Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many women are currently being held in prison for non-violent offences; and what proportion of female prisoners have children who have been taken into care as a result of their custody.

Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Please find below a breakdown of the sentenced female prison population by main offence group, as of the latest published population snapshot.

Table 1: Sentenced female prison population by main offence group, as at 31 March 2024

We have provided a table for the sentenced female population, but information on the female remand population [split by 'untried' and 'convicted unsentenced'] by offence group this can be found here: Prison-population-31-Mar-2024.ods (live.com).

We do not hold information on the number of children taken into care as a result of maternal imprisonment, however we are working to improve our understanding of the impact of maternal imprisonment on children. For example, on 18 July 2024 we published analysis looking into the number of parents in prison with children and the number of children with parents in prison. This analysis indicated that 55% of women in prison have children under 18 but did not show how many of these women had their children living with them before going to prison. We are also piloting prison-based children’s social workers in women’s prisons that support women with family court proceedings, parental rights and maintaining or strengthening family ties.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of the adult population were held in prison on 1 January;  whether they have carried out any comparison with other European countries; and, if so, what European countries they have benchmarked those figures against.

Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The adult prison population in England and Wales as of 31 December 2023 was 87,227. It is not possible to robustly estimate the proportion of the adult population of England and Wales this represented at that time, because population estimates beyond mid-2023 have not yet been published by the Office for National Statistics.

The Department and His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service routinely monitor, and seek to learn from prison systems in other jurisdictions. This can include, among other areas, monitoring prison population data. We do not specifically benchmark our population data against any other jurisdictions.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the annual cost of each prisoner held in prison.

Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

An average cost per prisoner, cost per prison place and overall prison unit cost for each private and public sector prison in England and Wales are routinely published by His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS). This information is produced on an annual basis and is published after the end of each financial year on the gov.uk website.

The overall average annual cost for keeping an individual in a prison is £51,108, which is taken from the latest published Prison Unit Cost statistics for 2022-23.

The Ministry of Justice expects the 2023-24 Prison Unit Cost statistics to be published in December 2024, once the 2023-24 HMPPS Annual Report & Accounts are published.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many people currently held in prison are serving sentences of one year or less.

Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

As at 30 June 2024, prisons and young offender institutions in England and Wales held 3,277 male and female prisoners serving sentences of one year or less.

Note:

The figure presented includes fine defaulters.

Data sources and quality

The figures in this table have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Source: Prison NOMIS

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many UK citizens are currently held in prison; and how many were held on 1 January in each of the past ten years up to 1 January 2024.

Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

As of 31 March 2024, the latest date for which we have figures, 76,869 British nationals were held in prison in England and Wales. The Ministry of Justice does not disaggregate data for Northern Ireland citizens. Data for 1 January in each of the past ten years up to 1 January 2024 are included in the attached table.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made any assessment of the proportion of people held in prisons with significant difficulties with literacy.

Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The literacy and numeracy skills of all prisoners are assessed on entry to custody. Data on education participation in prison are published annually as official statistics in the Prison Education Statistics and Accredited Programmes in Custody publication. In 2022-23, prisoners took a total of 58,907 English initial assessments. 65 per cent of those prisoners in 2022-23 were at Entry Levels 1-3 in English (i.e., below the lowest GCSE grade).

All prisons now have a reading strategy, and we have published a national Reading Framework to support prisons in maintaining their strategy. HMPPS has introduced a Literacy Innovation Fund, to pilot two specialist reading and literacy projects across fifteen prisons, to offer education to prisoners at the lowest reading level. Literacy provision is a significant element of the core education offer, with all prisons offering functional skills qualifications in Literacy from Entry Level to Level 2.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to undertake a review of the Public Duty Costs Allowance.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Public Duty Costs Allowance (PDCA) has a limit of £115,000 per year. The limit is reviewed annually and at the start of each Parliament; the government is currently in the process of reviewing the limit and will publish the outcome in due course.

There are no current plans to review the PDCA more widely.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether visits to the Republican Convention by former Prime Ministers could qualify for expenditure under the Public Duty Costs Allowance; and what further information they can provide on claims made under the scheme.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Public Duty Cost Allowance (PDCA) is not paid to support private duties, nor is it used for security purposes.

Further details about the PDCA are on gov.uk at the following web link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-duty-cost-allowance.

