Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to protect the rights of families in Court of Protection proceedings and to encourage transparency, natural justice and openness in those legal proceedings.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Attended hearings in the Court of Protection have ordinarily been held in public since 2016 with a ‘Transparency Order’ being made by the court to prohibit the publication of information that identifies, or is likely to identify, the vulnerable person concerned, their family, or any other person specified in the order.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their strategy for ensuring public safety and efficacious offender management in respect of hyper-prolific offenders.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
For the most persistent and problematic offenders in the community, Integrated Offender Management has received a 3-year investment of up to £30 million to ensure those that commit burglary, robbery and theft offences receive robust cross-agency supervision by Police and Probation, and to commission services that will seek to support and address risks and needs of this cohort. We are also piloting three Intensive Supervision Courts which aim to target the root cause of offending behaviour through supervision and interventions delivered by a multi-agency team, overseen by a single judge who will regularly review each participant’s progress.
The courts have a wide range of options to deal with this group of offenders and relevant previous convictions are a statutory aggravating factor which the courts must consider at the point of sentencing. While custody will often be appropriate for these offenders, and in fact is the most common sentence given to prolific offenders, it is right that our courts have the ability to pass an appropriate sentence based on the case in front of them. Robust research has shown lower reoffending rates for sentences served in the community when compared to short custodial sentences.
Through the Better Outcomes through Linked Data (BOLD) programme, we are also taking steps to understand better which factors are most important in leading to reduced reoffending for prolific offenders, in order to help us target our approach for this cohort.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the early release of prisoners with a custodial sentence of less than 12 months, in order to alleviate overcrowding in the prison estate, on (1) reoffending rates, (2) public safety and (3) the operational effectiveness of the Probation Service.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
Delivering public protection and reducing reoffending is not just about custody. The Probation Service plays a vital role in protecting the public and reducing reoffending. For some less serious offenders, suspended and community sentences are more effective for rehabilitation.
Community requirements can help to deter reoffending, drive swift consequences for non-compliance, protect the public, and ensure offenders feel the weight of crime. Probation assess an offender’s risk prior to, and throughout sentences, to ensure that offenders are appropriately monitored and supervised, following robust risk assessment measures to ensure public safety.
Evidence shows that 55% of people given a custodial sentence of less than 12 months are convicted of further offences. For offenders punished with Suspended Sentence Orders with requirements that are served in the community, the reoffending rate is significantly lower at 24%. That is why we are introducing a presumption to suspend sentences of under 12 months, however judges will still be able to exercise their discretion to impose custody in exceptional circumstances. We have also included exemptions to the presumption where there is a significant risk of harm to an individual or where the offender has breached an order of the court, as is the case for many repeat and prolific offenders.
We know there are existing challenges and will be additional demands on the Probation Service as a result of the presumption to suspend short sentences. That is why we have increased funding for the Probation Service by an additional £155 million a year to recruit record levels of staff so that we can bring down caseloads and deliver better and more consistent supervision of offenders in the community. We continue to accelerate recruitment of Probation Officers, with over 4,000 trainees joining the service since 2020 and an overall increase in staffing levels across the board. We are also resetting probation to prioritise early engagement and supervision in the first two-thirds of an offender’s sentence, a critical period during which probation staff can have the greatest impact on public protection and reducing reoffending.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to expand the built prison estate to account for the estimated population increases to 2035 and beyond.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
We are delivering 20,000 additional, modern prison places, the largest prison build programme since the Victorian era, ensuring the right conditions are in place to rehabilitate prisoners, helping to cut crime and protect the public. These places are being delivered through the construction of six new prisons, as well as the expansion and refurbishment of the existing estate and temporary accommodation. To date, we have delivered c.5,900 of these places and are on track to have delivered c.10,000 by the end of 2025.
In October 2023, the Lord Chancellor announced funding of up to £30 million to start acquiring land that will be required for future prison capacity.
The Department has taken a number of steps to identify land for potential prison sites. We have commissioned a property agent to search the market for land in the North West and South East, our areas of greatest forecast demand for prison places; officials have started discussions with significant private and public sector landowners and continue to assess a shortlist of sites for planning risk and strategic and operational fit. In parallel, officials are engaged in strategic conversations with local and regional leaders to identify areas where communities would welcome the economic and employment benefits of a new prison.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have commissioned any research on a causal link between (1) an expansion of prison places and more custodial sentences, and (2) a reduction in violent and other serious crime episodes in a given period of time.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not commissioned research looking directly at any causal link of the kind mentioned in the question. However, the MoJ continues to carefully monitor the use of the prison estate and the sentencing framework to ensure that the most serious offenders are appropriately punished, and that the public are kept safe.
