Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that electronic monitoring tags are available in all sizes and that no one will be required to remain in prison solely because there is no electronic tag that will fit them.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
To maintain the integrity of the equipment including various anti-tamper measures and taking account of the necessarily robust nature of the equipment, there is a minimum strap size that the equipment manufacturer has provided. Field staff carry a range of strap sizes with them when conducting installation visits.
Offenders released on home detention curfew (HDC) are still serving the custodial element of their sentence and it is a statutory requirement that the curfew is electronically monitored for at least 9 hours a day. In cases where it is no longer possible to electronically monitor offenders in the community, through no fault of their own, they will be recalled until it is possible for them to monitored in the community.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the support available to the families of those appealing their convictions through the Criminal Cases Review Commission; and what plans they have to support such families.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Criminal Cases Review Commission will provide updates on applications to family members where the applicant has given authority for that information to be shared.
Support for those who have suffered a miscarriage of justice is provided through the Miscarriage of Justice Support Service, part of Citizens Advice and funded by HM Prison and Probation Service. They offer support to people who have had their convictions quashed in an out of time appeal, such as help with accommodation, accessing benefits and obtaining ID documents, as well as pastoral and social support.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Law Commission are currently undertaking a review of the laws surrounding appeals for criminal cases. We will consider findings of this review alongside the findings of the independent review by Chris Henley KC to make sure the process through which people have their appeal considered, including the role of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), is fit for purpose.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of prisoners affected by (1) elevated radon gas readings at HMP Dartmoor, and (2) the subsequent closure of that prison in July.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
All prisoners were decanted fully from HMP Dartmoor by July 2024 following the operational decision to close the prison temporarily. Following the temporary closure, we have been working with specialist radon experts to investigate and assess options to reduce levels of radon sufficiently to allow us to re-open the prison safely.
The health and safety of prisoners and staff continues to be a top priority, and while this process is ongoing, we are unable to provide an estimated timeline for the return of Dartmoor to its full operational capacity. We continue to work with Health and Safety experts to further our understanding of the impact that exposure levels could have on individual prisoners and staff.
The cost of the work involved would depend upon which is the most appropriate option. If it is concluded that it is feasible and cost effective to return the prison to use, we will complete a full assessment, considering all options for the site.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government when HMP Dartmoor will return to its full operational capacity following the detection of radon gas.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
All prisoners were decanted fully from HMP Dartmoor by July 2024 following the operational decision to close the prison temporarily. Following the temporary closure, we have been working with specialist radon experts to investigate and assess options to reduce levels of radon sufficiently to allow us to re-open the prison safely.
The health and safety of prisoners and staff continues to be a top priority, and while this process is ongoing, we are unable to provide an estimated timeline for the return of Dartmoor to its full operational capacity. We continue to work with Health and Safety experts to further our understanding of the impact that exposure levels could have on individual prisoners and staff.
The cost of the work involved would depend upon which is the most appropriate option. If it is concluded that it is feasible and cost effective to return the prison to use, we will complete a full assessment, considering all options for the site.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost of tackling radon gas levels at HMP Dartmoor.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
All prisoners were decanted fully from HMP Dartmoor by July 2024 following the operational decision to close the prison temporarily. Following the temporary closure, we have been working with specialist radon experts to investigate and assess options to reduce levels of radon sufficiently to allow us to re-open the prison safely.
The health and safety of prisoners and staff continues to be a top priority, and while this process is ongoing, we are unable to provide an estimated timeline for the return of Dartmoor to its full operational capacity. We continue to work with Health and Safety experts to further our understanding of the impact that exposure levels could have on individual prisoners and staff.
The cost of the work involved would depend upon which is the most appropriate option. If it is concluded that it is feasible and cost effective to return the prison to use, we will complete a full assessment, considering all options for the site.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of resources allocated to the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
As part of the departmental allocation process, we assess the needs of individual organisations against the overarching backdrop of the wider departmental finances. The CCRC’s budget has increased year on year since 2020-21 both to increase the size of its caseworker team and to carry out more outreach work with people who may need their services. The budget for 2023/24 was set at just under £8 million, which is an increase of £1.26 million or 18% since 2021/22. Its 2024-25 allocation is under consideration.
