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Written Question
Prisoners: Transgender People
Thursday 7th December 2023

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the HM Prison and Service Offender Equalities Annual Report 2022-23, published on 30 November 2023, how many and what proportion of transgender prisoners convicted of a sexual offence were registered as (a) male and (b) female at birth.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

We have strengthened our policy so that no transgender woman convicted of either a sexual or violent offence, or who retains male genitalia, can be held in the general women’s estate, other than in truly exceptional circumstances, which must be signed off by a minister.

A total of 100 transgender prisoners had a sexual offence as a principal offence and were housed in prison establishments across England and Wales on 31 March 2023.

If a question is posed for information and the total figure amounts to five people or fewer, the MoJ 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. We believe that the release of some of this information would be likely to lead to identification of the individuals concerned.

For this reason, it is not possible to provide a split by legal gender (i.e., counts and percentages by legal gender male or legal gender female) or to provide a split by geography (i.e., counts and percentages in England and Wales).


Written Question
Prisoners: Transgender People
Thursday 7th December 2023

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the HM Prison and Service Offender Equalities Annual Report 2022-23, published on 30 November 2023, how many and what proportion of transgender prisoners held in (a) England and (b) Wales were convicted of a sexual offence.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

We have strengthened our policy so that no transgender woman convicted of either a sexual or violent offence, or who retains male genitalia, can be held in the general women’s estate, other than in truly exceptional circumstances, which must be signed off by a minister.

A total of 100 transgender prisoners had a sexual offence as a principal offence and were housed in prison establishments across England and Wales on 31 March 2023.

If a question is posed for information and the total figure amounts to five people or fewer, the MoJ 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. We believe that the release of some of this information would be likely to lead to identification of the individuals concerned.

For this reason, it is not possible to provide a split by legal gender (i.e., counts and percentages by legal gender male or legal gender female) or to provide a split by geography (i.e., counts and percentages in England and Wales).


Written Question
Prisoners: Gender Recognition
Monday 23rd January 2023

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2022 to Question 108375 on Prisoners: Gender Recognition, on what date his Department started using the term (a) transmale, and (b) transfemale.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

The terms “transmale” and “transfemale” used in the table provided in the answer to question 108375 were used erroneously in seeking to use the same language as the categories used in Question 108375 (“transman” and “transwoman”) and do not represent a change in the department’s definition of transgender men and women.


Written Question
Energy: Meters
Monday 23rd January 2023

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information he holds on the number of warrants issued in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Northern Ireland and (d) Scotland to allow energy companies to forcibly enter properties to install prepayment meters in each of the last three years; and if he will provide a breakdown by (i) energy company, (ii) local authority and (iii) parliamentary constituency.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The judicial systems in both Scotland and Northern Ireland are devolved, and the Ministry of Justice holds no data in respect of applications made in those jurisdictions.

We do hold information on the number of warrants applied for and granted. I refer the honourable Member to the answer given on 18 January 2023 to Question UIN 122504 where I published data on warrants from January 2020 to December 2022.

Data by energy supplier on the number of warrants granted and refused following an application by an energy supplier could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Data on a local authority and constituency level is not held.

The Government is committed to supporting all households with the Energy Price Guarantee - saving a typical household c.£900 this winter – plus the £400 discount on energy bills. The most vulnerable households will get £1,200, plus other cost of living support delivered via benefits and pensions.


Written Question
Energy: Meters
Monday 23rd January 2023

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to obtain information on the number of warrants issued by (a) magistrates in England, (b) magistrates in Wales, (c) magistrates in Northern Ireland and (d) by sheriffs in Scotland to allow energy companies to forcibly enter properties to install prepayment meters.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The judicial systems in both Scotland and Northern Ireland are devolved, and the Ministry of Justice holds no data in respect of applications made in those jurisdictions.

We do hold information on the number of warrants applied for and granted. I refer the honourable Member to the answer given on 18 January 2023 to Question UIN 122504 where I published data on warrants from January 2020 to December 2022.

Data by energy supplier on the number of warrants granted and refused following an application by an energy supplier could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Data on a local authority and constituency level is not held.

The Government is committed to supporting all households with the Energy Price Guarantee - saving a typical household c.£900 this winter – plus the £400 discount on energy bills. The most vulnerable households will get £1,200, plus other cost of living support delivered via benefits and pensions.


Written Question
Prisoners: Gender Recognition
Monday 23rd January 2023

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2022 to Question 108375 on Prisoners: Gender Recognition, what his Department's definition is of (a) transmale, and (b) transfemale.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

The terms “transmale” and “transfemale” used in the table provided in the answer to question 108375 were used erroneously in seeking to use the same language as the categories used in Question 108375 (“transman” and “transwoman”) and do not represent a change in the department’s definition of transgender men and women.


Written Question
Energy: Meters
Wednesday 18th January 2023

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many warrants to access utility meters were sought in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK in each month since January 2020.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The judicial systems in both Scotland and Northern Ireland are devolved, and the Ministry of Justice holds no data in respect of applications made in those jurisdictions.

Monthly breakdowns for England and Wales, in the period between January 2020 and December 2022, are included in the attached table. These data are management information and are not subject to the same level of checks as official statistics. The data provided is the most recent available and for that reason might differ slightly from any previously published information.

The Government is committed to supporting all households with the Energy Price Guarantee - saving a typical household c.£900 this winter – plus the £400 discount on energy bills. The most vulnerable households will get £1,200, plus other cost of living support delivered via benefits and pensions.


Written Question
Prisoners: Gender Recognition
Thursday 15th December 2022

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2022 to Question 96653 on Prisoners: Gender Recognition, how many transgender prisoners without a Gender Recognition Certificate in each offence category reported are of (a) male sex (transwomen) and (b) female sex (transmen).

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

Please find the information in the attached data table, noting that this does not cover transgender prisoners with a gender recognition certificate.


Written Question
Prisoners: Gender Recognition
Friday 9th December 2022

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November to Question 96653 on Prisoners: Gender Recognition, how many transgender prisoners in each offence category reported are of (a) male sex (transwomen) and (b) female sex (transmen).

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

The information requested is in the attached table.


Written Question
Gender Recognition: Convictions
Wednesday 30th November 2022

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 11 July 2022 to Question 31897 on Gender Recognition: Convictions, how many people were prosecuted for an offence under section 22 of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 in each year since 2016.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The number of offenders prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced, on an all offence basis, for offences under S22 Gender Recognition Act 2004 was zero in England and Wales, from 2016 to June 2022.