That is why we are embarking on the largest expansion of our prison estate since the Victorian era, investing £4 billion toward the delivery of 20,000 additional, modern places. By the end of 2025, we are on track to have delivered around 10,000 places in total.
Reducing crime and protecting the public, however, is not only about increased custody. Evidence shows that 55% of people given a custodial sentence of less than 12 months go on to be convicted of further proven offences in the following 12 months. For offenders punished with Suspended Sentence Orders with requirements that are served in the community, the reoffending rate is significantly lower at 24%. That is why we are introducing a presumption to suspend sentences of under 12 months. However, judges will still be able to exercise their discretion to impose custody in exceptional circumstances. We have also included exemptions to the presumption where there is a significant risk of harm to an individual or where the offender has breached an order of the court, as is the case for many repeat and prolific offenders.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications for freedom of speech of (1) transparency orders, and (2) privacy injunctions, used in family courts, which may restrict named individuals from discussing the case with third parties including family and media outlets.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
The Government recognises the importance of enabling the media to access family court proceedings to increase transparency in the Family Justice system while at the same time ensuring the privacy of vulnerable children and families going through court are protected.
Transparency Orders and privacy injunctions are made by the independent judiciary, taking all relevant factors, including freedom of speech, into consideration.
Transparency Orders are used by the court to set the parameters on what may or may not be reported in a particular case without amounting to contempt of court. The template Transparency Order, drafted by the judiciary, is cast in injunctive terms. If a Transparency Order is made in a case, then it is binding on members of the media to whom it applies. The Media Reporting Pilots in the family courts are being independently evaluated before any decisions are made on whether there should be changes to provision on media access to, and disclosure of information from family proceedings.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Policy Exchange report The Wicked and the Redeemable: A Long-Term Plan to Fix a Criminal Justice System in Crisis, published on 4 November.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
We are considering this report with interest.
We remain committed to reducing the outstanding crown court caseload and have introduced a raft of measures to allow courts to work at full capacity, including removing the cap on sitting days for the third year running and recruiting up to 1,000 judges across all jurisdictions.
We have already delivered 5,600 new prison places as part of our commitment to deliver 20,000 additional, modern prison places to ensure the right conditions are in place to rehabilitate prisoners, cut crime, and protect the public. We are also investing in a range of interventions to tackle the causes of reoffending, including delivering our temporary accommodation service for prison-leavers, offering more offenders work opportunities in prison, and expanding the number of Incentivised Substance-Free Living wings.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the use of transparency orders in family courts to prevent proceedings being open to media scrutiny, including (1) those made under the auspices of the Family Courts Transparency Pilots, and (2) those made in other general family court proceedings.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
The Government recognises the importance of enabling the media to access family court proceedings to increase transparency in the Family Justice system while at the same time ensuring the privacy of vulnerable children and families going through court are protected.
Transparency Orders and privacy injunctions are made by the independent judiciary, taking all relevant factors, including freedom of speech, into consideration.
Transparency Orders are used by the court to set the parameters on what may or may not be reported in a particular case without amounting to contempt of court. The template Transparency Order, drafted by the judiciary, is cast in injunctive terms. If a Transparency Order is made in a case, then it is binding on members of the media to whom it applies. The Media Reporting Pilots in the family courts are being independently evaluated before any decisions are made on whether there should be changes to provision on media access to, and disclosure of information from family proceedings.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to review the evidence arising from the Family Courts transparency pilots at (1) Leeds, (2) Cardiff, and (3) Carlisle.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
The Government supports the President of the Family Division’s ambition to increase transparency in the family courts. The Media Reporting Pilots, led by the President, are running from January 2023 to January 2024 and will be independently evaluated. The Government will carefully consider the findings of the evaluation once complete, and publish an assessment as appropriate.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to present to Parliament their response to the Family Courts transparency pilots.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
The Government supports the President of the Family Division’s ambition to increase transparency in the family courts. The Media Reporting Pilots, led by the President, are running from January 2023 to January 2024 and will be independently evaluated. The Government will carefully consider the findings of the evaluation once complete, and publish an assessment as appropriate.