Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to support legal services and skills.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
One of the Industrial Strategy’s eight growth-driving sectors is Professional and Business Services, of which the Legal Sector will play a key role. Professional and Business Services has been selected because it has been successful, has driven growth, and is an area where the UK has a real competitive advantage.
Skills will play a crucial role in the Industrial Strategy, driving growth through increased productivity, as well as creating well paid jobs which increases opportunities for everyone. We will work closely with business, devolved governments, local leaders, trade unions and others to ensure the skills system is responsive and flexible, and that people have the opportunity to get on and fulfil their potential. This includes establishing Skills England and successfully designing the new Skills and Growth Levy.
We’ll publish our specific plans when we launch our new Industrial Strategy.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to support the legal services sector.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
One of the Industrial Strategy’s eight growth-driving sectors is Professional and Business Services, of which the Legal Sector will play a key role. Professional and Business Services has been selected because it has been successful, has driven growth, and is an area where the UK has a real competitive advantage.
Skills will play a crucial role in the Industrial Strategy, driving growth through increased productivity, as well as creating well paid jobs which increases opportunities for everyone. We will work closely with business, devolved governments, local leaders, trade unions and others to ensure the skills system is responsive and flexible, and that people have the opportunity to get on and fulfil their potential. This includes establishing Skills England and successfully designing the new Skills and Growth Levy.
We’ll publish our specific plans when we launch our new Industrial Strategy.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to accelerate provision of (a) therapy services, (b) wheelchairs, (c) orthotics, (d) prosthetics and (e) other equipment for children and young people.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision and commissioning of most children’s therapy services and equipment services in the National Health Service. Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) for children and young people are specialised services, and are commissioned by NHS England.
NHS England is working to reduce regional variation in the quality and provision of NHS wheelchairs, and to support ICBs to reduce delays in people receiving timely intervention and wheelchair equipment. This includes co-producing a wheelchair quality framework with key stakeholders and people with lived experience. It is due to be published by the end of 2024/25 and will set out quality standards and statutory requirements for ICBs, such as offering personal wheelchair budgets.
NHS England will shortly publish a revised service specification, Amputee Rehabilitation and Prosthetics Services for People of All Ages with Limb Loss and Limb Difference. The revised specification ensures greater emphasis on children and young people being seen with an age-appropriate setting, with greater collaboration between the young person’s acute and rehabilitation teams.
In relation to AAC services, NHS England is reviewing the current service specification, and it is anticipated that the revised service specification will be published in spring 2025.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will issue guidance clarifying the (a) roles and (b) responsibilities of (i) local services and (ii) the third sector in the provision of specialist equipment for disabled children.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) in England are responsible for commissioning services to meet the health needs of their local population. NHS England Specialised Commissioning commissions complex disability equipment services, including communication aids, environmental controls, and prosthetics.
We expect ICBs to follow guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). In 2022, the NICE published the guidance Disabled children and young people up to 25 with severe complex needs: integrated service delivery and organisation across health, social care and education, which is available at the following link:
The Children and Families Act 2014 requires that education, health, and social care services must work together to meet the needs of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). In May 2023, NHS England issued statutory guidance setting out the requirement for ICBs to have an Executive Lead for SEND, who will lead on supporting the Chief Executive and the board in ensuring the ICB performs its functions effectively, in the interests of children and young people with SEND.
Local authorities are responsible for providing social care services for disabled children, which can include specialist equipment. The guidance on supporting disabled children and their carers is available at the following link:
Further guidance on the roles and responsibilities of different organisations in meeting the needs of children with SEND can be found in the SEND Code of Practice, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Home Office:
o ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many crimes were committed against (a) women and (b) girls in each of the last five years by crime type.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) regularly publishes estimates, from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), on the proportion of women and girls who have been victims of crime. Information from the 2023/24 survey, for 16+ year olds and 10-15 year olds, and for previous years can be accessed in the annual demographic tables here:
Experiences of several crimes which are disproportionately experienced by women and girls are also covered by the CSEW in a separate self-completion section of the survey and presented separately by ONS. The latest prevalence estimates for domestic abuse, sexual assault, stalking and harassment, for people aged 16 and over broken down by sex, are presented in the ONS Annual supplementary tables, which can be accessed here:
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases involved violence against (a) women and (b) girls in (i) criminal and (ii) family courts in each of the last five years.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a top priority for this Government, which is why we have committed to halving the prevalence of VAWG within the decade. We will go further than before to deliver a cross-government transformative approach to halve violence against women and girls, underpinned by a new VAWG strategy to be published this year.
VAWG is defined as offences which predominantly, but not exclusively, affect women and girls. This includes sexual offences, stalking, harassment and domestic abuse.
Published data on the number of cases of stalking, harassment and sexual offences at criminal courts can be found in the Outcomes by Offence data tool published here: Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly: June 2024.