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
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: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many, and what proportion of, people reoffended within one year of release from prison by accommodation status at (1) release, and (2) three months post-release, in each of the last three years.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
I enclose details of the number and proportion of people who reoffended within one year of release from prison, broken down by their accommodation status at release, for 2020/21 and 2021/22 – the two years for which this information is available. The equivalent information broken down by accommodation status three months post-release could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
A settled place to live is key to reducing reoffending, cutting crime and protecting the public. Our Prisons Strategy White Paper set out our plans to reduce reoffending, including improving prison leavers’ access to accommodation.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of people released from prison went on to reoffend, what number of reoffences were committed on average, what was the total number of reoffences, and what was the total number of reoffenders by custodial sentence length for (1) men, and (2) women, for the most recent year that figures are available.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
This Government is committed to tackling the causes of reoffending to keep our communities safe. Between 2010/11 and 2020/21, the overall proven reoffending rate decreased from 31.6% to 24.4%.
Helping prison leavers to secure accommodation, employment, and substance misuse treatment on release is essential for rehabilitation and can significantly reduce their likelihood of reoffending. We are therefore investing in a range of interventions including delivering our temporary accommodation service so that prison-leavers have a stable base on release, offering more offenders the chance to work in prison and expanding the number of Incentivised Substance-Free Living wings so that we can support prisoners off drugs and into recovery.
Further, we are seeking to introduce a presumption against short sentences which we know have significantly higher reoffending rates than suspended and community sentences.
The answer can be found in the tables below.
Table 1: Reoffending rate, number of reoffences and average number of reoffences per reoffender for offenders released from custody, male and female (adult), April 2020 – March 2021.
| April 2020 - March 2021 |
Female offenders |
|
Proportion of offenders who reoffend (%) | 44.1% |
Average number of reoffences per reoffender | 5.89 |
Number of reoffences | 8,686 |
|
|
Male offenders |
|
Proportion of offenders who reoffend (%) | 37.5% |
Average number of reoffences per reoffender | 4.46 |
Number of reoffences | 72,549 |
|
|
All adult offenders |
|
Proportion of offenders who reoffend (%) | 38.0% |
Average number of reoffences per reoffender | 4.58 |
Number of reoffences | 81,235 |
Table 2: Number of reoffenders by custodial sentence length, male (adult), April 2020 – March 2021
| April 2020 - March 2021 |
Less than or equal to 6 months |
|
Number of reoffenders | 8,902 |
|
|
More than 6 months to less than 12 months | |
Number of reoffenders | 2,170 |
|
|
12 months to less than 2 years |
|
Number of reoffenders | 2,176 |
|
|
2 years to less than 4 years |
|
Number of reoffenders | 1,995 |
|
|
4 years to 10 years |
|
Number of reoffenders | 958 |
|
|
More than 10 years |
|
Number of reoffenders | 38 |
|
|
Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) |
|
Number of reoffenders | 13 |
|
|
Mandatory Life (MLP) |
|
Number of reoffenders | 8 |
|
|
Other Life [Note 1] |
|
Number of reoffenders | 6 |
|
|
All male adult reoffenders |
|
Number of reoffenders | 16,266 |
Table 3: Number of reoffenders by custodial sentence length, female (adult), April 2020 – March 2021
| April 2020 – March 2021 | |
Less than or equal to 6 months |
| |
Number of reoffenders | 1,056 | |
|
| |
More than 6 months to less than 12 months | ||
Number of reoffenders | 212 | |
|
| |
12 months to less than 2 years |
| |
Number of reoffenders | 113 | |
|
| |
2 years to less than 4 years |
| |
Number of reoffenders | 79 | |
|
| |
4 years to 10 years |
| |
Number of reoffenders | 14 | |
|
| |
More than 10 years |
| |
Number of reoffenders | 0 | |
|
| |
Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) |
| |
Number of reoffenders | 0 | |
|
| |
Mandatory Life (MLP) |
| |
Number of reoffenders | 0 | |
|
| |
Other Life [Note 1] |
| |
Number of reoffenders | 0 | |
|
| |
All female adult reoffenders |
| |
Number of reoffenders | 1,474 | |
|
|
|
[Note 1] 'Other life' category includes discretionary and automatic life sentences.