Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential benefits of commencing section 151 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 to allow courts to issue community orders rather than fines for minor offences by repeat offenders; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rory Stewart
There are no current plans to commence Section 151 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, which allows courts, in certain circumstances, to use community orders for repeat offenders who would normally receive fines.
Section 143(2) of that Act requires courts to treat previous convictions as an aggravating factor when sentencing. With reference to shop theft offences, the Sentencing Council’s guideline on theft offences came into force in 2016. This guideline allows for the imposition of community sentences for shop theft in a wide range of circumstances. In cases involving significant persistent offending, the community and custodial thresholds may be crossed even though the offence otherwise warrants a lesser sentence.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the merits of the conclusion of the Institute of Legacy Management in November 2018 that changes to probate fees could cost charities in the region of £10 million annually in legacy income.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Fixed sum donations will not be affected by the proposed increase in fees. The changes will only affect those estates where the deceased has left an entire estate, or a percentage of their residuary estate to charity. The proposed fees are proportional to the value of the estate, meaning that no estate will ever pay more than 0.5% of its value in probate fees.
However, we are aware of the figure cited by the Institute of Legacy Management and will carefully consider this assessment, should the Institute of Legacy Management be open to sharing their data with the department. We are unable to consider the merits of their conclusion otherwise, as the Probate Service does not collect data regarding charitable donations left in wills.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Farmer Review published in August 2017, what steps he is taking to help prisons to keep families together to reduce re-offending rates.
Answered by Rory Stewart
We know that improving the quality of engagement between a prisoner and their friends or family can be a positive influence on reducing reoffending. The Government is committed to implementing the recommendations set out by Lord Farmer in his report ‘The Importance of Strengthening Prisoners Family Ties to Prevent Reoffending and Reduce Intergenerational Crime’. Since the publication of the Farmer Review, progress continues to be made in implementing its recommendations. Through our reforms we are placing the importance of family relationships at the centre of our revised approach.
Governors are central to reforming our prisons because they are best placed to ensure the prison is safe and secure, and understand the rehabilitative needs of the offenders in their care. In October 2017, family budgets were devolved to Governors, which coincided with the commencement of new family services contracts. This has given Governors the ability to deliver tailored support for prisoners, helping them to build or maintain their ties with family or friends. An example of this is HMP Chelmsford, which recently adapted their prison library, making it child friendly, to enable prisoners to sit down and read with their children.
To support this new approach, from April 2018 all prison Governors will now be required to produce local Strategies, which set out how they will support prisoners to improve the level of engagement with their friends and families. This will be underpinned by a guidance document, which was issued in December and a new Family Policy Framework, which will be published in Autumn of this year. These will help standardise the quality of services provided across all prisons, helping to strengthen relationships between prisoners, their family and friends.
Her Majesty’s Inspector of Prisons (HMIP) has appointed a lead inspector to Children and Families work. HMIP has updated its website to demonstrate good practice recognised in inspections since the publication of the Farmer Review. https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/our-expectations/prison-expectations/rehabilitation-and-release-planning/children-and-families-and-contact-with-the-outside-world/
There are a handful of recommendations, which will require longer-term structural reform to be delivered, including in-cell telephony and the use of video calling technology, such as Skype. We are in the process of developing options for these proposals.
In addition to the recommendations set out in the Farmer review relationships between prisoners and their families are maintained through a range of visiting opportunities. In addition to statutory entitlement to visits under the Prison Rules 1999, prisoners may also be granted additional visits through local privilege schemes. In a speech on the 6th of March at the Royal Society of Arts, the Secretary of State expressed his commitment to creating incentives that support and encourage offenders to turn their lives around. This includes offering access to technology like skype allowing prisoners contact with their families that they would otherwise be unable to have.
Release on temporary licence (ROTL) is another way for suitable prisoners to maintain family ties, and we will be exploring in the coming months how best to ensure access to ROTL for those who would benefit, within a robust risk assessment framework.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent progress has been made on implementation the recommendations of the Farmer Review, published in August 2017.
Answered by Rory Stewart
We know that improving the quality of engagement between a prisoner and their friends or family can be a positive influence on reducing reoffending. The Government is committed to implementing the recommendations set out by Lord Farmer in his report ‘The Importance of Strengthening Prisoners Family Ties to Prevent Reoffending and Reduce Intergenerational Crime’. Since the publication of the Farmer Review, progress continues to be made in implementing its recommendations. Through our reforms we are placing the importance of family relationships at the centre of our revised approach.
Governors are central to reforming our prisons because they are best placed to ensure the prison is safe and secure, and understand the rehabilitative needs of the offenders in their care. In October 2017, family budgets were devolved to Governors, which coincided with the commencement of new family services contracts. This has given Governors the ability to deliver tailored support for prisoners, helping them to build or maintain their ties with family or friends. An example of this is HMP Chelmsford, which recently adapted their prison library, making it child friendly, to enable prisoners to sit down and read with their children.
