Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many vacancies there were for band 3 prison officers in the Long Term High Security Estate - South at the start of each year from 2017 to 2023.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Following a period of staffing challenges after the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen a substantial improvement in the national staffing picture within prisons. The number of Band 3-5 prison officers has increased by 1,634 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) between December 2022 - 2023, and resignation rates have fallen over the same period. This is the result of significant efforts across the agency, including substantial increases in pay for staff and launching our first-ever nationwide advertising campaign.
Table One below shows the number of indicative vacancies for Band 3 Prison Officers in the Long Term & High Security Estate (for prisons in the South) for January 2018, January 2019, January 2020, January 2021, January 2022 and January 2023. Data is not held for the period January 2017 and has not been provided.
In reality, many establishments will routinely sit marginally below their Target Staffing level due to normal attrition and time to hire and so we would not expect establishments to run consistently at 100% staffing.
Where prisons are not at their Target Staffing level, these are routinely supplemented (e.g., by using Payment Plus, a form of overtime) which is not accounted for in the indicative vacancy data provided. Use of detached duty, a long-standing mechanism to deploy staff from one prison or region to support another, is also not reflected in the data.
Table One: Total Band 3 Prison Officer Indicative Vacancies across Long Term & High Security Estate (LTHSE) South, January 2018 to January 2023
Month | Indicative vacancies (FTE) |
Jan-18 | 104 |
Jan-19 | 14 |
Jan-20 | 62 |
Jan-21 | 86 |
Jan-22 | 127 |
Jan-23 | 323 |
Notes
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the report by the University of Manchester Racial Bias and the Bench: A response to the Judicial Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (2020-2025), published in November 2022, what support they will give to recommendations to overhaul judicial appointment processes to deliver a more diverse judiciary and embed equalities within the judiciary.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) is independent of government and has a statutory duty to select candidates for judicial appointment solely on merit; select only people of good character and have regard to the need to encourage diversity in the range of persons available for judicial selection. The JAC keeps its selection processes under continual review to ensure they are transparent, fair, and attract talented candidates from a wide range of backgrounds. In 2022-2023, across all legal JAC exercises, 51% of those recommended for appointment were women and 16% were ethnic minorities, contributing to a more diverse judiciary.
The Ministry of Justice, as a member of the Judicial Diversity Forum (JDF), works closely with the judiciary, the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC), the Legal Services Board (LSB) and the three largest legal professions on actions to improve judicial diversity. The Forum’s 2024 action plan (https://judicialappointments.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Judicial-Diversity-Forum-Priorities-and-Actions-for-2024.pdf) which was published in January, sets out our shared priorities.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many appeals for all types of benefit case (a) are awaiting a hearing and (b) were awaiting a hearing on 22 April 2010 (i) nationally, (ii) by region, (iii) by Tribunal Office and (iv) by hearing venue.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The table below sets out the number of appeals for all types of benefit awaiting a hearing (i) nationally, (ii) by region, and (iv) by hearing venue as at end of December 2023 (the latest period for which data are available). There is no separate data collated at (iii) Tribunal office level.
Data for 22 April 2010 could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
All SSCS Benefits at December 231 | |||
Region / Venue | Total Open Caseload | Ready To List | Listed For Hearing |
London | 11785 | 6166 | 1401 |
Bexleyheath | 6 | 3 | 0 |
East London | 2715 | 1443 | 349 |
Enfield | 46 | 20 | 4 |
Fox Court | 5765 | 2996 | 670 |
Hatton Cross | 436 | 170 | 96 |
Romford | 844 | 516 | 112 |
Sutton | 1973 | 1018 | 170 |
