3,151. This excludes weekends and the 9 public holidays.
The Ministry of Justice responded to the letter on 14 March 2024. The Ministry of Justice takes the handling of correspondence very seriously and in this instance, due to an administrative error, there was a delay in responding. As outlined in our response, we apologise for the delay in responding.
The coroner’s statutory duty, through the investigation and inquest process, is to establish who has died, and when, where and how they died. Coroners are independent judicial office holders and the way in which they conduct their investigations and inquests is a matter for them. However, the Government and the Chief Coroner are clear that the bereaved should be placed at the heart of this process.
The office of the Chief Coroner was introduced in 2013 to provide judicial leadership, guidance and support to coroners and to promote consistency of standards and practice. In addition, the Chief Coroner is required to provide an annual report to the Lord Chancellor which, amongst other issues, assesses the consistency of standards between coroner areas.
The Government continues to identify and implement measures to promote consistency of standards in coroner services – for example, through the programme of coroner area mergers, and by means of a suite of provisions in the Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022 to streamline coronial processes.
We also accepted a number of recommendations made by the Justice Committee following its 2021 Inquiry into the Coroner Service, and undertook to give further consideration to others. The Committee’s current follow up Inquiry will, amongst other issues, consider progress against those recommendations.
The healthcare unit is expected to open in the coming weeks, once a number of IT hardware issues and telephony have been resolved. Its delay in opening is due to supply chain issues which we are working to expediate.
The cost to the public purse of this delay is being evaluated and cannot be confirmed at present.
The refurbishment of healthcare facilities at HMP Wandsworth is part of the wider decisive action we are taking to improve safety and conditions at the prison, including boosting staffing levels and investing millions into upgrades such as rolling out new CCTV, installing new windows and repairing roofs.