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Written Question
Animal Welfare: Prosecutions
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many prosecutions for causing unnecessary suffering to an animal were successful in (1) 2019, (2) 2020, (3) 2021, (4) 2022, and (5) 2023.

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

The Ministry of Justice holds information on prosecutions, convictions and sentencing outcomes for causing unnecessary suffering to an animal, covering the period requested. The latest data available, until year ending June 2023, can be obtained through the Outcomes by Offence data tool in the following link: Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly: June 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Prosecutions and convictions for all years requested, from January 2019 until data is available up to June 2023, has been provided in Table 1. These totals relate to both the summary non-motoring and triable either way classifications of the offence. The full calendar year for 2023 will be available in the next update of the Outcomes by Offence tool, expected in May 2024.


Written Question
Birds: Eggs
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many prosecutions for stealing protected wild birds' eggs in England were successful in (1) 2019, (2) 2020, (3) 2021, (4) 2022, and (5) 2023.

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

The Ministry of Justice holds information on prosecutions, convictions, and sentencing outcomes for summary offences in relation to nests and eggs of birds under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (HO offence code 19002). The latest data available, until year ending June 2023, can be obtained through the Outcomes by Offence data tool in the following link: Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly: June 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

A further breakdown of the published data is required to extract figures specific to stealing the eggs of protected wild birds, for the offences ‘Take eggs of Schedule 1 wild bird’ and ‘Take eggs of non-Schedule 1 wild bird’, under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Between 2019 and June 2023, there was one prosecution and one conviction in 2021 on a principal offence basis, relating to the eggs of a non-schedule 1 wild bird. Figures for the rest of 2023 will be available in the next update of the Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly publication, expected in May 2024.


Written Question
Hunting and Poaching: Prosecutions
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many prosecutions for poaching in England were successful under the Game Act 1831, the Hunting Act 2004 and the Night Poaching Act 1828 in (1) 2019, (2) 2020, (3) 2021, (4) 2022, and (5) 2023.

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

The Ministry of Justice publishes information on prosecutions, convictions, and sentencing outcomes for poaching offences. The latest data available, until year ending June 2023, can be obtained through the Outcomes by Offence data tool in the following link: Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly: June 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

A further breakdown of the published data is required to extract figures specific to poaching offences under the Game Act 1831, the Hunting Act 2004, and the Night Poaching Act 1828. Prosecutions and convictions for all years requested, from January 2019 until data is available up to June 2023, has been provided in Table 1 on a principal offence basis. The full calendar year for 2023 will be available in the next update of the Outcomes by Offence tool, expected in May 2024.


Written Question
Coroners
Tuesday 19th September 2023

Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to review the guidance for coroners in Prevention of Future Deaths Reports.

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

The Chief Coroner has issued Guidance for coroners on Reports to Prevent Future Deaths which can be found at: Revised Chief Coroner's Guidance No.5 Reports to Prevent Future Deaths[i] - Courts and Tribunals Judiciary.

Any review of the Guidance is a matter for the Chief Coroner in his independent judicial capacity.


Written Question
Suicide
Monday 7th August 2023

Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what were the most common reasons for suicide cited in coroners' Prevention of Future Death reports for each year since 2015.

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

With regard to the number of Prevention of Future Death (PFD) reports published in each of the last five years, I refer to my answer to the noble Lord Watson of Wyre Forest on 4 July (UIN HL9054).

The Government does not collate analysis of references to reasons for suicide in PFD reports.


Written Question
Coroners
Monday 7th August 2023

Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many Prevention of Future Deaths reports were issued in each of the past five years.

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

With regard to the number of Prevention of Future Death (PFD) reports published in each of the last five years, I refer to my answer to the noble Lord Watson of Wyre Forest on 4 July (UIN HL9054).

The Government does not collate analysis of references to reasons for suicide in PFD reports.


Written Question
Mental Health Services: Gambling
Monday 18th July 2022

Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people were subject to a Mental Health Treatment Requirement (MHTR) as part of a (1) community, or (2) suspended, sentence order due to a serious gambling addiction for each year since their introduction in 2005.

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

Offenders with a gambling addiction may be suitable for a Mental Health Treatment Requirement (MHTR) as part of a community or suspended sentence order where mental health has been identified as an underlying factor.

Data on the factors underlying the use of MHTRs is collected on the primary presenting need such as anxiety or depression. As problem gambling is not identified as a primary presenting need the data requested is not currently available


Written Question
Offenders: Rehabilitation
Thursday 30th June 2022

Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce (1) a Community Sentence Treatment Requirement for gambling addiction, or (2) a Gambling Treatment Requirement, similar to community sentence treatments for offences where alcohol, drugs or mental health issues were an underlying factor.

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

Offenders with a gambling addiction may be suitable for a Mental Health Treatment Requirement (MHTR) as part of a community or suspended sentence order where mental health has been identified as an underlying factor.

The MHTR clinical practitioner assessment would identify an individual’s vulnerability (for example gambling addiction) and this would determine the psychological interventions suitable for them. Due to the complexity of gambling addiction, different approaches are used to enhance therapeutic effectiveness.

HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) is committed to increasing awareness of the hidden harms of addiction to gambling and helping to support those with a problem, at all stages of the criminal justice system. To this end, a needs analysis is planned so that we can better understand the size of the issue. The results will inform the development of an HMPPS national gambling strategy, designed to raise awareness of problem gambling and ensure that our probation officers have the confidence to help identify and signpost individuals into the most appropriate care.


I refer the noble Lord to the answer given to HL980 for a more detailed account of the work in hand to raise awareness and knowledge of problem gambling with prison staff, probation and the police.


Written Question
Courts: Domestic Abuse
Thursday 21st January 2021

Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made towards introducing Integrated Domestic Abuse Court pilot schemes.

Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar

Planning for the Integrated Domestic Abuse Court pilot is under way with the Steering Group and Design Groups established and developing detailed proposals. We intend to launch the pilots later this year, despite the challenges brought by Covid-19 and the significant ongoing work to ensure the family courts continue to function throughout the pandemic.


Written Question
Suicide: Gambling
Thursday 20th February 2020

Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to amend the list of circumstances in which a registered medical professional has a duty to notify a relevant senior coroner of a death to include suicide as a result of problem gambling.

Answered by Lord Keen of Elie

Under the Notification of Deaths Regulations 2019, registered medical practitioners are required to notify the coroner of a death in specified circumstances, which include cases of suspected self-harm or where the cause of death is unknown. As part of the notification process, the medical practitioner must tell the coroner which of the specified circumstances they believe apply to the death. The guidance for registered medical practitioners (published in September 2019 and available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notification-of-deaths-regulations-2019-guidance) makes clear that, in most cases, the practitioner should provide the coroner with a detailed narrative explanation of the likely cause of death.

In practice, therefore, a requirement already exists for cases of suspected suicide – which would include suicide as a result of problem gambling – to be notified to the coroner and, consequently, the Government has no plans to amend the 2019 Regulations in this regard.