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 increase in the numbers of prisoners under Imprisonment for Public Protection serving ten or more years beyond their original tariff.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
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 Parole Board concludes that it is no longer necessary on the grounds of public protection for them to remain confined.
HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) continues to work closely with Samaritans for the delivery of the Listener Scheme, through which selected prisoners are trained to provide support to fellow prisoners in emotional distress. It is important to highlight that Prison Chaplaincy provides not only faith and belief advice but pastoral care to prisoners of all faiths, beliefs and of none, irrespective of sentence type or length, in support of HMPPS’ commitment to decency, safety and rehabilitation.
As the number of those serving IPP sentences in prison who have never been released reduces, the proportion of cases which are the most complex and high risk increases. This does mean that we should expect that the number of first releases will continue to slow and the time spent past tariff will increase. However, the IPP Action Plan is focused on, firstly, ensuring each IPP prisoner has a sentence plan, regularly reviewed, with clear objectives as to what the prisoner has to do to reduce risk and, secondly, that the prisoner is held in a prison with an opportunity to achieve those objectives.
In the Government response to the Justice Select Committee’s IPP report, we committed to refreshing the IPP Action Plan, focusing not only on important changes to improve the prospects of IPP offenders making progress towards a prospective safe and sustainable release, but also to ensure there are robust processes to drive effective monitoring and accountability for delivery of that plan.
The Women’s Estate Psychology Service (WEPS) have implemented a National IPP strategy which takes a bespoke case management approach to each woman serving an IPP sentence. The overarching goal of the strategy is to ensure that all are proactively supported to progress through their prison sentences as quickly as possible. Psychologists regularly review cases and jointly work with prison and probation colleagues to remove barriers to progression and expedite completion of interventions and services. There are, as of end December 2022, 40 women in custody serving an IPP sentence, 12 of whom have never been released.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what emotional support and spiritual provision is available to prisoners under Imprisonment for Public Protection.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
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 Parole Board concludes that it is no longer necessary on the grounds of public protection for them to remain confined.
HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) continues to work closely with Samaritans for the delivery of the Listener Scheme, through which selected prisoners are trained to provide support to fellow prisoners in emotional distress. It is important to highlight that Prison Chaplaincy provides not only faith and belief advice but pastoral care to prisoners of all faiths, beliefs and of none, irrespective of sentence type or length, in support of HMPPS’ commitment to decency, safety and rehabilitation.
As the number of those serving IPP sentences in prison who have never been released reduces, the proportion of cases which are the most complex and high risk increases. This does mean that we should expect that the number of first releases will continue to slow and the time spent past tariff will increase. However, the IPP Action Plan is focused on, firstly, ensuring each IPP prisoner has a sentence plan, regularly reviewed, with clear objectives as to what the prisoner has to do to reduce risk and, secondly, that the prisoner is held in a prison with an opportunity to achieve those objectives.
In the Government response to the Justice Select Committee’s IPP report, we committed to refreshing the IPP Action Plan, focusing not only on important changes to improve the prospects of IPP offenders making progress towards a prospective safe and sustainable release, but also to ensure there are robust processes to drive effective monitoring and accountability for delivery of that plan.
The Women’s Estate Psychology Service (WEPS) have implemented a National IPP strategy which takes a bespoke case management approach to each woman serving an IPP sentence. The overarching goal of the strategy is to ensure that all are proactively supported to progress through their prison sentences as quickly as possible. Psychologists regularly review cases and jointly work with prison and probation colleagues to remove barriers to progression and expedite completion of interventions and services. There are, as of end December 2022, 40 women in custody serving an IPP sentence, 12 of whom have never been released.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the number of women serving sentences under Imprisonment for Public Protection.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
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 Parole Board concludes that it is no longer necessary on the grounds of public protection for them to remain confined.
HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) continues to work closely with Samaritans for the delivery of the Listener Scheme, through which selected prisoners are trained to provide support to fellow prisoners in emotional distress. It is important to highlight that Prison Chaplaincy provides not only faith and belief advice but pastoral care to prisoners of all faiths, beliefs and of none, irrespective of sentence type or length, in support of HMPPS’ commitment to decency, safety and rehabilitation.
As the number of those serving IPP sentences in prison who have never been released reduces, the proportion of cases which are the most complex and high risk increases. This does mean that we should expect that the number of first releases will continue to slow and the time spent past tariff will increase. However, the IPP Action Plan is focused on, firstly, ensuring each IPP prisoner has a sentence plan, regularly reviewed, with clear objectives as to what the prisoner has to do to reduce risk and, secondly, that the prisoner is held in a prison with an opportunity to achieve those objectives.
In the Government response to the Justice Select Committee’s IPP report, we committed to refreshing the IPP Action Plan, focusing not only on important changes to improve the prospects of IPP offenders making progress towards a prospective safe and sustainable release, but also to ensure there are robust processes to drive effective monitoring and accountability for delivery of that plan.
The Women’s Estate Psychology Service (WEPS) have implemented a National IPP strategy which takes a bespoke case management approach to each woman serving an IPP sentence. The overarching goal of the strategy is to ensure that all are proactively supported to progress through their prison sentences as quickly as possible. Psychologists regularly review cases and jointly work with prison and probation colleagues to remove barriers to progression and expedite completion of interventions and services. There are, as of end December 2022, 40 women in custody serving an IPP sentence, 12 of whom have never been released.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment has been made of the recommendations in the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s second report into migrant survivors, Safety before status: the solutions, published on 13 December 2022.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Tackling violence against women and girls is a government priority. We are committed to supporting victims of abuse, regardless of their immigration status.