Annual payments are published in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts. The most recent report is available on gov.uk at the following web link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-annual-report-and-accounts-2022-23.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 23 October 2023 (HL10740), how the National Audit Office, in assessing the use of the Public Costs Duty Allowance (PCDA) for audit purposes, distinguishes between the costs of paying staff, travel, and accommodation expenses, incurred (1) as a result of political and commercial projects, including political activity overseas, and (2) costs which arise wholly and exclusively as a result of being an ex-Prime Minister, excluding commercial or political activities; and what consideration they have given to publishing a summary of PCDA claims showing different categories of expenditure on a regular basis.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The National Audit Office is independent of the government.

Former Prime Ministers submit invoices to the Cabinet Office setting out their claims. This information is used by the Cabinet Office for auditing and assurance purposes and is made available to NAO.

Most of the claims are used to cover the salaries of the staff that work in the offices of the former Prime Ministers. These staff are not civil servants, and it would therefore not be appropriate for the Cabinet Office to publish any further detail.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to ensure that more young people receiving the official notification of their National Insurance Number are included on the electoral register, either by automatic inclusion on the register at the same time, or by changing the form of wording on the notification to encourage greater enrolment.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

This Government believes that more can and should be done to improve voter registration and is currently exploring the best ways of achieving this. We were clear in our manifesto that we will encourage participation in our democracy and improve voter registration.

The Electoral Commission and the Office for National Statistics review and publish statistics on electoral registration and participation in elections. The Government will examine and reflect on this data when it is available following the 2024 general election.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the proportion of (1) 18–25 year-olds and (2) those over the age of 65, who were both eligible and registered to vote on the date of this year’s general election.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

This Government believes that more can and should be done to improve voter registration and is currently exploring the best ways of achieving this. We were clear in our manifesto that we will encourage participation in our democracy and improve voter registration.

The Electoral Commission and the Office for National Statistics review and publish statistics on electoral registration and participation in elections. The Government will examine and reflect on this data when it is available following the 2024 general election.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of postal ballots for this year’s general election that had not been delivered to voters by July 3rd, and how many returned postal ballots were received on or after 5 July.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

This Government recognises problems facing overseas voters at elections. The Electoral Commission will publish a report on the administration of the General Election held on 4 July later this year, which will cover postal voting at the poll, and the Government will give careful consideration to any findings or recommendations made in the report in relation to the current arrangements for postal voting.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number and proportion of UK overseas electors with postal votes who were able to return their ballots by polling day in this year’s general election.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

This Government recognises problems facing overseas voters at elections. The Electoral Commission will publish a report on the administration of the General Election held on 4 July later this year, which will cover postal voting at the poll, and the Government will give careful consideration to any findings or recommendations made in the report in relation to the current arrangements for postal voting.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential cost savings over the next decade from (1) scrapping compulsory photo ID at polling stations, and (2) including forms of ID acceptable for the purposes of collecting a parcel at a Post Office and official polling cards in the list of forms of ID that may be used to confirm eligibility to vote.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

As our manifesto made clear, the government will address the inconsistencies in voter identification that prevent legitimate electors from voting, specifically including veterans of HM Armed Forces. We are considering what changes we wish to make in order to achieve this and will bring forward proposals in due course.

The Electoral Commission is the independent electoral regulator and will be reporting on the administration of the May local elections and the recent General Election. We anticipate publication of their initial findings on voter ID in September, with their full election report expected later in the year. We are keen to see their findings and recommendations.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reverse recent changes to the oversight of the Electoral Commission so as to guarantee its independence.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

An independent regulator for elections is a cornerstone of a healthy functioning democracy. The Electoral Commission plays an important part in the UK’s democratic system, promoting public confidence in the democratic process and ensuring its integrity.

The Government is committed to strengthening our democracy and upholding the integrity of elections and will continue to review what interventions are necessary as part of this commitment.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to revise the franchise for elections, including local and mayoral or police and crime elections, based on permanent residency.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Government has no plans to revise the franchise for any elections based on permanent residency.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the consequences of the replacement of the supplementary vote system by first-past-the-post in the most recent mayoral and police and crime commissioner elections; and what is their estimate of the cost differential between those two systems.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The government published details of its legislative programme alongside the King's Speech. We are committed to strengthening our democracy and upholding the integrity of elections, and our first step will be to ensure every legitimate voter is able to exercise their right to vote. We will consider the Electoral Commission report on the 2024 General Election when it is published in due course.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have to revert to a preferential voting system for mayoral and police and crime commissioner elections.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The government published details of its legislative programme alongside the King's Speech. We are committed to strengthening our democracy and upholding the integrity of elections, and our first step will be to ensure every legitimate voter is able to exercise their right to vote. We will consider the Electoral Commission report on the 2024 General Election when it is published in due course.

Found: Browning and Lord Touhig 98 Proposal 44: Letter from the Earl of Lytton 100 Proposal 45: Letter from Lord