Midlands | 14569 | 7979 | 2084 |
Birmingham | 3275 | 1668 | 603 |
Boston | 299 | 196 | 33 |
Chesterfield | 649 | 359 | 84 |
Coventry | 1146 | 725 | 102 |
Derby | 1047 | 618 | 142 |
Hereford | 162 | 81 | 25 |
Kidderminster | 193 | 93 | 37 |
Leicester | 1305 | 700 | 160 |
Lincoln | 693 | 422 | 71 |
Northampton | 736 | 476 | 87 |
Nottingham | 1666 | 906 | 256 |
Nuneaton | 123 | 72 | 13 |
Shrewsbury | 518 | 283 | 67 |
Stoke | 681 | 379 | 78 |
Walsall | 493 | 226 | 86 |
Wellingborough | 280 | 169 | 31 |
Wolverhampton | 1058 | 462 | 180 |
Worcester | 245 | 144 | 29 |
North East (Leeds) | 6382 | 2903 | 1205 |
Barnsley | 314 | 126 | 67 |
Bradford | 1055 | 542 | 178 |
Doncaster | 448 | 191 | 75 |
Grimsby | 300 | 138 | 57 |
Huddersfield | 36 | 11 | 8 |
Hull | 615 | 327 | 97 |
Leeds | 957 | 341 | 193 |
Scarborough | 241 | 111 | 53 |
Sheffield | 1182 | 554 | 214 |
Wakefield | 982 | 473 | 187 |
York | 252 | 89 | 76 |
North East (Newcastle) | 4775 | 2480 | 807 |
Bedlington | 234 | 95 | 65 |
Berwick | 20 | 9 | 4 |
Darlington | 502 | 251 | 77 |
Durham | 425 | 212 | 95 |
Gateshead | 116 | 49 | 32 |
Newcastle | 751 | 284 | 176 |
North Shields | 208 | 56 | 63 |
South Shields | 361 | 176 | 72 |
Sunderland | 792 | 488 | 80 |
Teesside | 1366 | 860 | 143 |
North West | 10686 | 5704 | 1635 |
Barrow | 108 | 65 | 12 |
Birkenhead | 440 | 264 | 57 |
Blackburn | 401 | 225 | 69 |
Blackpool | 545 | 238 | 105 |
Bolton | 613 | 303 | 108 |
Burnley | 374 | 200 | 46 |
Bury | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Carlisle | 254 | 125 | 42 |
Chester | 627 | 358 | 81 |
Lancaster | 157 | 94 | 7 |
Liverpool | 1640 | 778 | 234 |
Manchester | 2159 | 1258 | 331 |
Preston | 317 | 143 | 70 |
Rochdale | 636 | 279 | 127 |
Runcorn | 1 | 0 | 0 |
St Helens | 676 | 373 | 99 |
Stockport | 977 | 581 | 129 |
Wigan | 581 | 327 | 82 |
Workington | 179 | 93 | 36 |
Scotland | 1557 | 411 | 508 |
Aberdeen | 89 | 24 | 27 |
Ayr | 101 | 20 | 40 |
Campbeltown Centre | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Dumfries (Cairndale) | 26 | 2 | 13 |
Dundee | 88 | 18 | 22 |
Dunfermline | 27 | 7 | 6 |
Edinburgh | 315 | 92 | 114 |
Galashiels | 28 | 9 | 8 |
Glasgow | 489 | 143 | 155 |
Greenock | 46 | 10 | 15 |
Hamilton | 130 | 26 | 34 |
Inverness | 63 | 9 | 24 |
Kilmarnock | 7 | 2 | 2 |
Kirkcaldy | 59 | 22 | 19 |
Kirkwall | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Lerwick | 3 | 0 | 1 |
Lewis | 3 | 0 | 2 |
Oban | 6 | 2 | 3 |
Stirling | 65 | 22 | 19 |
Stranraer | 4 | 2 | 1 |
Wick | 5 | 1 | 2 |
South East | 12225 | 7369 | 1200 |
Ashford | 930 | 533 | 102 |
Basildon | 399 | 200 | 75 |
Bedford | 365 | 243 | 33 |
Brighton | 1250 | 733 | 109 |
Cambridge | 456 | 244 | 61 |
Chatham | 616 | 434 | 60 |
Chelmsford | 700 | 434 | 64 |
Eastbourne | 135 | 88 | 11 |
Hastings | 317 | 221 | 23 |
High Wycombe | 509 | 291 | 55 |
Ipswich | 619 | 409 | 37 |
Kings Lynn | 269 | 136 | 33 |
Luton | 605 | 365 | 46 |
Margate | 322 | 197 | 29 |
Milton Keynes | 309 | 172 | 38 |
Norwich | 990 | 657 | 87 |
Oxford | 551 | 351 | 58 |
Peterborough | 467 | 243 | 56 |
Reading | 593 | 352 | 53 |
Southend | 220 | 109 | 42 |
Stevenage | 239 | 137 | 19 |
Watford | 1364 | 820 | 109 |
South West | 9782 | 5401 | 823 |
Unallocated 2 | 247 | 156 | 18 |
Aldershot | 555 | 309 | 52 |
Barnstaple | 122 | 60 | 9 |
Bournemouth | 12 | 0 | 1 |
Bristol | 1922 | 1090 | 163 |
Exeter | 385 | 132 | 55 |
Gloucester | 715 | 421 | 54 |
Havant | 1058 | 684 | 63 |
Newport IOW | 319 | 225 | 20 |
Newton Abbot | 383 | 190 | 37 |
Plymouth | 623 | 303 | 62 |
Poole | 801 | 417 | 67 |
Salisbury | 73 | 20 | 12 |
Southampton | 982 | 594 | 58 |
Swindon | 532 | 322 | 35 |
Taunton | 410 | 215 | 32 |
Truro | 435 | 156 | 69 |
Weymouth and Dorchester | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Worle | 206 | 107 | 16 |
Wales | 6471 | 3470 | 675 |
Aberystwyth | 82 | 41 | 10 |
Caernarfon | 179 | 64 | 26 |
Cardiff | 2668 | 1455 | 310 |
Carmarthen | 107 | 36 | 20 |
Haverfordwest | 153 | 68 | 20 |
Langstone, Newport | 1181 | 703 | 91 |
Llandrindod Wells | 37 | 21 | 8 |
Llanelli | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Llangefni | 284 | 180 | 25 |
Port Talbot | 531 | 232 | 45 |
Prestatyn | 411 | 247 | 31 |
Swansea | 317 | 140 | 34 |
Welshpool | 81 | 46 | 14 |
Wrexham | 438 | 237 | 41 |
SSCS Regional Centre Not Known | 29 | 4 | 2 |
Grand Total | 78261 | 41887 | 10340 |
From April 2023 the SSCS Tribunal started to list cases using a new Scheduling and Listing solution. This, alongside HMCTS migrating to a new Strategic Data Platform, has resulted in some cases heard and decided using this new listing solution not currently being included in the data above.
