Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what training is available through the medium of Welsh for probation officers in Wales.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Currently, whilst we do not offer national training for Probation Officers in Welsh we can provide learning materials and effective practice briefings in Welsh upon request.
We are dedicated to fostering a workplace environment that encourages and embraces the use of the Welsh language in daily work practices. This commitment includes a staff Welsh language forum, and we will soon be launching a Welsh Language Skills Policy focused on supporting our staff.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) standard delivery, (b) fast delivery, and (c) oral pre-sentence reports have been produced in (i) Wales and (ii) England in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Pre-sentence reports (PSRs) provide an expert assessment of the nature and causes of the offender's behaviour, the risk the offender poses and to whom, as well as an independent recommendation of the options available to support the independent judiciary in deciding the appropriate sentence. The decision on whether to direct the preparation of a PSR and any adjournment to produce that report is, along with the sentence itself, a matter for the independent judiciary. Since 2014, the following numbers of PSRs have been produced in Wales and England:
Wales
Type | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
Wales total | 10,470 | 10,385 | 9,297 | 8,134 | 7,915 | 7,357 | 6,097 | 6,221 | 5,943 | 6,488 |
Standard Delivery PSR | 1,230 | 976 | 603 | 425 | 413 | 438 | 433 | 520 | 442 | 585 |
Fast Delivery PSR written | 4,942 | 5,593 | 4,257 | 4,004 | 3,903 | 2,796 | 2,882 | 3,306 | 3,339 | 3,680 |
Fast Delivery PSR oral | 4,298 | 3,816 | 4,437 | 3,705 | 3,599 | 4,123 | 2,782 | 2,395 | 2,162 | 2,223 |
England
Type | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
England total | 131,462 | 148,893 | 138,999 | 121,508 | 105,313 | 95,647 | 61,980 | 82,436 | 77,297 | 84,880 |
Standard Delivery PSR | 32,523 | 24,774 | 8,993 | 4,314 | 3,292 | 2,848 | 2,132 | 3,028 | 3,119 | 4,374 |
Fast Delivery PSR written | 64,078 | 76,934 | 58,720 | 45,411 | 39,419 | 41,833 | 39,970 | 59,217 | 55,036 | 61,979 |
Fast Delivery PSR oral | 34,861 | 47,185 | 71,286 | 71,783 | 62,602 | 50,966 | 19,878 | 20,191 | 19,142 | 18,527 |
Excludes breach, deferred sentence and court review reports (for further details please see the guide to offender management statistics, available at: Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK).
Between April and June 2020, the number of cases processed at the criminal courts was substantially reduced as a result of the operational restrictions that were put in place on 23 March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the impact of these operational restrictions continued into subsequent periods, the figures in more recent periods have recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
The figures for England include a handful of pre-sentence reports prepared by the National Security Division (NSD), which was introduced in 2021 under the Probation Reform Programme and is specifically tasked with the enhanced monitoring of terrorists, serious organised criminals and very high-risk offenders.
Data quality: The figures in these tables 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.
Data source: National Delius case management system
Information on the numbers of PSRs for England and Wales is published as part of the Ministry of Justice’s official statistics available at: Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what percentage of people subject to supervision by the Probation Service have (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four and (e) five or more named supervising officers during the course of their order or licence.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The information requested is not available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to employer national insurance contributions on the financial sustainability of the prison and probation service.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The settlement agreed for Ministry of Justice through Phase 1 of the Spending Review provides funding of £13.8 billion in 2025-26. The settlement is an increase of £1.3 billion compared to 2023-24 and ensures an above inflation pay rise for prison and probation staff, helping with recruitment and retention, whilst meeting demand increases across prisons, courts and probation.
The impact of the rise in employer National Insurance Contribution for 2025/26 on public sector organisations is being met by public funds, independently of the investment to be allocated to HM Prison and Probation Service by the Ministry of Justice.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people released under the End of Custody Supervised Licence scheme have been (a) recalled, (b) released homeless, (c) died under supervision and (d) committed a serious further offence (i) since the scheme was first implemented, and (ii) in the most recent period for which data is available.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
On 31 October 2024, we published a full set of data showing the number of prisoners released on End of Custody Supervised Licence (ECSL) which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/end-of-custody-supervised-licence-ecsl-detailed-data.
Recall data is published quarterly and data on deaths and homelessness are published annually. We are working to ensure further updates are provided in due course.
The disclosure of Serious Further Offences (SFO) conviction figures beyond 31 March 2023 is prohibited by the Statistics and Registration Services (SRS) Act 2007 and the Pre-release Access to Official Statistics Order 2008. SFO conviction figures form a subset of data on general SFO figures intended for future publication.
Overall, SFOs are rare. Fewer than 0.5% of offenders under statutory supervision are convicted of SFOs. Nonetheless, every single SFO is taken extremely seriously, and in all cases a review is carried out to identify any improvements that need to be made in the management of future cases.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were released and later recalled to prison under the (a) End of Custody Supervised Licence, (b) Home Detention Curfew , and (c) SDS40 scheme (i) since the scheme was implemented and (ii) in the most recent period for which data is available.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The number of people released under the End of Custody Supervised Licence scheme (ECSL) that have been recalled since the scheme was first implemented forms a subset of data on recalls intended for future publication.
The number of people released under ECSL that have been recalled in the most recent period for which data is available could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.
The Home Detention Curfew scheme (HDC) has been in operation since 1999. HDC recall data is available from 2002 onwards. The relevant annual releases tables for 2002-2014 can be found at the tab Table 3_leg_12:
Data for 2015-2022 at the tab Table 3_A_17:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66293e533b0122a378a7e725/Prison-releases-2023.ods.
Data for 2023 at the tab Table 3 Q17:
Data on SDS40 recalls forms a subset of data intended for future publication.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she plans to establish (a) Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Programme provision and (b) an alternative programme.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This Government has set an ambitious mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.
We have committed to using every tool available to target perpetrators and address the root causes of abuse. It is essential that we prevent reoffending and ensure there is comprehensive approach to managing perpetrators, from early intervention to targeting the most prolific and repeat offenders.
We acknowledge there is a gap in the family courts’ ability to refer perpetrators onto Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Programmes. A cross-sector steering group has been established to address this – including for those cases going through the family courts in Wales.
All decisions on funding remain subject to the Spending Review process.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners with a home address in Wales were released under the Early Release Scheme on 10 September 2024.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Data on SDS40 releases forms a subset of data intended for future publication. The number of prison places projected to be saved by SDS40 releases are set out in the Impact Assessment (between 4,600 and 5,900 prison places for the male estate)
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners were released from each prison in Wales under the Early Release Scheme on 10 September 2024
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Data on SDS40 releases forms a subset of data intended for future publication. The number of prison places projected to be saved by SDS40 releases are set out in the Impact Assessment (between 4,600 and 5,900 prison places for the male estate)
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the impact of the Early Release Scheme on probation services in Wales since 10 September 2024.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Probation teams play a crucial role across Wales. The impact of further changes was carefully considered, and concrete action has been taken to mitigate pressures including the recruitment of additional probation officers.