Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the average sentence was for those found guilty of female genital mutilation in each of the last five years.
Answered by Baroness Levitt - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on prosecutions and average custodial sentence lengths at criminal courts in England and Wales in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, including offences under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003. They can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics
The table below provides the number of prosecutions over the past 5 years for offences under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003. There have been no offenders sentenced to immediate custody during this period.
Offences under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 | Year ending 30 June 2023 | Year ending 30 June 2025 |
Proceeded against | 1 | 1 |
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many prosecutions were brought for female genital mutilation in each of the past five years.
Answered by Baroness Levitt - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on prosecutions and average custodial sentence lengths at criminal courts in England and Wales in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, including offences under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003. They can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics
The table below provides the number of prosecutions over the past 5 years for offences under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003. There have been no offenders sentenced to immediate custody during this period.
Offences under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 | Year ending 30 June 2023 | Year ending 30 June 2025 |
Proceeded against | 1 | 1 |
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the total annual cost of providing legal aid to foreign nationals appealing a deportation order or contesting a criminal conviction.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede
Information on foreign national offenders contesting a criminal conviction is not centrally held.
Expenditure relating to deportation and removal appeals is published as part of the Legal Aid Agency’s Official Statistics as part of its ‘detailed civil data’ collection. Data for the last ten years can be found in the table below. Please note that due to the way information is recorded it is not possible to distinguish between costs relating to deportation matters (concerning foreign national offenders) and those relating to removal matters (e.g. individual’s whose asylum or immigration applications have been unsuccessful).
Financial Year | Immigration Deportation/Removal Appeal - Total Costs |
2014-15 | £875,322 |
2015-16 | £662,880 |
2016-17 | £615,822 |
2017-18 | £552,301 |
2018-19 | £516,453 |
2019-20 | £931,934 |
2020-21 | £767,773 |
2021-22 | £858,623 |
2022-23 | £878,051 |
2023-24 | £955,947 |
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of prison staff in England and Wales in each of the past three years were born outside the United Kingdom.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of staff in HM Prison Service speak English as a second language.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to allow HM Prison Service staff to shoot down drones near prisons.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We are working hard to deter, detect and disrupt the use of drones to deliver contraband into prisons. We conduct vulnerability assessments across the prison estate to identify risks, and to develop and implement plans to manage and mitigate them. His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS) uses targeted countermeasures including improvements to windows, netting and grills to stop drones delivering contraband such as drugs, mobile telephones and weapons.
We work across Government to examine options to mitigate the threat of drones to prisons. We are also engaging with international counterparts to develop our learning, support our strategy and share best practice. Our response to drone threats is specific to the individual prison site, but owing to operational sensitivities, we are not able to discuss in detail the tactics used by HMPPS to disrupt drones.
The Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Act 2021, which authorises the use of counter-drone technology, also enables the police to stop and search anyone suspected of committing drone-related offences.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide anti-drone technology to HM Prison Service staff.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We are working hard to deter, detect and disrupt the use of drones to deliver contraband into prisons. We conduct vulnerability assessments across the prison estate to identify risks, and to develop and implement plans to manage and mitigate them. His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS) uses targeted countermeasures including improvements to windows, netting and grills to stop drones delivering contraband such as drugs, mobile telephones and weapons.
We work across Government to examine options to mitigate the threat of drones to prisons. We are also engaging with international counterparts to develop our learning, support our strategy and share best practice. Our response to drone threats is specific to the individual prison site, but owing to operational sensitivities, we are not able to discuss in detail the tactics used by HMPPS to disrupt drones.
The Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Act 2021, which authorises the use of counter-drone technology, also enables the police to stop and search anyone suspected of committing drone-related offences.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for appropriate categories of prisoners to undertake work in the community, such as litter clearance.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Prisoners currently can access community service work through Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL) during the custodial element within their sentence.
The Prison Rules in England and Wales provide that a prisoner may be granted leave from prison for short periods on temporary licence. ROTL is an important rehabilitation tool which allows prisoners to participate in activities in the community which have been identified as serving a particular purpose in meeting their individual resettlement objectives. Suitable, risk assessed prisoners may be allowed out during the day to, for example, work, attend college, attend an interview, maintain/re-establish links with their family or undertake community work such as litter clearance. This helps them develop responsibility and gain valuable skills.
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. Any breaches can result in more time behind bars.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many prosecutions there have been for female genital mutilation in each of the past five years.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede
The Ministry of Justice publishes information on prosecutions and convictions for female genital mutilation in the Outcomes by Offence data tool published at Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly: June 2024 - GOV.UK under the following HO offence code: 00852 – Offences under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003.
There have been 2 prosecutions and 1 conviction under the Female Genital Mutilation Act in the period 01 July 2019 to 30 June 2024.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many convictions there have been of female genital mutilation in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede
The Ministry of Justice publishes information on prosecutions and convictions for female genital mutilation in the Outcomes by Offence data tool published at Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly: June 2024 - GOV.UK under the following HO offence code: 00852 – Offences under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003.
There have been 2 prosecutions and 1 conviction under the Female Genital Mutilation Act in the period 01 July 2019 to 30 June 2024.