Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many women in prison aged (1) 18 to 24, and (2) 25 years or older, have previously been in local authority care in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) is committed to meeting the needs of all vulnerable offenders, including those who have previously been in local authority care. All individuals who come into contact with the criminal justice system need to be able to access the right support to help them engage with their sentence.
HMPPS has a Strategy for Care Experienced People which is based on the assessment of needs specific to this group. The strategy focuses on, identifying people with care experience, and collaborative working with local authorities and other organisations, helping individuals to receive the necessary support.
HMPPS holds a limited amount of the information requested. Since 2015, as part of the basic custody screening interview, we have recorded the answers of all new prisoners coming into custody as to whether they have been in the care of local authority children’s services at any time. The information is purely self-declared.
Age when BCS Part 1 Completed | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 YTD |
Age 18 to 24 | 244 | 244 | 203 | 187 | 184 | 119 | 68 |
Age 25 or over | 745 | 813 | 710 | 720 | 689 | 492 | 254 |
The data for 2021 is up to and including 30 June which is the most recent date for which it can be verified. It should be noted that individual prisoners admitted to custody on separate occasions in different years could be included more than once in this data.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many disabled women have been imprisoned aged (1) 18 to 24, and (2) 25 years or older, in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
The requested information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Self-declared information on disability is held on a national database, however, it is of mixed quality over the period requested and the dataset does not include information on when individuals entered custody. Obtaining the information would require matching around 500,000 records with those on another database.
Every prison in England and Wales must adhere to the Equality Act 2010, including the duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled persons. Support is also provided for all prisoners with a disability in accordance with the Public Sector Equality Duty.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what provision is available to women prisoners aged 18 to 24 for (1) education, and (2) training; and at what age the provision changes.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
As set out in the Women’s Policy Framework, all women in prison are given the opportunity to access appropriate education, learning, skills (including parenting skills), and employment. Access to education and training is the same for adult male and female prisoners. Provision does not alter based on age except for those in the youth estate, where the delivery and access to education is a statutory requirement for all children in custody and a key element of the youth custody provision.
As a result of the Education and Employment Strategy significant changes to the delivery arrangements for prison education took full effect from April 2019. As of that date, governors have control of their establishment’s education budgets, determine the curriculum on offer and how it is structured and organised, and decide on education providers. This allows governors of women’s prisons to tailor provision based on the needs of their population.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the ethnic breakdown of women in prison aged (1) 18 to 24, and (2) 25 years or older, for each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
The attached tables show the numbers of female prisoners aged 18 to 24, and 25 years or above, broken down by ethnicity on 30 June for each year between 2012 to 2021.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many women aged (1) 18 to 24, and (2) 25 and above, went to prison in each of the last 10 years; what was the sentence length in each case; and what type of offence was committed.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
The attached tables show data on the numbers of women convicted by offence type and the length of sentence from 2011 to 2020 for those aged 18 to 24 and above 25 years of age.
The Female Offender Strategy set out the Government’s vision of fewer women offending and reoffending; fewer women in custody, especially on short-term sentences, with a greater proportion of women managed in the community successfully; and where prison is necessary, better conditions for those in custody.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what conversations, if any, they have had with the Law Commission in the last six months about reviewing the effectiveness of existing defences for individuals whose offending or alleged offending results from their experience of domestic abuse; and what assessment they have made of the need for legislative reform on this matter.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
The Government have committed to conducting a review of domestic homicides which, although primarily about sentencing, will also take account of the current defences to a homicide charge. We intend, following that review, to consider whether it is necessary for a separate review of statutory defences to homicide in the context of domestic abuse to be undertaken, or whether there is evidence of the need for consideration of a specific defence for a wider range of offences for those subject to domestic abuse.
The Ministry of Justice regularly engages with the Law Commission on emerging criminal law issues. Some initial discussions at official level have taken place on this and other related matters but the Government will be awaiting the outcome of the domestic homicide review before it considers whether any legislative change is necessary.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar on 3 February (HL Deb, col 2286), what assessment they have made of (1) the need to review the existing defences for individuals whose offending or alleged offending results from their experience of domestic abuse, and (2) the need for statutory reform in relation to (a) sentencing, (b) conviction, or (c) acquittal.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
The Government have committed to conducting a review of domestic homicides which, although primarily about sentencing, will also take account of the current defences to a homicide charge. We intend, following that review, to consider whether it is necessary for a separate review of statutory defences to homicide in the context of domestic abuse to be undertaken, or whether there is evidence of the need for consideration of a specific defence for a wider range of offences for those subject to domestic abuse.
