Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the longest period is that a person is in prison over their minimum tariff; and what the original tariff length was for that person.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We believe that disclosing the exact tariff information for a single person would be likely to lead to the individual concerned being identified. For this reason, we have chosen to provide figures for the ten prisoners who have served the longest period over their minimum tariff.
The table below shows ten unreleased prisoners that have served the longest period over their tariff, broken down by their tariff length, as of 31 December 2024. All ten prisoners have served 35 years or more over their minimum tariff.
Minimum tariff length | Number of prisoners |
Less than or equal to 10 years | 6 |
Greater than 10 years to less than or equal to 20 years | 4 |
Notes:
1. Tariff length is the time between date of sentencing and tariff expiry date and does not take into account any time served on remand.
2. Figures only include those with recorded tariff information.
Where a request is made for information and the total figure amounts to five or fewer, we must consider whether this would be likely to lead to the identification of individuals and whether disclosure of this information would be in breach of our statutory obligations under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and/or the Data Protection Act 2018.
Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people took their own life in prison while serving an imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence in 2024.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
There were four self-inflicted deaths of those serving an indeterminate sentence for public protection in 2024. This information can be found in Table 1.7 of the 'Safety in custody: quarterly update to September 2024.
Self-inflicted deaths are any deaths of a person who has apparently taken his or her own life irrespective of intent. This not only includes suicides but also accidental deaths as a result of the person’s own actions.
Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support is provided to people with mental health issues who are serving IPP sentences.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England Health and Justice commissioned healthcare providers deliver both primary and secondary care mental health services to all individuals within the custodial estate, irrespective of their detained status. Each individual will be assessed, their care formulation will be agreed, and appropriate clinical treatment, interventions, and support will be provided. If the individual requires transfer to hospital, the transfer to hospital process will be initiated.
Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to include youth homelessness in the cross-government homelessness strategy.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to Question UIN 20894 on 19 December 2024.
Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to consult young people on the homelessness strategy.
Answered by Rushanara Ali - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to Question UIN 20894 on 19 December 2024.
Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to improve enforcement on people riding e-scooters illegally.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for this Government, and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission. The Government will give police the powers they need to take illegal, dangerous and antisocial vehicles off the streets for good by more quickly seizing vehicles from offenders. We will set out more information in due course.
Enforcement of road traffic law, including in relation to the illegal use of e-scooters, is an operational matter for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners to decide how to deploy available resources, taking into account any specific local problems and demands.
Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the potential impact of public ownership on rail fares on the East Coast mainline.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Whilst it is our ambition through public ownership to deliver a more affordable railway, any long-term changes or concessions made to rail fares policy require balancing against the potential impacts on passengers, taxpayers, and the railway.
Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will review the Minimum Income Floor for self-employed farmers on Universal Credit.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Universal Credit treats all forms and sectors of self-employment in the same way, focusing on the level of a customer’s earnings rather than the sector in which they work. The Minimum Income Floor (MIF) encourages self-employed customers to progress in work and grow their earnings to a sustainable level.
The Government is committed to reviewing Universal Credit. Further details will be provided in due course.
Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department last made an estimate of the proportion of pupils who are eligible but not registered for means-tested free school meals.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The new government has a central mission to break down barriers to opportunity for every child.
The government has inherited a trend of rising child poverty and widening attainment gaps between children eligible for free school meals (FSM) and their peers. Child poverty has increased by 700,000 since 2010, with over four million children now growing up in a low-income family. The government is committed to delivering an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty by tackling the root causes and giving every child the best start at life. To support this, a new Ministerial taskforce has been set up to develop a Child Poverty Strategy, which will be published in spring 2025. The taskforce will consider a range of policies in assessing what will have the greatest impact in driving down rates of child poverty.
The department does not make a formal assessment of the proportion of children who are eligible to receive FSM but who are not registered. The last assessment conducted in 2013 suggested that 89% of eligible pupils were registered for FSM. As with all policies, the government keeps the approach to FSM under review.
Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that people have functioning smart meters in (a) North Northumberland constituency and (b) other rural areas.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department is working closely with industry to make sure they are addressing meters across GB that are not providing automatic readings. Statistics on meters not providing automatic readings are published at a GB wide level only (at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/smart-meters-statistics).
Energy suppliers are required to take all reasonable steps to ensure their customers’ smart meters are fully functional. Ofgem regulates suppliers against these obligations.
The Government recognises that too many households across GB have smart meters which currently cannot send automatic readings to their energy suppliers. We will set out new plans to improve the rollout and the consumer experience, alongside Ofgem, in due course.