Data held centrally by the Ministry of Justice does not include detailed information about victims of offences and the nature of the offence. Therefore, information on some violence against women and girls and domestic abuse cases can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the definition of violence against women and girls.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government’s definition of violence against women and girls (VAWG) covers violence and abuse which disproportionately, but not exclusively, affect women and girls. Crimes and behaviours include sexual offences, domestic abuse, stalking and harassment and can occur online, as well as offline. This is evidenced by prevalence data that shows women and girls are far more likely to experience these crimes.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of prolonged imprisonment on the (a) mental health and (b) prospects for safe release of prisoners serving imprisonment for public protection sentences; and what steps her Department is taking to support those prisoners who have served more than 10 years beyond their tariff.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Ministry of Justice routinely publishes data on the average length of time Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) prisoners spent in custody following recall. The most recent data can be found in Table 5.Q.11: licence-recalls-Apr-to-June-2024.ods.
The figures from the latest publication on the last five quarters of available data have been provided below:
Period | Average time recalled (months) |
Apr to Jun 2023 | 27 |
Jul to Sep 2023 | 28 |
Oct to Dec 2023 | 27 |
Jan to Mar 2024 | 28 |
Apr to Jun 2024 | 24 |
Where an offender on an IPP licence is recalled to custody, the Secretary of State must refer the offender to the Parole Board, and the Board will conduct a review in order to determine whether the offender may be safely re-released. The Ministry of Justice, HMPPS and the Parole Board are working together to improve the efficiency of the parole system, including with a view to ensuring that the Board completes post-recall reviews as quickly as possible.
Following commencement of the majority of IPP provisions in the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 on 1 November 2024, and as an alternative to review by the Parole Board, the Secretary of State now has a power to release recalled IPP prisoners – without the need for a release decision by the Parole Board – following a process known as Risk Assessed Recall Review (RARR). The Secretary of State must apply the same test as the Parole Board and therefore, must be satisfied that it is no longer necessary for the protection of the public that they should stay in prison.
The Ministry of Justice routinely publishes data on the number of IPP prisoners and IPP offenders under probation supervision as part of its quarterly Offender Management Statistics publication. Prison figures can be found under ‘Prison Population’ in Table 1.Q.14 and community figures can be found under ‘Probation’ in Table 6.13: Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK. The figures from the last five years of available data have been provided below.
Table 1. Shows the number of IPP prisoners, at end of period, September 2020 to September 2024, England and Wales.
Caseload period | Number of IPP prisoners |
30 Sep 2020 | 3,252 |
30 Sep 2021 | 3,018 |
30 Sep 2022 | 2,890 |
30 Sep 2023 | 2,921 |
30 Sep 2024 | 2,694 |
Table 2. Shows the number of offenders serving IPP sentences in the community on licence, at end of period, June 2020 to June 2024, England and Wales.
Caseload period | Number of IPP offenders in the community |
30 June 2020 | 2,993 |
30 June 2021 | 3,202 |
30 June 2022 | 3,246 |
30 June 2023 | 3,098 |
30 June 2024 | 2,958 |
Please note:
(1) Includes offenders serving a Detention for Public Protection (DPP) sentence who are defined in the data as offenders serving an IPP sentence, but were aged under 18 at the time of sentencing.
(2) The data pipeline used to compile the figures in this table has been updated. This change was introduced from June 2024. More details can be found in the 'Probation data process transition' section of Chapter 6 of the Offender Management Statistics quarterly publication, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2024.
The Government is committed to ensuring that implementation of the IPP Action Plan and its initiatives safely reduce the IPP population both in custody and the community, whilst still prioritising public protection.
On 1 November 2024, the Government implemented the first phase of IPP provisions in the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024, which saw licences terminated for 1,742 IPP offenders in the community. In addition to this, around 600 people will be referred to the Parole Board for consideration of licence termination on the commencement of phase two on 1 February 2025. We anticipate that these changes, once fully implemented, will reduce the number of people serving IPP sentences in the community by around two-thirds.
The Government recognises the specific challenges faced by those serving IPP sentences. We are committed to improving outcomes for individuals with mental health needs, including IPP prisoners, and recognise the importance of providing the right interventions at the right time. This is reflected in the National Partnership Agreement on Health and Social Care in England which was published in 2023, which sets out a shared priority workplan to deliver safe, decent and effective care for offenders in prison and the community. The Chief Medical Officer has agreed to the Lord Chancellor’s request to consider the IPP sentence as part of his independent review of offender health.
Health and justice partners provide an equivalent standard, range and quality of healthcare in prisons to that available in the community. If a prisoner has a severe mental health need to an extent that detention under the Mental Health Act 1983 may be appropriate, they will be referred and assessed by qualified clinicians to determine whether to transfer to a mental health hospital is warranted.
HMPPS operates a traffic light system for all never-released IPP offenders to identify those who are struggling to progress through their sentence plan, so that resources can be directed to offenders who need it most. HMPPS is rolling this system out to all IPP offenders, including those recalled to custody and those on licence in the community, in the first quarter of 2025.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Imprisonment for Public Protection prisoners were (a) in custody and (b) in the community on licence in each of the last five years; and what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of these trends.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Ministry of Justice routinely publishes data on the average length of time Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) prisoners spent in custody following recall. The most recent data can be found in Table 5.Q.11: licence-recalls-Apr-to-June-2024.ods.
