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Written Question
Pre-sentence Reports
Wednesday 26th July 2023

Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what are the latest available figures for the (1) number, and (2) method of delivery, of pre-sentence reports in courts in England and Wales.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

Data on pre-sentence reports in England and Wales is published in the Ministry of Justice’s quarterly Offender Management Statistics Bulletin. The latest published data is for October to December 2022. In this latest quarter there were a total of 21,771 pre-sentence reports (PSRs) produced. The breakdown in terms of method of delivery was as follows:

1,013 Standard PSR

15,338 Fast Delivery PSR Written

5,420 Fast Delivery PSR Oral

In 2022 overall, there were a total of 83,240 pre-sentence reports produced. The breakdown in terms of method of delivery was as follows:

3,561 Standard PSR

58,375 Fast Delivery PSR Written

21,304 Fast Delivery PSR Oral


Written Question
Prisons: Travellers
Wednesday 26th July 2023

Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings of The Traveller Movement's report Available but not Accessible Romany Gypsies and Irish Travellers: barriers in accessing purposeful activities in prison, published on 27 March.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

As part of the HMPPS Gypsy, Roma & Traveller (GRT) Strategy, we are committed to fully considering the Traveller Movement Report ‘Available but not Accessible’. This activity is ongoing, and will include consultation with the Traveller Movement, and potentially, other GRT-associated third sector organisations.

The associated action plan will be updated to incorporate necessary activity in association with further HMPPS evidence-based assessments also currently under consideration. The review is expected to be fully completed by Autumn 2023.


Written Question
Prisoners' Release: Temporary Accommodation
Thursday 6th April 2023

Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to require the Probation Service to arrange accommodation for prisoners for the first week and weekend after release in instances where the prisoner has lost their home after being remanded in custody for sentence; and what steps they will take to ensure the Probation Service is sufficiently resourced to do so.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has a range of interventions available to support those on remand when they are released to ensure that they are not homeless.

All resettlement prisons have an embedded pre-release resettlement function. These pre-release teams identify and address immediate resettlement needs when the individual arrives. This accommodation support, delivered through Commissioned Rehabilitative Services contracts, includes support and guidance to ensure continuation of an existing tenancy, applications for housing benefit, assistance to access rent deposit and rent advance schemes and compliance with any tenancy obligations to avoid or manage accommodation arrears. We are currently working on extending all Commissioned Rehabilitative Services contracts for accommodation to unsentenced people in prison.

Additionally, in accordance with relevant housing legislation in both England and in Wales, HMPPS has a duty to refer anyone at risk of becoming homeless on release from prison to a local authority for housing assistance.

In relation to prisoners who have been on remand, subsequently convicted and released as time served they can be referred to our Community Accommodation Service Tier 3 (CAS-3), which provides up to 12 weeks of temporary housing, providing that they are subject to probation supervision.


Written Question
Prisoners' Release: Temporary Accommodation
Thursday 6th April 2023

Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to provide accommodation for prisoners for the first week and weekend after release in instances where the prisoner has lost their home after being remanded in custody for sentence.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has a range of interventions available to support those on remand when they are released to ensure that they are not homeless.

All resettlement prisons have an embedded pre-release resettlement function. These pre-release teams identify and address immediate resettlement needs when the individual arrives. This accommodation support, delivered through Commissioned Rehabilitative Services contracts, includes support and guidance to ensure continuation of an existing tenancy, applications for housing benefit, assistance to access rent deposit and rent advance schemes and compliance with any tenancy obligations to avoid or manage accommodation arrears. We are currently working on extending all Commissioned Rehabilitative Services contracts for accommodation to unsentenced people in prison.

Additionally, in accordance with relevant housing legislation in both England and in Wales, HMPPS has a duty to refer anyone at risk of becoming homeless on release from prison to a local authority for housing assistance.

In relation to prisoners who have been on remand, subsequently convicted and released as time served they can be referred to our Community Accommodation Service Tier 3 (CAS-3), which provides up to 12 weeks of temporary housing, providing that they are subject to probation supervision.


Written Question
Prisoners' Release
Thursday 30th March 2023

Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that, under their new arrangements whereby prisoners will not be released on Fridays, prisoners’ sentences will be shortened to end on the Thursday rather than extended through to the following Monday.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Government is supporting the Offenders (Day of Release from Detention) Bill. This Private Members’ Bill was introduced to the House of Lords on 6 March 2023, sponsored by Lord Bird, following passage through the House of Commons. If it gains Royal Assent, the Bill will enable offenders who are at risk of reoffending to have their release date moved 1-2 days earlier, where their release falls on a Friday, or before a bank/public holiday.

It would be unlawful detention to detain an offender beyond their release date.