1. Data pulled 24/4/2024
2. Unallocated relates to appeals that have not yet been allocated to a venue.
Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that the data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when data are used.
Management information reflects the data held on the case management system, which is subject to change, and can differ from the quality-assured MOJ official statistics, which form the agreed definitive position.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to require the Office of the Public Guardian to notify all nominated persons when a (a) power of attorney and (b) lasting power of attorney is made.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
General, otherwise known as ordinary, powers of attorney are governed by the Powers of Attorney Act 1971. They allow a donor to give power to an attorney to manage their affairs for a defined period of time. There is no requirement to name or notify nominated persons and the Public Guardian is not involved in the process. Powers of attorney are an important mechanism for supporting agency arrangements, often in a commercial context, and there are no plans to change this arrangement to require notification of nominated persons.
Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) are governed by the Mental Capacity Act 2005 which requires that any nominated persons are notified at the point when an application is made to the Office of the Public Guardian to register the LPA. An application to register an LPA can be made either by the donor or by one or more attorneys named in the LPA. Currently, it is the applicant’s responsibility to notify any nominated persons. The Public Guardian maintains a register of all registered LPAs and anyone can request a free search to check if there is a registered LPA for a relative or friend.
The Powers of Attorney Act 2023, when implemented, will improve the process for notification and objections for LPAs. The Public Guardian will in future be responsible for issuing notices to the donor, their attorneys and any persons to be notified that the LPA has been received for registration and appears to be validly made. Furthermore, anyone who is aware that an LPA is being made will be able to object to its registration at an earlier stage in the process if they have concerns. These changes will strengthen the existing safeguards in the system.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to tackle (a) fraud and (b) misuse of Lasting Power of Attorney.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, execution of a lasting power of attorney (LPA) must be witnessed and a certificate provider must confirm that the donor understands the powers they are conferring on their attorney or attorneys and is not being coerced to make the LPA. A mandatory 4-week period must elapse before registration, allowing time for objections to be raised prior to registration.
Following consultation on ways to strengthen these protections, my department is working with the Office of the Public Guardian to implement a modernised LPA, facilitated by the Powers of Attorney Act 2023.
The modernised LPA will introduce identity checks for donors and certificate providers to reduce the risk that an unknown party could obtain an LPA in another person’s name without their knowledge. The certificate provider will be required to be present at execution of the LPA by the donor and a more streamlined objection process will allow anyone to object, making it easier for potential abuses to be challenged earlier in the process. These measures collectively should reduce the risk of fraudulent LPAs and abuse of the powers they confer.
Once the LPA is registered, any concerns about its use can be reported to the Office of the Public Guardian, which has authority to investigate. It can, if necessary, ask the court to remove the power for an attorney to act.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of inmates in prisons were drug tested at least once in (a) 2022 and (b) 2023.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
All prisons have a zero-tolerance approach to drugs. Our drug testing contract also enables us to deliver key commitments in the Cross-Government Drug Strategy such as: testing of offenders who receive a Drug Rehabilitation Requirement, the pilot of Intensive Supervision Courts and increased flexibility to test for a broader range of drugs. In addition, all prisons have been provided with access to forensic testing of items seized or found within the estate.
