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Written Question
Prisoners
Tuesday 23rd May 2023

Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish a breakdown of the current prison population by length of sentence.

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

The Ministry of Justice publishes a breakdown of the prison population by length of sentence as part of the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly.

The information requested can be found in the table attached.


Written Question
Prisoners' Release
Tuesday 23rd May 2023

Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many inmates are released from prison each year.

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

During 2022, there were 46,034 prisoner releases from determinate and indeterminate sentences.

Data on prison releases is published regularly as part of the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly.


Written Question
Prisoners
Thursday 11th May 2023

Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to plan for the projected increase of 10,000 inmates in the prison population by March 2025.

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

As our public forecast sets out, we expect the prison population to rise over the coming years.

We are implementing a suite of measures to ensure we have sufficient prison capacity both in the immediate and the longer term. We are delivering 20,000 additional, modern prison places, the largest prison build programme since the Victorian era. This will ensure the right conditions are in place to rehabilitate prisoners, helping to cut crime and protect the public.

As of end of April, we have already delivered around. 3,400 of these additional places, including through the brand-new prison, HMP Five Wells, which opened last year. In addition, HMP Fosse Way will open this year, and construction is well underway on our newest prison HMP Millsike - bringing over 3,000 new prison places between them by 2025. We are undertaking major refurbishments at sites including HMP Birmingham, HMP Liverpool and HMP Norwich, delivering around 800 cells between them. Construction has started on new houseblocks at HMP Stocken, HMP Hatfield, HMP Sudbury and HMP Rye Hill which will add an estimated 850 places between them.


Written Question
Sentencing
Wednesday 10th May 2023

Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will reinforce the sentencing guidelines to encourage (1) the imposition of suspended sentences rather than short sentences, and (2) the imposition of fines and diversion to health institutions rather than custodial sentences.

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

The sentencing guidelines are a matter for the independent Sentencing Council. The Council is currently considering revisions to its guideline on the Imposition of Community and Custodial Sentences, and we understand it intends to consult on any changes later this year.

Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for our independent courts. When deciding what sentence to impose, courts must consider the circumstances of the case, including the culpability of the offender, the harm they caused or intended to cause, and any aggravating and mitigating factors. The courts also have a statutory duty to follow any relevant sentencing guidelines.


Written Question
Prisoners: Self-harm and Suicide
Wednesday 10th May 2023

Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether there has been a decrease in the rates of self-harm, assault and suicide in prisons since the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions at the end of March 2022.

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

The following tables show the rates of self-harm, assault and self-inflicted deaths in prisons.

For deaths the rate covers 12 monthly data to March for 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. For self-harm and assaults this covers 9 months for April to December (latest available) for 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Table 1; Rate of self-inflicted deaths per 1,000 prisoners, England and Wales1, April 2019 to March 2023

Year

Self-inflicted deaths2

2019-20

1.0

2020-21

1.0

2021-22

1.0

2022-23

1.0

(1) Figures include incidents at HMPPS operated Immigration Removal Centres and during contracted out escorts, but exclude incidents at Medway STC

(2) All classifications of deaths remain provisional until confirmed at inquest.

Data Sources and Quality

These figures are derived from the HMPPS Deaths in Prison Custody database. As classification of deaths may change following inquest or as new information emerges, numbers may change from time to time.

Table 2; Rate of self-harm and assault incidents per 1,000 prisoners1,2, England and Wales, April 2019 to December 20223

Time Period

Self-harm4

Assaults

April to December 2019

583

272

April to December 2020

503

170

April to December 2021

528

196

April to December 2022

530

201

(1) Figures include incidents at HMPPS operated Immigration Removal Centres and during contracted out escorts, but exclude incidents at Medway STC.

(2) Figures exclude incidents occurring within the youth estate. The youth estate includes incidents occurring within Cookham Wood, Werrington and Wetherby, as well as the youth wing at Feltham and Parc. Figures for incidents occurring within the youth estate are published within the ‘Safety in the children and young people secure estate’ statistics bulletin via the following link - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/safety-in-the-youth-secure-estate-bulletin

(3) The rates are based on the number of incidents and average prison population for the 9 months from April to December each year.

(4) In prisons, as in the community, it is not possible to count self-harm incidents with absolute accuracy. In prison custody, however, such incidents are more likely to be detected and counted. Care needs to be taken when comparing figures shown here with other sources where data may be less complete.

Data Sources and Quality

These figures have been drawn from the HMPPS Incident Reporting System. Care is taken when processing and analysing returns but the detail is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Although shown to the last case, the figures may not be accurate to that level.


Written Question
Prisons: Drugs
Tuesday 2nd May 2023

Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether there has been an increase or decrease in the rate of seizures of psychoactive substances, such as spice and black mamba, in prisons since 1 January 2020.