Written Question
Marriage: Humanism
Tuesday 20th September 2022

Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Law Commission report Celebrating Marriage: A New Weddings Law, published 19 July, what plans, if any, they have to grant legal recognition to humanist marriages; and on what timescale they plan to grant such recognition.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Law Commission report contains 57 recommendations for legislative reform.

We must now take the time to consider the Law Commission’s recommendations fully. As has been set out in Parliament, marriage will always be one of our most important institutions, and we have a duty to consider the implications of any changes to the law in this area very carefully, including balancing the needs and interests of all groups. We will publish a response to the report in due course.


Written Question
Marriage: Humanism
Wednesday 30th March 2022

Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to extend legal recognition to humanist weddings; and why they did not do so at the same time as extending legal recognition to outdoor weddings.

Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar

In 2014, the Government published a consultation paper and response assessing the potential merits of provision for non-religious belief marriages. This concluded that the matter was complex, and that by allowing Humanists to solemnise marriages in unrestricted locations, the Government would create a provision for Humanists that would not be available to all groups.

To ensure we are considering the implications of changing the law on marriage for all groups, we invited the Law Commission to undertake a review which is currently underway and is expected to report in July of this year. By looking at the law comprehensively, the Law Commission will seek to put forward proposals that would ensure that, insofar as possible, groups and couples are all subject to the same rules and the same level of regulation. That reform is not possible by only authorising Humanist weddings, even on a temporary basis pending the Law Commission report.

The Government will carefully consider the Law Commission’s recommendations when the final report is published in July, and it is right for us to wait for the outcome of the report before amending marriage law any further.


Written Question
Prisoners: Ethnic Groups
Thursday 9th December 2021

Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar (HL3924) on 24 November, what plans they have, if any, to introduce an ethnic group for those in Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities in statistics related to people in prisons.

Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar

There are no current plans to alter the ethnic groups for the regular quarterly published data on the prison population which formed the basis of the answer to HL3924. The broad categories included in the information released are in line with current guidance from the Race Disparity Unit of the Cabinet Office.

Numbers self-designating as ‘Irish Traveller or Gypsy’ are published as part of a more detailed data set which are released annually as part of the series Offender Management Statistics Quarterly. The most recent release of this data formed part of the January to March 2021 issue, published in July 2021. Figures were included in Table A1.9ii of the Annual Prison Population: 2021 document. This showed that as of 30 June 2021 1,365 prisoners self-designated as Irish Traveller or Gypsy. This number was further broken to show that 1,337 were male and 28 were female.


Written Question
Prisoners
Thursday 29th July 2021

Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the total number of unreleased Imprisonment for Public Protection prisoners in (1) Category A, (2) Category B, (3) Category C, and (4) Category D; and how many years are left on their tariff in each case.

Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar

The Government is committed to the protection of the public and the effective management of offenders. By law, prisoners serving indeterminate sentences who have completed their tariff will be released only when the independent Parole Board concludes that the risk they present to the public is capable of being safely managed in the community under probation supervision.

The following two tables show the number of unreleased prisoners serving an IPP sentence at 31 March 2021, by gender, ethnicity and the number of years to their tariff expiry, in England and Wales. The total number of IPP prisoners recorded in these two tables is 1,784.

Table 1

Gender

Number (Row Total)

Less than 1 year

1 year to less than 2 years

2 year to less than 3 years

3 year to less than 4 years

4 year to less than 5 years

5 or more years

Tariff expired

Tariff unavailable

Male

1,761

24

22

13

5

6

7

1,682

2

Female

23

0

0

0

0

0

0

23

0

Table 2

Ethnicity

Number (Row Total)

Less than 1 year

1 year to less than 2 years

2 year to less than 3 years

3 year to less than 4 years

4 year to less than 5 years

5 or more years

Tariff expired

Tariff unavailable

Asian or Asian British

92

3

0

2

2

1

1

83

0

Black or Black British

229

7

5

3

1

1

4

208

0

Mixed

70

0

3

0

0

0

0

67

0

Other ethnic group

8

0

0

0

0

0

0

8

0

White

1,380

14

14

8

2

4

2

1,334

2

Unrecorded

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

Not stated

4

0

0

0

0

0

0

4

0

The following two tables show the number of recalled prisoners serving an IPP sentence at 31 March 2021, by gender and ethnicity, in England and Wales. All recalled IPP prisoners are post tariff as it is not possible to release an IPP prisoner prior to the expiry of their minimum tariff date. The total number of IPP prisoners recorded in these two tables is 1,350.

Table 3

Gender

Number

Male

1,327

Female

23

Table 4

Ethnicity

Number

Asian or Asian British

42

Black or Black British

161

Mixed

74

Other ethnic group/Not Stated

4

White

1,069

The table below shows the number of unreleased prisoners serving an IPP sentence at 31 March 2021, by security category and the number of years to their tariff expiry, in England and Wales. The total number of IPP prisoners recorded in the below table is 1,784.

