Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to employer national insurance contributions on the financial sustainability of the prison and probation service.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The settlement agreed for Ministry of Justice through Phase 1 of the Spending Review provides funding of £13.8 billion in 2025-26. The settlement is an increase of £1.3 billion compared to 2023-24 and ensures an above inflation pay rise for prison and probation staff, helping with recruitment and retention, whilst meeting demand increases across prisons, courts and probation.
The impact of the rise in employer National Insurance Contribution for 2025/26 on public sector organisations is being met by public funds, independently of the investment to be allocated to HM Prison and Probation Service by the Ministry of Justice.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people released under the End of Custody Supervised Licence scheme have been (a) recalled, (b) released homeless, (c) died under supervision and (d) committed a serious further offence (i) since the scheme was first implemented, and (ii) in the most recent period for which data is available.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
On 31 October 2024, we published a full set of data showing the number of prisoners released on End of Custody Supervised Licence (ECSL) which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/end-of-custody-supervised-licence-ecsl-detailed-data.
Recall data is published quarterly and data on deaths and homelessness are published annually. We are working to ensure further updates are provided in due course.
The disclosure of Serious Further Offences (SFO) conviction figures beyond 31 March 2023 is prohibited by the Statistics and Registration Services (SRS) Act 2007 and the Pre-release Access to Official Statistics Order 2008. SFO conviction figures form a subset of data on general SFO figures intended for future publication.
Overall, SFOs are rare. Fewer than 0.5% of offenders under statutory supervision are convicted of SFOs. Nonetheless, every single SFO is taken extremely seriously, and in all cases a review is carried out to identify any improvements that need to be made in the management of future cases.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were released and later recalled to prison under the (a) End of Custody Supervised Licence, (b) Home Detention Curfew , and (c) SDS40 scheme (i) since the scheme was implemented and (ii) in the most recent period for which data is available.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The number of people released under the End of Custody Supervised Licence scheme (ECSL) that have been recalled since the scheme was first implemented forms a subset of data on recalls intended for future publication.
The number of people released under ECSL that have been recalled in the most recent period for which data is available could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.
The Home Detention Curfew scheme (HDC) has been in operation since 1999. HDC recall data is available from 2002 onwards. The relevant annual releases tables for 2002-2014 can be found at the tab Table 3_leg_12:
Data for 2015-2022 at the tab Table 3_A_17:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66293e533b0122a378a7e725/Prison-releases-2023.ods.
Data for 2023 at the tab Table 3 Q17:
Data on SDS40 recalls forms a subset of data intended for future publication.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she plans to establish (a) Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Programme provision and (b) an alternative programme.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This Government has set an ambitious mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.
We have committed to using every tool available to target perpetrators and address the root causes of abuse. It is essential that we prevent reoffending and ensure there is comprehensive approach to managing perpetrators, from early intervention to targeting the most prolific and repeat offenders.
We acknowledge there is a gap in the family courts’ ability to refer perpetrators onto Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Programmes. A cross-sector steering group has been established to address this – including for those cases going through the family courts in Wales.
All decisions on funding remain subject to the Spending Review process.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners with a home address in Wales were released under the Early Release Scheme on 10 September 2024.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Data on SDS40 releases forms a subset of data intended for future publication. The number of prison places projected to be saved by SDS40 releases are set out in the Impact Assessment (between 4,600 and 5,900 prison places for the male estate)
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners were released from each prison in Wales under the Early Release Scheme on 10 September 2024
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Data on SDS40 releases forms a subset of data intended for future publication. The number of prison places projected to be saved by SDS40 releases are set out in the Impact Assessment (between 4,600 and 5,900 prison places for the male estate)
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the impact of the Early Release Scheme on probation services in Wales since 10 September 2024.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Probation teams play a crucial role across Wales. The impact of further changes was carefully considered, and concrete action has been taken to mitigate pressures including the recruitment of additional probation officers.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when she plans to respond to the letter of 23 July 2024 from the Rt hon. Member for Dwyfor Meirionnydd on the establishment of a women’s residential centre in Wales.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Lord Chancellor is meeting with the Rt hon. Member for Dwyfor Meirionnydd on 29 October to discuss this issue, as such no written response to the letter has been sent.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will take steps to tackle the late allocation of annual funding for the youth justice system.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Much of government spending is allocated via an annual budgetary process, which often requires complex choices that can take time to be resolved. This year, the General Election complicated this further – it was not possible for the Department to confirm funding decisions during the election period after the election was called on 22 May 2024. However, within a matter of days of coming into government, we made this decision, and it was communicated to Youth Offending Teams (YOTs).
This Government recognises the challenges associated with late annual allocations for local youth justice services and the need for YOTs to have stable funding for financial planning.
We want to ensure that local services are equipped to make effective use of grant funding. The upcoming multi-year Spending Review is an opportunity for this Government to assess how funding is most efficiently delivered.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reasons have there been late allocations of funding for the youth justice system for 2024-25.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Much of government spending is allocated via an annual budgetary process, which often requires complex choices that can take time to be resolved. This year, the General Election complicated this further – it was not possible for the Department to confirm funding decisions during the election period after the election was called on 22 May 2024. However, within a matter of days of coming into government, we made this decision, and it was communicated to Youth Offending Teams (YOTs).
This Government recognises the challenges associated with late annual allocations for local youth justice services and the need for YOTs to have stable funding for financial planning.
We want to ensure that local services are equipped to make effective use of grant funding. The upcoming multi-year Spending Review is an opportunity for this Government to assess how funding is most efficiently delivered.