Written Question

Sexual Offences

Thursday 17th February 2022

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another serious sexual offence is alleged to have taken place before 1 May 2004, when the Sexual Offences Act 1956 was repealed by the Sexual Offences Act 2003, a prosecution could be brought (providing the evidential test is met) under the appropriate provision of the 1956 Act, as that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.

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Written Question

Prisoners' Release: Coronavirus

Tuesday 19th May 2020

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.

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Written Question

Prisons and Young Offender Institutions: Inspections

Thursday 26th July 2018

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.

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Written Question

Drugs: Crime

Thursday 24th May 2018

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.

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Written Question

Prisons: Unmanned Air Vehicles

Wednesday 3rd January 2018

Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many drone drops outside prisons have been intercepted by the authorities in the last two years.

Answered by Lord Keen of Elie

Last year we launched Operation Trenton, a specialist team of Police and Prison Service investigators, to work together to intercept drones and track down the criminals behind them.

Publishing all data on drone activity could undermine safety and security within our prisons, and compromise ongoing investigations into drone incidents. The specialist squad has, however, recovered or seized more than 150 drones from 2015 up until 1 September 2017 across the prison estate in England and Wales.

We have also achieved 28 convictions and combined sentences of more than 82 years for those involved in drone use against prisons. That includes 11 gang members convicted only last month to a total of 32 years between them for using drones to smuggle drugs, phones and weapons into prisons.

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Written Question

Business: Fraud

Thursday 27th April 2017

Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the timetable for publishing their response to their call for evidence on corporate liability for economic crime.

Answered by Lord Keen of Elie

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

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Written Question

Holloway Prison

Wednesday 9th December 2015

Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many assaults on staff there were at HMP Holloway in each year from 2010 to date.

Answered by Lord Faulks

We do not tolerate violence of any kind in prison and any assault is treated extremely seriously. Any prisoner who commits an act of violence can expect to have action taken against them.

Statistics for assaults on staff by establishment are published in Table 3.15 of the Safety in Custody statistics bulletin which is attached.