Table 5

Security Category

Number (Row Total)

Less than 1 year

1 year to less than 2 years

2 year to less than 3 years

3 year to less than 4 years

4 year to less than 5 years

5 or more years

Tariff expired

Tariff unavailable

A

17

1

1

0

0

1

0

14

0

B

323

2

1

3

1

2

5

309

0

C

871

7

13

9

4

4

1

831

2

D

548

14

7

1

0

0

0

526

0

Females (open and closed)

23

0

0

0

0

0

0

23

0

Others

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

2

0

A prisoner’s individual needs in relation to offending behaviour and resettlement, or their individual circumstances (such as medical requirements) may result in an individual being held in a prison of a higher category than their own approved category. Prisoners will not be allocated to a prison of a lower security category than the security category assigned to them personally.

Notes for all figures:

  1. These figures have been drawn from the Public Protection Unit Database and Prison-NOMIS held by Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service. As with any large scale recording systems, the figures are subject to possible errors with data migration and processing.
  2. Tariff refers to the length of time between date of sentence and tariff expiry date.

Written Question
Prisoners' Release
Thursday 29th July 2021

Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what they estimate to be the total number of recalled Imprisonment for Public Protection prisoners broken down by (1) gender, and (2) ethnicity; and how many years are left on their tariff in each case.

Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar

The Government is committed to the protection of the public and the effective management of offenders. By law, prisoners serving indeterminate sentences who have completed their tariff will be released only when the independent Parole Board concludes that the risk they present to the public is capable of being safely managed in the community under probation supervision.

The following two tables show the number of unreleased prisoners serving an IPP sentence at 31 March 2021, by gender, ethnicity and the number of years to their tariff expiry, in England and Wales. The total number of IPP prisoners recorded in these two tables is 1,784.

Table 1

Gender

Number (Row Total)

Less than 1 year

1 year to less than 2 years

2 year to less than 3 years

3 year to less than 4 years

4 year to less than 5 years

5 or more years

Tariff expired

Tariff unavailable

Male

1,761

24

22

13

5

6

7

1,682

2

Female

23

0

0

0

0

0

0

23

0

Table 2

Ethnicity

Number (Row Total)

Less than 1 year

1 year to less than 2 years

2 year to less than 3 years

3 year to less than 4 years

4 year to less than 5 years

5 or more years

Tariff expired

Tariff unavailable

Asian or Asian British

92

3

0

2

2

1

1

83

0

Black or Black British

229

7

5

3

1

1

4

208

0

Mixed

70

0

3

0

0

0

0

67

0

Other ethnic group

8

0

0

0

0

0

0

8

0

White

1,380

14

14

8

2

4

2

1,334

2

Unrecorded

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

Not stated

4

0

0

0

0

0

0

4

0

The following two tables show the number of recalled prisoners serving an IPP sentence at 31 March 2021, by gender and ethnicity, in England and Wales. All recalled IPP prisoners are post tariff as it is not possible to release an IPP prisoner prior to the expiry of their minimum tariff date. The total number of IPP prisoners recorded in these two tables is 1,350.

Table 3

Gender

Number

Male

1,327

Female

23

Table 4

Ethnicity

Number

Asian or Asian British

42

Black or Black British

161

Mixed

74

Other ethnic group/Not Stated

4

White

1,069

The table below shows the number of unreleased prisoners serving an IPP sentence at 31 March 2021, by security category and the number of years to their tariff expiry, in England and Wales. The total number of IPP prisoners recorded in the below table is 1,784.

Table 5

Security Category

Number (Row Total)

Less than 1 year

1 year to less than 2 years

2 year to less than 3 years

3 year to less than 4 years

4 year to less than 5 years

5 or more years

Tariff expired

Tariff unavailable

A

17

1

1

0

0

1

0

14

0

B

323

2

1

3

1

2

5

309

0

C

871

7

13

9

4

4

1

831

2

D

548

14

7

1

0

0

0

526

0

Females (open and closed)

23

0

0

0

0

0

0

23

0

Others

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

2

0

A prisoner’s individual needs in relation to offending behaviour and resettlement, or their individual circumstances (such as medical requirements) may result in an individual being held in a prison of a higher category than their own approved category. Prisoners will not be allocated to a prison of a lower security category than the security category assigned to them personally.

Notes for all figures:

  1. These figures have been drawn from the Public Protection Unit Database and Prison-NOMIS held by Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service. As with any large scale recording systems, the figures are subject to possible errors with data migration and processing.
  2. Tariff refers to the length of time between date of sentence and tariff expiry date.