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 Probation Service Offender Equalities Annual Report 2021-2022, published on 24 November, how many of the transgender prisoners held in England and Wales were (a) convicted of (i) a sexual offence and (ii) rape and serious sexual offences and (b) registered at birth as (i) male) and (ii) female).
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
On question (a), please find the information in the attached data table, noting that this does not cover transgender prisoners with a gender recognition certificate. On question (b), this information is available in the HMPPS Offender Equalities Annual Report 2021-2022.
We are not obliged to allocate transgender prisoners according to their wishes, and we are strengthening our policy on transgender prisoners so that transgender women who have committed sexual offences cannot be held in the general women’s estate, subject to an exemption policy for truly exceptional cases. This policy will come into effect before the end of the year, and until then our current policy is that transgender women cannot be held in the women’s estate unless they have been through a robust risk assessment, which considers offending history.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether anyone employed by his Department was involved in Operation Pelican.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether (a) he or (b) officials in his Department have met with US officials to discuss the incarceration of Julian Assange.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government has discussed aspects of this matter as part of our routine diplomatic engagement with a number of countries, including the US. Extradition cases are handled by the Home Office.
The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his Department's policy is on the placement of trans people in the prison estate; whether the placement of Sally Dixon in HMP Bronzefield is consistent with that policy; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rob Butler
HM Prison & Probation Service’s policy framework ‘The Care and Management of Individuals who are Transgender’ sets out the way in which placement decisions are made for transgender prisoners. Transgender offenders will be held in a prison which matches their legally recognised gender unless a decision has been approved by a Complex Case Board to hold them at another location.
These boards are made up of experts, including a senior prison manager, and make a robust assessment of all known risks both to and from the individual in question. This assessment includes consideration of the individual’s offending history and anatomy.
I am currently reviewing transgender prisoner allocation policy and will come forward with more details once this review has been completed.
It would be inappropriate to comment on an individual case.
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 make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring ministerial approval for the transfer of male-bodied trans prisoners to the female prison estate; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rob Butler
The safety of all prisoners in our care is our top priority. I am currently reviewing transgender prisoner allocation policy and will come forward with more details once this review has been completed.
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 Answer of 14 January 2022 to Question 98878, on Prisoners: Gender Recognition, how many transwomen with a Gender Recognition Certificate held in (a) female prisons and (b) all prisons are serving a sentence for a serious violent offence against the person.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Ministry of Justice and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) approach to managing transgender offenders is set out in the policy framework ‘The Care and Management of Individuals who are Transgender’.
Prisoners are allocated to prisons initially according to their legal gender, which for the vast majority will be their sex recorded at birth. We are not obliged to allocate transgender prisoners according to their wishes, and their views are one of a range of factors considered when making allocation decisions. Any decisions to locate differently to an individual’s legal gender, at any point during a sentence, are made on a case-by-case basis by a Complex Case Board, an expert multi-disciplinary panel chaired by a senior operational manager in HMPPS with specialist training.
As we do not have a definition of a “serious violent offence against the person”, we have provided data on transgender women with any offence of violence against the person.
Data on transgender prisoners is not available for 20th May 2022. This is because transgender data comes from an annual collection exercise and is a snapshot of the transgender prison population on 31st March of each year.
The most recent data available is from 31st March 2021. On 31st March 2021, there were 146 transgender women without GRCs in prison estates across England and Wales. Of these, 41 individuals were serving their sentence for the principal offence of violence against the person in male establishments. There were no transgender women with a principal offence of violence against the person in the women’s estate.
The number of transgender women with GRCs serving sentences for offences of violence against the person in either estate is fewer than 5.
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 Answer of 14 January 2022 to Question 98878, how many transwomen, who do not have a Gender Recognition Certificate, are serving a sentence for a serious violent offence against the person are held in (a) female, (b) male and (c) all prisons as of 20 May 2022.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Ministry of Justice and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) approach to managing transgender offenders is set out in the policy framework ‘The Care and Management of Individuals who are Transgender’.
Prisoners are allocated to prisons initially according to their legal gender, which for the vast majority will be their sex recorded at birth. We are not obliged to allocate transgender prisoners according to their wishes, and their views are one of a range of factors considered when making allocation decisions. Any decisions to locate differently to an individual’s legal gender, at any point during a sentence, are made on a case-by-case basis by a Complex Case Board, an expert multi-disciplinary panel chaired by a senior operational manager in HMPPS with specialist training.
As we do not have a definition of a “serious violent offence against the person”, we have provided data on transgender women with any offence of violence against the person.
Data on transgender prisoners is not available for 20th May 2022. This is because transgender data comes from an annual collection exercise and is a snapshot of the transgender prison population on 31st March of each year.
The most recent data available is from 31st March 2021. On 31st March 2021, there were 146 transgender women without GRCs in prison estates across England and Wales. Of these, 41 individuals were serving their sentence for the principal offence of violence against the person in male establishments. There were no transgender women with a principal offence of violence against the person in the women’s estate.
The number of transgender women with GRCs serving sentences for offences of violence against the person in either estate is fewer than 5.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to Answer of 29 March to Question 146727, how many meetings (a) he or (b) Ministers have attended since April 2019 in which the incarceration of Julian Assange was discussed.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Secretary of State for Justice has not attended any meetings since April 2019 in which the incarceration of Julian Assange was discussed, nor have any current Ministry of Justice Ministers.
The previous Minister for Prisons and Probation, the Rt Hon Lucy Frazer QC MP, met departmental officials once to discuss this issue.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many meetings (a) he and (b) officials in his Department have held with US counterparts in which the incarceration of Julian Assange was discussed since April 2019; on what dates those meetings were held; and who was present at those meetings.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.