Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of (1) rapes, and (2) serious sexual assaults, for which charges are unable to be brought due to the one year time limit from the commission of the offence in the Sexual Offences Act 1956.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
Where conduct amounting to rape or another serious sexual offence is alleged to have taken place before 1 May 2004, when the Sexual Offences Act 1956 was repealed by the Sexual Offences Act 2003, a prosecution could be brought (providing the evidential test is met) under the appropriate provision of the 1956 Act, as that Act made no provision for a time limit for prosecuting those offences. The Act imposed a time limit (of one year) only in respect of the offence in section 6 of unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl aged between 13 and 15. As that offence could apply only to conduct that took place before 1 May 2004, proceedings under it would now be time-barred.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many prisoners have been released under the End of Custody Temporary Release scheme, and what assessment have they made of the number of prisoners that need to be released in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the prison population.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
As of 11 May, 78 prisoners have been released early; 52 were released as part of the End of Custody Temporary Release (ECTR) scheme, and 26 were released on compassionate grounds.
We are working hard to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the prison system as part of the national plan to protect the NHS and save lives. Modelling has provided an early indication that our COVID-19 strategy in prisons is having a positive impact on limiting deaths and the transmission of the virus within the estate.
Releases are just one part of a wider strategy to create headroom, including by increasing the capacity of the existing prison estate. Modelling suggests that the headroom required to fully implement compartmentalisation of prisons as a control on the spread of the virus is around 5,500. We are on track to achieving this target.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to help prisons and young offender institutions implement the recommendations of inspection reports.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has given a commitment to improve the implementation of action plans that address the agreed recommendations in HMI Prisons inspection reports.
The Operational and System Assurance Group (OSAG) established last year, works with prisons to agree, submit and publish their action plan following an HMI Prisons inspection report. OSAG assesses progress against the agreed action plans in establishments of concern, such as those subject to the Urgent Notification process.
HMPPS have introduced new management structures including Prison Group Directors and Executive Directors. They will be responsible for ensuring that assessments are made on progress against implementation of HMI Prisons recommendations for those establishments not assessed by OSAG.
Prison Group Directors provide oversight and additional support, as required, to prisons. Depending on the recommendation, specialist support will be provided from the Safety Team and wider Prison Improvement programme. The Youth Custody Service has its own arrangements in place to support establishments in meeting recommendations from HMIP inspection reports.
We recognise the important role played by Inspectors and we are grateful for their recommendations. The Prisons Minister has agreed funding for HMIP to carry out follow-up inspections in the most serious cases. The Chief Inspector has welcomed this in his report.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many children and young people have been convicted of drug offences in (1) 2015, (2) 2016, (3) 2017, and (4) 2018.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
The number of children and young people (aged 10-17 years old) who were found guilty of drug offences in England and Wales from 2015 to 2017 can be viewed in the below table:
Age | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
Age 10-17 (Juveniles) | 2480 | 2291 | 2254 |
(1) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
(2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
Data for the number of children and young people convicted of drug offences in 2018 will be available in May 2019.