Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of excluding measures of grading in brain tumour diagnosis on his targets for cancer diagnosis set out in the NHS Long Term Plan.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The target for earlier cancer diagnosis is to diagnose more cancers at stages 1 and 2, because when cancer is diagnosed earlier, there are more potential treatment options and the likelihood of successful treatment is higher. The grading of brain tumours is not directly comparable to the staging of cancers because brain tumours at grade 1 and grade 2 are not considered cancerous. Only brain tumours at grades 3 and 4 are classed as cancerous.
The National Cancer Plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and aftercare. It will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care to improve the experience and outcomes for people with cancer. Our goal is to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer over the next ten years.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, whether she has had discussions with the Prime Minister through (a) WhatsApp messages, (b) text messages, (c) email, (d) written correspondence and (e) verbal exchanges on (i) the potential impact of repealing the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 on compensation liabilities for individuals interned during the 1970s and (ii) negotiations with Mauritius on the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Paragraph 21.27 of Erskine May states:
“By long-standing convention, observed by successive Governments, the fact of, and substance of advice from, the law officers of the Crown is not disclosed outside government. This convention is referred to in paragraph [5.14] of the Ministerial Code [updated on 6 November 2024]. The purpose of this convention is to enable the Government to obtain frank and full legal advice in confidence.”
This is known as the Law Officers’ Convention, and it applies to your question.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many delays there have been in fitting sobriety tags longer than (a) one, (b) seven, (c) 14 and (d) 28 days in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The table below illustrates the proportional duration of fitting alcohol orders by month of order start date, from November 2023 to October 2024. This includes both AAMR tag and AML tag.
Up until May 2024, the electronic monitoring service was delivered by Capita. Serco took on the service on 1 May 2024. Provider performance was poor either side of the transfer and there has been a backlog of visits under Serco.
Ministers have been clear that Serco’s performance has been unacceptable and contractual penalties have been levied against them as a result.
Frequency Distribution of Durations of Tag Fit Time for Alcohol Tags by Month (November 2023 – October 2024)
| Days | |||||
Date | 1 day or less | 2 to 7 days | 8 to 14 days | 15 to 28 days | 28 days+ |
|
Nov 23 | 14% | 48% | 16% | 12% | 9% |
|
Dec 23 | 21% | 39% | 11% | 11% | 18% |
|
Jan 24 | 16% | 37% | 8% | 14% | 25% |
|
Feb 24 | 25% | 35% | 8% | 14% | 19% |
|
Mar 24 | 19% | 33% | 12% | 22% | 14% |
|
Apr 24 | 22% | 35% | 10% | 14% | 19% |
|
May 24 | 13% | 26% | 10% | 25% | 25% |
|
Jun 24 | 13% | 34% | 17% | 19% | 17% |
|
Jul 24 | 22% | 42% | 15% | 14% | 8% |
|
Aug 24 | 23% | 39% | 13% | 14% | 10% |
|
Sep 24 | 21% | 32% | 16% | 19% | 11% |
|
Oct 24 | 29% | 42% | 15% | 14% | 1% |
|
Proportion | 20% | 36% | 13% | 16% | 15% |
|
Notes
These figures are drawn from administrative data systems provided by contractors. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent.
These figures exclude those who had not had a tag fitted at the point the underlying files were generated. An individual subject to an AM order may not have a tag fitted for a number of reasons, including being recalled.
The tag fit time has been derived by subtracting the first date the data appears as tagged on the caseload file, as compared to the order start date. Where AMS is notified late of an order, the difference between the order start date and the date the tag is fitted is not an accurate reflection of contractor performance.
Data provided for the period November 2023 to October 2024 as this represents the latest available data.
Monitored individuals are unique individuals with a live EM order and with an alcohol device (AAMR or AML) fitted.
Alcohol monitoring cannot be used for those under 18.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the police national computer retains nominal records for non-resident people.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Non-resident individuals may have nominal records created on the Police National Computer where information suggests that they may pose a risk to UK residents.