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

We publish the number of incidents where drugs are found in prisons in England and Wales in the HMPPS Annual Digest, the latest issues covering the period from April 2021 to March 2022. The table below provides the data on incidents of psychoactive substances, as a drug type, found in prisons from January 2020 to December 2020, as well as the previous and following 12-month periods.

Finds of psychoactive substances increased in the period of January 2020 to December 2020 compared to the previous 12-months but decreased in the following 12-months. These periods are not directly comparable, because changes in the day to day running of prisons during the Covid-19 pandemic are likely to have influenced these figures. An increase in the incident of finds in prisons may be as a result of more items being found, rather than more items being present in prisons.

Date

Psychoactive substance finds incidents*

January 2019 – December 2019

7,651

January 2020 – December 2020

9,290

January 2021 – December 2021

6,740

Source: HMPPS Incident Reporting System

*(1) Secure training centres Rainsbrook and Oakhill report separately as they are contracted establishments and therefore data is not included in this dataset.

(2) Data includes HMPPS operated Immigration Removal Centres and during contracted out escorts.

(3) In the Psychoactive Substances Act (2016) “psychoactive substance” means any substance which is capable of producing a psychoactive effect in a person who consumes it, and is not an exempted substance. Exempted substances are: controlled drugs, medicinal products, alcohol or alcoholic products, nicotine, tobacco products, caffeine or caffeine products or any substance which is ordinarily consumed as food, and does not contain a prohibited ingredient.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/2/contents

(4) It is important to consider with incidents of finds in prisons, that an increase in numbers may be as a result of more items being found, although not necessarily attributable to any one particular security counter-measure, rather than more items being present in prisons.


Written Question
Prison Accommodation
Tuesday 2nd May 2023

Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many prisoners in England and Wales are subject to 23 hours of confinement in cells each day; and what are the reasons for this.

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

The information requested is not held by the Ministry of Justice, as collecting it would require extremely detailed monitoring of each wing in each prison establishment. No prisons are routinely operating a 23 hour per day or similar lockdown.

Governors are afforded the flexibility to deliver balanced regimes that maintain an appropriate level of time out of cell on a range of activities, including association, which meet the needs of the establishment’s population.


Written Question
Prisoners' Release: Health Services
Tuesday 2nd May 2023

Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are considering day release for prisoners who need to attend health appointments on external premises as an alternative to the normal requirement of two prison officers as escorts.

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

The Prison Rules in England and Wales provide that a prisoner may be allowed to leave prison for short periods on temporary licence (ROTL). The main purpose of ROTL is to aid resettlement and suitable, risk assessed prisoners may be allowed out during the day to, for example, work, attend college, attend an interview or maintain/re-establish links with their family.

ROTL under special purpose licence (SPL) is permitted for compelling compassionate reasons not directly linked to resettlement; for example, to allow the prisoner to attend medical appointments.

The decision to allow temporary release is taken by the prison governor, on behalf of the Secretary of State, who must always balance the needs of the prisoner and the purpose of the ROTL applied for, against the need to maintain public safety and the public’s confidence in the criminal justice system. Each decision is taken on a case by case basis to safeguard the public.


Written Question
Prisoners: Health
Wednesday 15th March 2023

Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have systems in place to use the concern and knowledge of family members for the benefit of prisoners suffering from ill health.

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

Ensuring the health and well-being of those in its care is a key priority of His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS). Prisons are required to ensure that arrangements are in place for an appropriate member of staff to engage with the next of kin, or a nominated person, of prisoners who are seriously ill.

Families who have concerns about a prisoner’s health or well-being are encouraged to contact the prison via the establishment’s safer custody hotline. A separate number is also provided in cases of emergency.

During 2023-24, HMPPS is providing a grant to the Prison Advice and Care Trust to work with prisons across England and Wales to improve their communication with prisoners’ families on issues relating to the safety and wellbeing of prisoners. This will include introducing more consistent processes for recording, responding to and acting on concerns raised by family members.


Written Question
Prisoners: Health
Wednesday 15th March 2023

Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how next of kin are kept informed about the (1) physical, and (2) mental, health of prisoners.

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

Ensuring the health and well-being of those in its care is a key priority of His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS). Prisons are required to ensure that arrangements are in place for an appropriate member of staff to engage with the next of kin, or a nominated person, of prisoners who are seriously ill.

Families who have concerns about a prisoner’s health or well-being are encouraged to contact the prison via the establishment’s safer custody hotline. A separate number is also provided in cases of emergency.

During 2023-24, HMPPS is providing a grant to the Prison Advice and Care Trust to work with prisons across England and Wales to improve their communication with prisoners’ families on issues relating to the safety and wellbeing of prisoners. This will include introducing more consistent processes for recording, responding to and acting on concerns raised by family members.