Our £100 million Security Investment Programme completed in March 2022 and delivered 75 additional X-ray body scanners, supplying full coverage across the closed male estate. We have also installed 84 X-ray baggage scanners at 49 sites, drug detection machines and metal detection archways. Furthermore, we are taking steps to support individuals with substance misuse issues in prison. We have dramatically increased the number of incentivised substance-free living units (ISFLs), where prisoners commit to living drug-free with incentives and regular testing. 80 prisons now have an ISFL, up from 25 in summer 2022.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many police detectives are employed by the counter corruption unit in HM Prison and Probation Service.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
No Police Detectives are directly employed by HMPPS. HMPPS has, however, funded 20 dedicated Police Detectives employed in Police Regional Organised Crime Units, to support in the investigation of corruption within the organisation.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convictions there were for rape in each year since 2005; and what the conviction rate was in the same period.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
This Government is committed to improving the criminal justice system’s response to rape. In 2019, we commissioned our end-to-end Rape Review, publishing this in 2021 alongside a clear Action Plan that committed to delivering sustained improvements for victims. In this Action Plan, we set ourselves stretching ambitions to return the volumes of adult rape cases being referred by the police, charged by the CPS, and going to court back to 2016 levels by the end of this Parliament.
We have exceeded each of these ambitions ahead of schedule. In practice, this means we have more than doubled the volumes of police referrals, charges, and cases reaching court compared to when the Review was commissioned in 2019.
Increases to conviction volumes or conviction rates were not included as ambitions for the Rape Review. The right to a fair trial means that juries should rightly make decisions independently and based on the facts of the case.
Whilst not being a Rape Review ambition, the Ministry of Justice does hold data on convictions for rape offences.
Published data for calendar years (from 2010 to 2022) can be found in the following tool: Outcomes by Offence tool: December 2022.
The most recent published data available, providing data for the years ending in June from 2011 until 2023, can be found in the following tool: Outcomes by Offence tool: June 2023.
The full calendar year for 2023 will be available in the next update of the Outcomes by Offence tool, expected in May 2024.
This can be accessed by navigating to the ‘Prosecutions and convictions’ tab and using the Offence filter to select the following offences in the Outcomes by Offence data tool:
To cover the full period requested, previously unpublished convictions for rape offences from 2005 to 2009 have now been provided in Table 1.
It is not advised to use this data to calculate conviction rate (the number of convictions as a proportion of the number of prosecutions). This is due to the Court Proceedings Database counting two separate records at two separate stages (one for prosecution, one for conviction). We cannot track the defendant throughout their court journey and an individual may appear at each court in separate years, or for a different principal offence at different stages. As a result, this rate is not an accurate measure of the proportion of prosecutions that result in a conviction.
However, the most accessible published data for conviction rates is in the quarterly data summaries for the period 2019/20 onwards published by the CPS in the CPS quarterly data summaries | The Crown Prosecution Service. Furthermore, convictions rates 2007/8 to 2013/14 are available in the CPS Violence against Women and Girls crime report 2013-2014.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convictions there were for murder in each year since 2005; and what the conviction rate was in the same period.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Ministry of Justice holds data on convictions for murder offences.
The published data, from 2010 to 2022, can be found in the following tool: Outcomes by Offence tool: December 2022.
The most recent published data available, from year ending June 2011 until the year ending June 2023, can be found in the following tool: Outcomes by Offence tool: June 2023.
The full calendar year for 2023 will be available in the next update of the Outcomes by Offence tool, expected in May 2024.
The data can be accessed by navigating to the ‘Prosecutions and convictions’ tab and using the offence code filer to select the following offences in the Outcomes by Offence data tool:
To cover the full period requested, convictions for murder offences from 2005 to 2009 have been provided in Table 1.
It is not advised to use this data to calculate conviction rate due to the Court Proceedings Database counting two separate records at two separate stages. We cannot track the defendant throughout their court journey and an individual may appear at each court in separate years, or for a different principal offence at different stages. As a result, this rate is not an accurate measure of the proportion of prosecutions that result in a conviction.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convictions under joint enterprise legislation have been successfully overturned on appeal.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Ministry of Justice does not currently collate data on whether a prosecution or conviction relied on the doctrine of joint enterprise or whether an appeal in such a case resulted in the conviction being quashed or the sentence changed.
The Crown Prosecution Service has recently updated their case management system to enable better tracking of homicide and attempted homicide cases involving joint enterprise.