The Ministry of Justice regularly engages with the Law Commission on emerging criminal law issues. Some initial discussions at official level have taken place on this and other related matters but the Government will be awaiting the outcome of the domestic homicide review before it considers whether any legislative change is necessary.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what organisations will be consulted for the Lord Chancellor’s review of sentencing in domestic homicide cases.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
The Lord Chancellor committed to reviewing sentencing in cases of domestic homicide earlier this year and I am pleased that the first stage of this review, an analysis of data, sentencing remarks and outcomes of relevant domestic homicide cases from the past two years, is well underway. We are hopeful that the review will be complete by the end of the year.
The first stage of the review is focused on achieving an improved understanding of current sentencing practice, before moving to a second stage which will consider whether any changes to the law are necessary, and if so, what those changes should be. This initial stage will examine how the sentencing legislation and guidelines have been applied, including in cases where a weapon is and is not taken to the scene, and where victims of domestic abuse have killed their abuser. It will also consider how aggravating and mitigating circumstances are taken into account, the use of current defences to charges of murder and manslaughter, and whether there appear to be gender disparities in case outcomes and how the guidelines are being applied.
Following this initial stage, the Lord Chancellor intends to appoint an independent expert, with the relevant experience and knowledge in this field, to oversee a more detailed phase of consideration and consultation. Their role will be to consider the findings of the initial case review and data analysis and use that as the basis for identifying potential areas for reform and delivering recommendations for change to the Lord Chancellor.
Once the independent expert is in place, we will work with them to finalise the scope and approach for this second phase of the Review, including issues of consultation. Engagement with key stakeholders will be critical and the Lord Chancellor is keen that they have the opportunity to provide their input in helping shape the recommendations. He has already met with both the Victims Commissioner and Domestic Abuse Commissioner to discuss the review as a first step.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect the Lord Chancellor’s review of sentencing in domestic homicide cases to (1) commence, and (2) report.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
The Lord Chancellor committed to reviewing sentencing in cases of domestic homicide earlier this year and I am pleased that the first stage of this review, an analysis of data, sentencing remarks and outcomes of relevant domestic homicide cases from the past two years, is well underway. We are hopeful that the review will be complete by the end of the year.
The first stage of the review is focused on achieving an improved understanding of current sentencing practice, before moving to a second stage which will consider whether any changes to the law are necessary, and if so, what those changes should be. This initial stage will examine how the sentencing legislation and guidelines have been applied, including in cases where a weapon is and is not taken to the scene, and where victims of domestic abuse have killed their abuser. It will also consider how aggravating and mitigating circumstances are taken into account, the use of current defences to charges of murder and manslaughter, and whether there appear to be gender disparities in case outcomes and how the guidelines are being applied.
Following this initial stage, the Lord Chancellor intends to appoint an independent expert, with the relevant experience and knowledge in this field, to oversee a more detailed phase of consideration and consultation. Their role will be to consider the findings of the initial case review and data analysis and use that as the basis for identifying potential areas for reform and delivering recommendations for change to the Lord Chancellor.
Once the independent expert is in place, we will work with them to finalise the scope and approach for this second phase of the Review, including issues of consultation. Engagement with key stakeholders will be critical and the Lord Chancellor is keen that they have the opportunity to provide their input in helping shape the recommendations. He has already met with both the Victims Commissioner and Domestic Abuse Commissioner to discuss the review as a first step.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) what are the terms of reference, and (2) what is the planned process, for the Lord Chancellor’s review of sentencing in domestic homicide cases; and what plans they have, if any, to hold a public consultation on this matter.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
The Lord Chancellor committed to reviewing sentencing in cases of domestic homicide earlier this year and I am pleased that the first stage of this review, an analysis of data, sentencing remarks and outcomes of relevant domestic homicide cases from the past two years, is well underway. We are hopeful that the review will be complete by the end of the year.
The first stage of the review is focused on achieving an improved understanding of current sentencing practice, before moving to a second stage which will consider whether any changes to the law are necessary, and if so, what those changes should be. This initial stage will examine how the sentencing legislation and guidelines have been applied, including in cases where a weapon is and is not taken to the scene, and where victims of domestic abuse have killed their abuser. It will also consider how aggravating and mitigating circumstances are taken into account, the use of current defences to charges of murder and manslaughter, and whether there appear to be gender disparities in case outcomes and how the guidelines are being applied.
Following this initial stage, the Lord Chancellor intends to appoint an independent expert, with the relevant experience and knowledge in this field, to oversee a more detailed phase of consideration and consultation. Their role will be to consider the findings of the initial case review and data analysis and use that as the basis for identifying potential areas for reform and delivering recommendations for change to the Lord Chancellor.
Once the independent expert is in place, we will work with them to finalise the scope and approach for this second phase of the Review, including issues of consultation. Engagement with key stakeholders will be critical and the Lord Chancellor is keen that they have the opportunity to provide their input in helping shape the recommendations. He has already met with both the Victims Commissioner and Domestic Abuse Commissioner to discuss the review as a first step.