The Home Office is grateful to the Domestic Abuse Commissioner for publishing the ‘Safety Before Status: The Solutions’ report and to the Commissioner’s team and external partners for researching the vital issue of support for migrant victims and survivors of domestic abuse.
We will continue to engage with the Commissioner’s office on recommendations set out in the report, and across government. We have already begun to take forward work that stems from some of the recommendations.
We are giving detailed consideration to the findings of this research in conjunction with the external evaluation of the Home Office funded Support for Migrant Victims Scheme pilot (SMV) and considering the wider policies affecting migrant victims and survivors of domestic abuse. Our official response will be published as soon as is practicable. In the meantime, we continue to provide £1.4 million per annum to fund support for all migrant victims of domestic abuse.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to publish their response to the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s report Safety before status: the solutions, which was due in February.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Tackling violence against women and girls is a government priority. We are committed to supporting victims of abuse, regardless of their immigration status.
The Home Office is grateful to the Domestic Abuse Commissioner for publishing the ‘Safety Before Status: The Solutions’ report and to the Commissioner’s team and external partners for researching the vital issue of support for migrant victims and survivors of domestic abuse.
We will continue to engage with the Commissioner’s office on recommendations set out in the report, and across government. We have already begun to take forward work that stems from some of the recommendations.
We are giving detailed consideration to the findings of this research in conjunction with the external evaluation of the Home Office funded Support for Migrant Victims Scheme pilot (SMV) and considering the wider policies affecting migrant victims and survivors of domestic abuse. Our official response will be published as soon as is practicable. In the meantime, we continue to provide £1.4 million per annum to fund support for all migrant victims of domestic abuse.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many restricted status prisoners were held in the female estate in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
A Restricted Status (RS) prisoner is any female, young person or young adult prisoner, convicted or on remand, whose escape would present a serious risk to the public and who is required to be held in designated secure accommodation.
The table below provides the overall total figure for the specified year for those held in the female estate.
A remanded female prisoner classified as RS is subject to review on an annual basis up until the time of their trial unless further information is received to suggest that an earlier review of their RS status is required.
Following completion of their trial and if convicted and sentenced, the prisoner will then have their First Formal review which will decide whether RS remains warranted.
| Total |
2012 | 11 |
2013 | 11 |
2014 | 8 |
2015 | 11 |
2016 | 12 |
2017 | 19 |
2018 | 20 |
2019 | 17 |
2020 | 18 |
2021 | 18 |
2022 | 19 |
2023 | 21 |
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cost of the software that would be required to introduce an automatic registration system for income-related free school meals.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
An assessment has not been made of the specific costs of any software for automatic registration because there are also complex data, systems, and legal implications to such a change. The department continues to explore the delivery feasibility of improving existing systems including the development of auto-enrolment functionality.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for the Ministry of Justice on 18 October 2022 (59996), what issue resulted in undercounting convictions for offences under the Assaults on Emergency Workers Act 2018; and whether it was rectified for data published in and after November 2022.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
While improving our data processing in 2022, a data mapping issue was discovered in the Courts Proceedings Database production. As detailed in the Criminal Justice System statistics December 2021 publication, an estimated 3,220 convictions for the offence under the Assaults on Emergency Workers Act 2018 were not correctly mapped to the offence of Assault on Emergency Worker between 2019 and 2021 meaning an undercount for that offence in those years. This issue was reflected in the known issues tabs of our published data tools and tables. Convictions in 2018 were not affected.
We fixed the incorrect mapping of 1,919 of these convictions (274 in 2019, 619 in 2020 and 1,026 in 2021) which are presented in the year ending June 2022 edition of the Outcomes by Offence data tool. This means that an estimated undercount of 1,301 convictions for this offence remains (227 in 2019, 530 in 2020 and 544 in 2021). We have quantified the remaining undercount and will explore ways of incorporating this in future publications.
This mapping has been corrected in data for 2022 therefore all data in future years, since the Criminal Justice System statistics June 2022 publication, will present correct figures.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for a funding programme for food banks to develop into alternative forms of initiative, such as food clubs or social supermarkets.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Food Banks are independent, charitable organisations where local communities come together to support one another. This is a great example of the generosity of spirit across the country. The Government has no role in their operation.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Gloucester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to expanding the sample size for the Food Standards Agency’s Food and You 2 survey to a minimum of 10,000 households.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Food Standards Agency currently has no plans to increase the sample size for the Food and You 2 Survey. Each biannual wave of fieldwork contains a sample size of 4,000 households, with 2,000 in England, and 1,000 in each of Wales and Northern Ireland. This provides sufficient accuracy at a 95% confidence level for the survey’s key estimates. The random probability sampling approach, by which households are randomly selected from the postcode address file, and use of weighting helps to ensure the results are representative of the population. Where greater accuracy is required, responses from multiple survey waves can be combined.
The higher survey delivery costs associated with a larger sample size outweigh the benefits from an increase in accuracy.