The figures from the latest publication on the last five quarters of available data have been provided below:
Period | Average time recalled (months) |
Apr to Jun 2023 | 27 |
Jul to Sep 2023 | 28 |
Oct to Dec 2023 | 27 |
Jan to Mar 2024 | 28 |
Apr to Jun 2024 | 24 |
Where an offender on an IPP licence is recalled to custody, the Secretary of State must refer the offender to the Parole Board, and the Board will conduct a review in order to determine whether the offender may be safely re-released. The Ministry of Justice, HMPPS and the Parole Board are working together to improve the efficiency of the parole system, including with a view to ensuring that the Board completes post-recall reviews as quickly as possible.
Following commencement of the majority of IPP provisions in the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 on 1 November 2024, and as an alternative to review by the Parole Board, the Secretary of State now has a power to release recalled IPP prisoners – without the need for a release decision by the Parole Board – following a process known as Risk Assessed Recall Review (RARR). The Secretary of State must apply the same test as the Parole Board and therefore, must be satisfied that it is no longer necessary for the protection of the public that they should stay in prison.
The Ministry of Justice routinely publishes data on the number of IPP prisoners and IPP offenders under probation supervision as part of its quarterly Offender Management Statistics publication. Prison figures can be found under ‘Prison Population’ in Table 1.Q.14 and community figures can be found under ‘Probation’ in Table 6.13: Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK. The figures from the last five years of available data have been provided below.
Table 1. Shows the number of IPP prisoners, at end of period, September 2020 to September 2024, England and Wales.
Caseload period | Number of IPP prisoners |
30 Sep 2020 | 3,252 |
30 Sep 2021 | 3,018 |
30 Sep 2022 | 2,890 |
30 Sep 2023 | 2,921 |
30 Sep 2024 | 2,694 |
Table 2. Shows the number of offenders serving IPP sentences in the community on licence, at end of period, June 2020 to June 2024, England and Wales.
Caseload period | Number of IPP offenders in the community |
30 June 2020 | 2,993 |
30 June 2021 | 3,202 |
30 June 2022 | 3,246 |
30 June 2023 | 3,098 |
30 June 2024 | 2,958 |
Please note:
(1) Includes offenders serving a Detention for Public Protection (DPP) sentence who are defined in the data as offenders serving an IPP sentence, but were aged under 18 at the time of sentencing.
(2) The data pipeline used to compile the figures in this table has been updated. This change was introduced from June 2024. More details can be found in the 'Probation data process transition' section of Chapter 6 of the Offender Management Statistics quarterly publication, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2024.
The Government is committed to ensuring that implementation of the IPP Action Plan and its initiatives safely reduce the IPP population both in custody and the community, whilst still prioritising public protection.
On 1 November 2024, the Government implemented the first phase of IPP provisions in the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024, which saw licences terminated for 1,742 IPP offenders in the community. In addition to this, around 600 people will be referred to the Parole Board for consideration of licence termination on the commencement of phase two on 1 February 2025. We anticipate that these changes, once fully implemented, will reduce the number of people serving IPP sentences in the community by around two-thirds.
The Government recognises the specific challenges faced by those serving IPP sentences. We are committed to improving outcomes for individuals with mental health needs, including IPP prisoners, and recognise the importance of providing the right interventions at the right time. This is reflected in the National Partnership Agreement on Health and Social Care in England which was published in 2023, which sets out a shared priority workplan to deliver safe, decent and effective care for offenders in prison and the community. The Chief Medical Officer has agreed to the Lord Chancellor’s request to consider the IPP sentence as part of his independent review of offender health.
Health and justice partners provide an equivalent standard, range and quality of healthcare in prisons to that available in the community. If a prisoner has a severe mental health need to an extent that detention under the Mental Health Act 1983 may be appropriate, they will be referred and assessed by qualified clinicians to determine whether to transfer to a mental health hospital is warranted.
HMPPS operates a traffic light system for all never-released IPP offenders to identify those who are struggling to progress through their sentence plan, so that resources can be directed to offenders who need it most. HMPPS is rolling this system out to all IPP offenders, including those recalled to custody and those on licence in the community, in the first quarter of 2025.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and Malling)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reasons was there a reduction in Parole Board oral review hearings for imprisonment for public protection prisoners between (a) 2018-19 and (b) 2022-23; and what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of hearings.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
In 2018/19 there were 1,317 review oral hearings for IPP prisoners and in 2022/23 there were 792, a reduction of 40%. During a similar period, the unreleased IPP prisoner population reduced from 2,491 on 31 December 2018 to 1,227 on 31 December 2023, a reduction of 51%. As such, the number of IPP oral hearings has reduced by a smaller proportion than the reduction in the IPP prisoner population.
The Parole Board has taken a number of steps to continue to progress those IPPs referred for a parole review, where it is safe to do so, including:
Officials in the Ministry of Justice, HMPPS and the Parole Board are working closely together to ensure the parole system is working as efficiently and effectively as possible.