To support this new approach, from April 2018 all prison Governors will now be required to produce local Strategies, which set out how they will support prisoners to improve the level of engagement with their friends and families. This will be underpinned by a guidance document, which was issued in December and a new Family Policy Framework, which will be published in Autumn of this year. These will help standardise the quality of services provided across all prisons, helping to strengthen relationships between prisoners, their family and friends.
Her Majesty’s Inspector of Prisons (HMIP) has appointed a lead inspector to Children and Families work. HMIP has updated its website to demonstrate good practice recognised in inspections since the publication of the Farmer Review. https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/our-expectations/prison-expectations/rehabilitation-and-release-planning/children-and-families-and-contact-with-the-outside-world/
There are a handful of recommendations, which will require longer-term structural reform to be delivered, including in-cell telephony and the use of video calling technology, such as Skype. We are in the process of developing options for these proposals.
In addition to the recommendations set out in the Farmer review relationships between prisoners and their families are maintained through a range of visiting opportunities. In addition to statutory entitlement to visits under the Prison Rules 1999, prisoners may also be granted additional visits through local privilege schemes. In a speech on the 6th of March at the Royal Society of Arts, the Secretary of State expressed his commitment to creating incentives that support and encourage offenders to turn their lives around. This includes offering access to technology like skype allowing prisoners contact with their families that they would otherwise be unable to have.
Release on temporary licence (ROTL) is another way for suitable prisoners to maintain family ties, and we will be exploring in the coming months how best to ensure access to ROTL for those who would benefit, within a robust risk assessment framework.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the reoffending rates for (a) short-term and (b) long-term prisoners were in each of the last three years.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The most recent published data on reoffending rates is for the period commencing July 2014 to July 2015.The information requested is available via the following link:
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of offenders charged with possession of an offensive weapon received non-custodial sentences in each of the last three years; and what proportion of those offenders were juveniles.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The proportion of offenders convicted or cautioned for possession of an offensive weapon who received a non-custodial sentence in the last three years, and the proportion who were juveniles, can be viewed in the following table.
Offenders convicted or cautioned for possession of an offensive weapon, England and Wales1, year ending March 2015 to year ending March 2017 | ||||||||
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Year Ending March | Proportion of those who were convicted or cautioned who received a non-custodial sentence2,3 | Proportion of those who were convicted or cautioned and received a non-custodial sentence who were juvenile2,3 |
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2015 | 57% | 27% |
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2016 | 54% | 31% |
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2017 4 | 51% | 35% |
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Source: MoJ extract of the National Computer |
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Notes: |
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1) England and Wales includes all 43 police force areas and the British Transport Police. |
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2) The disposal considered in this table is only the most severe of the disposals given as a result of the offender being found guilty and may also be dependent on other offences committed at the same time. | ||||||||
3) A custodial sentence includes immediate custody and suspended sentences. Non-custodial sentences refer to other sanctions including community sentences, cautions, fines, absolute or conditional discharges and other disposals such as restraining orders. | ||||||||
4) The proportion of those convicted who were juvenile has been estimated from raw figures to which no estimation method has been applied. | ||||||||
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the efficacy of divorce law in helping divorcing parents put the needs of their children first.
Answered by Oliver Heald
Divorce law enables a court to end a marriage which has irretrievably broken down, where one party to the marriage petitions for a divorce. A number of tools and services, such as the online Parenting Plan, are available to help divorcing parents reach agreements about the needs of their children, for example covering questions about living arrangements and education. If there is a dispute, parents can choose to use mediation which can be quicker, less stressful for families and cheaper than litigation.
Where agreement is not possible, either parent can apply to the court for an order to determine with whom the child is to live or spend time, but is required first to attend a meeting to consider mediation. If the case goes before the court, the court is legally required to make the child’s welfare its paramount concern in any decision regarding the child’s future, while recognising the importance of parental involvement.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans she has to allow separating couples to divorce without blame.
Answered by Oliver Heald
As the Government made clear in the recent consultation on court reform, we are considering what further changes are needed to the family justice system and will bring forward proposals in due course.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans her Department has to modernise family courts across England Wales; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Oliver Heald
I want our legal services and justice system to be the best in the world and I am totally committed to the Court Reform Programme. We are investing close to £1billion to reform and digitalise our courts and tribunal services to deliver swifter and more certain justice. Family Justice has an important place within the HMCTS Reform programme.
The first element of the family service to be transformed under the HMCTS Reform Programme is the divorce service. As a result, users will be able to issue and progress their divorce application online whilst accessing improved guidance and signposting to help them to understand each step in the process and get things right first time. They will also be able to track the progress of their case online.
Work on transforming the divorce service has already commenced with future plans including modernisation of the administration of public law, adoption, private law and family law act applications.
Future changes are planned to modernise and digitalise our service in relation to public law, adoption, private law and other types of family application over the coming years.