Table 3.15: Assaults on staff by establishment, England and Wales, 2000-2014
	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
ALL PRISONS	2,848	3,132	2,987	3,266	3,637
Altcourse	51	65	82	78	150
Ashfield	72	111	60	5	2
Ashwell	2	0	0	0	0
Askham Grange	1	0	0	0	0
Aylesbury	56	34	35	40	53
Bedford	23	20	13	19	17
Belmarsh	20	24	34	18	49
Birmingham	59	66	75	62	89
Blantyre House	0	0	1	0	0
Blundeston	2	2	1	2	-
Brinsford	15	43	55	81	69
Bristol	21	25	17	43	44
Brixton	41	49	46	12	11
Bronzefield	67	90	44	35	61
Buckley Hall	6	11	6	8	16
Bullingdon	32	27	26	39	40
Bullwood Hall	7	3	2	1	0
Bure	4	3	2	4	8
Canterbury	10	7	4	1	0
Cardiff	9	6	0	7	18
Channings Wood	10	6	14	24	9
Chelmsford	45	44	24	31	47
Coldingley	6	6	5	10	10
Cookham Wood	24	9	39	24	50
Dartmoor	6	14	10	10	11
Deerbolt	27	37	18	14	33
Doncaster	24	35	39	44	81
Dorchester	3	9	10	7	-
Dovegate	23	25	20	28	53
Dover	14	5	7	8	5
Downview	0	12	4	5	0
Drake Hall	0	1	6	0	2
Durham	40	64	39	27	44
East Sutton Park	0	0	0	0	0
Eastwood Park	13	12	6	20	28
Edmunds Hill	7	3	0	0	0
Erlestoke	6	8	1	6	5
Everthorpe	8	12	11	11	3
Exeter	17	18	17	22	12
Featherstone	3	14	10	16	24
Feltham	124	119	112	141	138
Ford	0	2	4	2	3
Forest Bank	16	18	18	30	57
Foston Hall	11	0	2	17	11
Frankland	36	22	24	24	9
Full Sutton	12	11	13	15	11
Garth	3	11	10	13	31
Gartree	3	7	9	9	9
Glen Parva	49	34	40	59	61
Gloucester	12	15	8	1	0
Grendon /Spring Hill	1	0	0	2	1
Guys Marsh	13	13	14	21	28
Haslar	1	0	0	0	0
Haverigg	6	13	8	14	20
Hewell	13	20	20	27	50
High Down	45	50	41	47	59
Highpoint	24	24	25	36	40
Hindley	63	71	43	70	50
Hollesley Bay	0	1	1	2	2
Holloway	24	27	42	19	20
Holme House	22	24	15	7	12
Hull	14	25	33	24	26
Humber	-	-	-	-	27
Huntercombe	17	0	3	9	7
IOW cluster	-	-	-	25	16
IOW: Albany	3	2	6	0	-
IOW: Camp Hill	17	9	11	1	-
IOW: Parkhurst	17	10	10	0	-
Isis	9	50	66	56	43
Kennet	3	3	2	2	0
Kingston	2	0	0	1	0
Kirkham	0	1	0	0	0
Kirklevington	0	0	0	0	0
Lancaster Castle	2	0	0	0	0
Lancaster Farms	59	38	21	31	27
Latchmere House	0	0	-	-	-
Leeds	30	41	31	22	33
Leicester	20	14	21	41	34
Lewes	19	24	19	15	17
Leyhill	0	1	0	1	1
Lincoln	28	44	42	34	42
Lindholme	17	25	15	23	31
Littlehey	34	48	45	36	12
Liverpool	30	35	22	13	35
Long Lartin	13	17	19	16	13
Low Newton	18	12	11	11	5
Lowdham Grange	19	29	25	41	47
Maidstone	4	2	1	3	8
Manchester	35	37	68	41	31
Moorland	10	12	8	24	9
Moorland Open (Hatfield)	0	0	0	0	0
Morton Hall	2	6	10	11	12
Mount	16	11	8	17	14
New Hall	15	6	6	2	19
North Sea Camp	0	0	1	0	3
Northallerton	6	4	2	5	-
Northumberland	-	-	17	17	15
Northumberland: Acklington	7	12	1	0	0
Northumberland: Castington	17	4	2	0	0
Norwich	16	22	31	22	25
Nottingham	63	92	45	47	46
Oakwood	-	-	14	137	63
Onley	15	14	14	34	43
Parc	63	66	50	54	66
Pentonville	78	96	81	71	137
Peterborough	80	100	77	46	68
Portland	28	34	32	40	33
Preston	22	35	38	31	32
Ranby	21	25	31	35	50
Reading	8	13	1	12	-
Risley	17	12	13	10	17
Rochester	36	25	18	34	21
Rye Hill	38	53	36	82	59
Send	4	1	1	6	2
Sheppey: Elmley	38	29	23	28	40
Sheppey: Standford Hill	2	0	0	1	1
Sheppey: Swaleside	19	15	15	16	43
Shepton Mallet	0	0	0	0	0
Shrewsbury	2	1	2	1	0
Stafford	13	10	10	4	2
Stocken	4	9	11	10	17
Stoke Heath	53	28	16	21	34
Styal	9	7	10	12	19
Sudbury	1	0	1	3	0
Swansea	5	7	8	6	10
Swinfen Hall	15	19	32	21	14
Thameside	-	-	51	168	99
Thorn Cross	0	1	4	2	2
Usk\Prescoed	0	0	0	0	1
Verne	0	4	3	3	8
Wakefield	14	12	23	15	24
Wandsworth	59	68	30	21	49
Warren Hill	65	34	64	31	0
Wayland	9	16	24	29	37
Wealstun	8	19	14	10	17
Weare	-	-	-	-	-
Wellingborough	21	20	23	0	0
Werrington	29	32	32	37	38
Wetherby	39	75	57	61	64
Whatton	2	4	8	9	6
Whitemoor	10	17	17	19	21
Winchester	11	14	17	25	48
Wolds	9	3	7	8	2
Woodhill	24	40	60	67	69
Wormwood Scrubs	67	86	102	82	69
Wymott	13	10	9	6	7
ESCORT AREAS	83	40	74	49	51
Missing data	0	0	0	0	0
Key:
" - " = Not applicable - Establishment not operational
(1) A new Key Performance Indicator for serious assaults was introduced in 2003/04 and as a result reporting of all assault incidents improved. Reported incidents before 2005 are therefore not directly comparable with later figures. In particular, although figures for 2000 to 2002 have been included they are under reported by modern standards. It is now expected that all assaults, including fights, should be reported whether or not there was an injury. As this was not the case in the past care needs to be taken when interpreting changes over the years.
(2) Rises or falls in numbers of assault incidents from one year to the next are not a good indicator of underlying trend. This table should be read in conjunction with table 3.16 which outlines some of the major changes to prisons that will have affected numbers of incidents. In addition to these changes some prisons may have opened new wings/house blocks or closed others for refurbishment. These are not listed but often explain large increases or decreases from one year to the next.
(3) The sum of prisoner on prisoner assaults and assaults on staff may not equal the total number of assaults because staff may be assaulted in a prisoner on prisoner assault incident and other assault incidents may involve other people, e.g. visitors.
Data Sources and Quality These figures have been drawn from the NOMS Incident Reporting System. Care is taken when processing and analysing the returns but the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Although the figures are shown to the last individual the figures may not be accurate to that level.

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Written Question

Holloway Prison

Monday 7th December 2015

Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prisoners are presently held at HMP Holloway.

Answered by Lord Faulks

As published on the MOJs website, on Friday 30 October 2015 there were 544 prisoners held in HM Prison and Young Offender Institution Holloway.

A figure for Friday 27 November 2015 will be published on the 11 December 2015 on the Ministry of Justice website.

Individual prison population and capacity information for every prison in England and Wales, as well as the total population and useable operational capacity of the prison estate is published monthly on the Ministry of Justice website.

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