Changes to the residency status of a person are not routinely considered as a factor in the ongoing retention of their nominal record.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2024 to Question 19427 on the Police National Computer, what proportion of PNC records relate to dead people.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The data could only be obtained for the purposes of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) recall and (b) reoffending rates are for offenders who have been released under the SDS40 scheme since September 2024.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The number of people who have been recalled or have reoffended following release under the early release measure (SDS40) forms a subset of prison releases data which is scheduled for future publication. In accordance with the requirements of the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, we may not give any early indication of the contents of this statistical report.
General reoffending rates are published regularly on an annual and quarterly basis. The most recent rates are available at the following link: www.gov.uk/government/collections/proven-reoffending-statistics.
General recall statistics are published regularly on a quarterly basis. The most recent statistics are available at the following link: www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 11 November 2024 to Question HL2063 on Prisoners' Release: Electronic Tagging, how many SDS40 prisoners requiring electronic tags were released without those tags; and what the average number of days was before those prisoners were fitted with tags.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
1,889 prisoners were released on day one of tranche 1 and 1,223 were released on day one of tranche 2 of SDS40 releases. All visits for the installation of tags for these offenders were completed by 4 November.
To provide the number of people who did not have a tag fitted following release under the early release measure (SDS40) may give an indication of the number of people released under SDS40 to date, which forms a subset of prison releases data which is scheduled for future publication.
In accordance with the requirements of the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, we may not give any early indication of the contents of this statistical report.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 11 November 2024 to Question HL2063 on Prisoners' Release: Electronic Tagging, how many visits for tag installation for SDS40 releases did not result in the offender being tagged.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
1,889 prisoners were released on day one of tranche 1 and 1,223 were released on day one of tranche 2 of SDS40 releases. All visits for the installation of tags for these offenders were completed by 4 November.
To provide the number of people who did not have a tag fitted following release under the early release measure (SDS40) may give an indication of the number of people released under SDS40 to date, which forms a subset of prison releases data which is scheduled for future publication.
In accordance with the requirements of the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, we may not give any early indication of the contents of this statistical report.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of offenders released from prison under the standard determinate sentence (SDS40) release scheme were (a) released in error and (b) subsequently recalled since September 2024.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
This Government inherited a criminal justice system on the brink of collapse and was therefore forced on 10 September 2024, to take the unavoidable step to move certain release points from 50% to 40%, with an initial tranche of eligible offenders released on this date, and a second tranche released on 22 October 2024.
There was an issue with a repealed Breach of Restraining Order offence which meant that some offenders were released in error in the first tranche because they were incorrectly sentenced. This affected 37 offenders and this specific cohort were all returned to custody. All prisoners in custody with this offence recorded against them were reviewed to ensure there were no further releases in error.
The number of people who have been recalled following release under the emergency measure (SDS40) forms a subset of prison releases data which is scheduled for future publication. In accordance with the requirements of the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, we may not give any early indication of the contents of these statistical reports.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 11 November 2024 to Question HL2063 on Prisoners' Release: Electronic Tagging, for what reason all SDS40 releases were not tagged before leaving prison.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
This Government inherited a criminal justice system on the brink of collapse, and as a result was forced to introduce the emergency SDS40 scheme which allows some individuals to be released 40% of the way through their custodial sentence rather than at 50%. Anyone released under SDS40 is subject to strict licence conditions, which can include electronic monitoring or curfews, and face being recalled to prison should they breach these conditions.
Serco had a backlog of visits to install tags and we were clear that their performance is currently below acceptable levels. We are having regular meetings to hold them to account and already imposing financial penalties given their performance to date and won’t hesitate to trigger relevant contractual penalties if they do not improve. Serco has prioritised the SDS40 releases requiring electronic monitoring and performance on the tranche 2 caseload was much improved. As of Monday 4 November, all visits to install tags for SDS40 cases had been completed. Where a tag was not fitted, a non-compliance notification was set to Probation to consider enforcement action.