Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the deaths of prisoners serving an imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence in secure mental health facilities are included in overall figures of deaths of IPP prisoners, published by the HM Prison and Probation Service.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
On 16 October 2023, the Lord Chancellor announced he would be looking at options to curtail the licence period to restore greater proportionality to IPP sentences in line with recommendation 8 of the report by the Justice Select Committee (JSC), published on 28 September 2022.
These changes are being taken forward in the Victims and Prisoners Bill. The measure will make it quicker and easier to terminate the IPP licence (and therefore the IPP sentence as a whole) whilst balancing public protection considerations.
The new measure will:
The Lord Chancellor was persuaded by the Committee’s recommendation to reduce the qualifying licence period from 10 years to 5 years and is going further: reducing the period to 3 years. These amendments will restore greater proportionality to IPP sentences and provide a clear pathway to a definitive end to the licence and, therefore, the sentence, while balancing public protection considerations.
There were 18 deaths of those serving IPP sentences in secure hospitals, up to 31 December 2022.
Please Note:
(1) Data is only available from 2009 onwards.
(2) Figures have been taken from a subset of published data in the Restricted Patients Statistical Bulletin, which has been published up to 31 December 2022.
(3) The data relates to all deaths, including natural causes and self-inflicted.
(4) Some cases may have ongoing investigations to determine the cause of death.
HMPPS publishes quarterly Safety in Custody statistics which cover deaths, self-harm and assaults in prison custody, in England and Wales. These published statistics do not include the death of those in secure mental health facilities.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people serving an imprisonment for public protection sentence have died in secure mental health facilities.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
On 16 October 2023, the Lord Chancellor announced he would be looking at options to curtail the licence period to restore greater proportionality to IPP sentences in line with recommendation 8 of the report by the Justice Select Committee (JSC), published on 28 September 2022.
These changes are being taken forward in the Victims and Prisoners Bill. The measure will make it quicker and easier to terminate the IPP licence (and therefore the IPP sentence as a whole) whilst balancing public protection considerations.
The new measure will:
The Lord Chancellor was persuaded by the Committee’s recommendation to reduce the qualifying licence period from 10 years to 5 years and is going further: reducing the period to 3 years. These amendments will restore greater proportionality to IPP sentences and provide a clear pathway to a definitive end to the licence and, therefore, the sentence, while balancing public protection considerations.
There were 18 deaths of those serving IPP sentences in secure hospitals, up to 31 December 2022.
Please Note:
(1) Data is only available from 2009 onwards.
(2) Figures have been taken from a subset of published data in the Restricted Patients Statistical Bulletin, which has been published up to 31 December 2022.
(3) The data relates to all deaths, including natural causes and self-inflicted.
(4) Some cases may have ongoing investigations to determine the cause of death.
HMPPS publishes quarterly Safety in Custody statistics which cover deaths, self-harm and assaults in prison custody, in England and Wales. These published statistics do not include the death of those in secure mental health facilities.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to restore funding to enable parliamentary candidates with a disability to contest the general election on equal terms.
Answered by Lord Gascoigne - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
This Government is committed to increasing representation of disabled people in elected office. Earlier this year, the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work wrote to political parties represented in the House of Commons to seek support in ensuring that disabled candidates and people in elected office have the support they require.
The Government has been clear that political parties have a responsibility to support disabled candidates.
The UK Government Disability Action Plan consultation did include a proposal to review funding of elected office support and explore the merits of a long-term funding solution. The responses to this consultation are currently being analysed with a response to be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, for the period from 1 April to 30 September, how many recommendations from the Parole Board to transfer prisoners to open conditions were (1) approved, and (2) rejected.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what (1) training, and (2) continuing professional development, is provided to prison officers in relation to (a) young offenders, and (b) young adult prisoners under the age of 25.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what (1) training, and (2) continuing professional development, is provided to prison officers who have been newly recruited.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what (1) training, and (2) continuing professional development, is provided to prison officers in relation to prisoners serving sentences of imprisonment for public protection.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government of the 9,800 students who have enrolled on the T Level foundation year since its inception, what percentage (1) progressed onto A Levels, (2) progressed onto T levels, (3) embarked onto an apprenticeship, (4) progressed onto BTECs and/or other Applied General Qualifications, or (5) have no known progression data.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what advanced routes to qualification will still exist from autumn 2025 for students who do not progress to the T Level Foundation Year, T levels or A-levels, relating to specific qualifications at Advanced Level 3 that they envisage will still be funded from that time.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the estimated percentage of students taking the T Level qualification in the academic year 2022/23 who did not complete the qualification.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.