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Written Question
Prisoners: Older People
Thursday 21st July 2022

Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) men, and (2) women, over the age of 70 are serving custodial sentences in England and Wales.

Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

As of 31 March 2022 (latest available published statistics), there were 1,618 male sentenced prisoners and 21 female sentenced prisoners aged ‘70 and over’ in prisons in England & Wales.


Written Question
Prisoners
Tuesday 8th October 2019

Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) male, and (2) female, convicted prisoners serving indeterminate sentences for public protection are currently held in England and Wales; and how many such prisoners have been released in the last 12 months.

Answered by Lord Keen of Elie

The information you ask for is routinely published and therefore available in the public domain; however, I have provided it below for ease of reference.

IPP population as at 30 June 2019:

Men

Women

Unreleased IPP

2,273

42

Recalled IPP

1,086

28

Total

3,359

70

IPP first releases April 2018 to March 2019 inclusive:

Men

Women

451

11

Between April 2018 and March 2019 inclusive, a total of 356 IPP prisoners were released following recall from the community. This data is not separated by gender.

As with any large-scale recording system, administrative IT systems are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.


Written Question
Prison Sentences
Thursday 30th May 2019

Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) women, and (2) men, currently serving indeterminate prison sentences have exceeded the tariff relating to the crime for which they were originally convicted.

Answered by Lord Keen of Elie

The following table gives the unreleased IPP and life sentence prison population as at 31 March 2019 as well as showing how many prisoners, in each sentence category and according to gender, remain in custody beyond the expiry of their original tariff or are still serving their tariff period.

IPP

Life

Total population

2,403

7,038

Post-tariff total

2,198

1,784

Post-tariff male

2,155

1756

Post-tariff female

43

28

Pre-tariff total

204

5,041

Pre-tariff male

204

4,780

Pre-tariff female

0

261

Tariff expiry date not available*

1

213

* Includes cases where a confirmed tariff expiry date has yet to be received and any unmatched records. As with any large-scale recording system, administrative IT systems are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.


Written Question
Prisoners' Release
Wednesday 9th January 2019

Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government in what circumstances Ministers may order the release of prisoners serving indefinite sentences for public protection without reference to the Parole Board; and how many prisoners have been so released during the last two years.

Answered by Lord Keen of Elie

Prisoners serving indeterminate sentences, including those serving a sentence of imprisonment for public protection (IPP), may be considered for release on compassionate grounds, in exceptional circumstances, specifically where the prisoner is terminally ill, or bedbound or similarly incapacitated. Public protection is the priority, and a prisoner will not be released on compassionate grounds unless the risk of re-offending is minimal.

One prisoner, serving an IPP sentence, has been released on compassionate grounds during the last two years.

This figure has been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.


Written Question
Prison Sentences
Thursday 8th November 2018

Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether prisoners serving sentences of imprisonment for public protection and who continue to protest their innocence are denied access to rehabilitative courses which may lead to their release.

Answered by Lord Keen of Elie

Maintaining innocence is not a barrier to progression, and there are a number of offending behaviour programmes available to prisoners who maintain their innocence, including those serving sentences of Imprisonment for Public Protection.

It is not mandatory for prisoners to complete offending behaviour programmes in order to achieve release. It should also be borne in mind that completion of a programme is no guarantee that risk has been reduced.

The independent Parole Board consider all the available evidence when assessing prisoners’ risks and their suitability for release.


Written Question
Prison Sentences
Monday 15th October 2018

Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many persons serving indeterminate prison sentences for public protection they estimate continue to protest their innocence; and whether such persons are denied access to the necessary courses which could lead to their release.

Answered by Lord Keen of Elie

The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost as central records are not kept on the number of prisoners serving indeterminate sentences who maintain their innocence.

HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) must operate on the basis that individuals have been lawfully convicted of crimes, no matter if they maintain their innocence. Whilst requirements differ by programme, an individual does not need to admit to the offence(s) for which they have been convicted, but must be willing to address and work on the issues and factors in their life that constitute risk factors for them.

When considering whether to direct the release of IPP prisoners, the independent Parole Board considers evidence from a range of sources and not just completed programmes. Where the Parole Board does not direct the release of an IPP prisoner, it is concluding that the prisoner’s risk to the public is too great for him to be safely managed in the community.


Written Question
Prisoners' Release
Monday 30th April 2018

Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they expect to be in a position to release, on licence or otherwise, more prisoners serving indeterminate sentences following the introduction of tags incorporating GPS-based electronic location monitoring.

Answered by Lord Keen of Elie

GPS location monitoring will be available next year and may be used to monitor a licence condition. Although it is not possible to predict whether this will result in more prisoners serving indeterminate sentences being released, a recent pilot has demonstrated a demand for this technology in the management of individuals released by the Parole Board.


Written Question
Prison Sentences
Monday 13th November 2017

Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people are currently serving indeterminate prison sentences in the UK (except Scotland); and how many of those have now served longer than the maximum sentence for the offence for which they were convicted.

Answered by Lord Keen of Elie

The number of people currently serving indeterminate prison sentences in England and Wales can be viewed in the table below.

Data on the number of people currently serving indeterminate prison sentences who have now served longer than the maximum sentence for the offence for which they were convicted is not routinely collected, so could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Table 1: Number of people currently service indeterminate prison sentences in England and Wales

On 30 September 2017

Unreleased

10,378

Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP)

3,162

Life (all variations) (1)

7,216

Recalled

1,177

Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP)

792

Life (all variations) (1)

385

(1) Includes mandatory, discretionary, automatic life sentences and those relating to young adults and juveniles held in prison custody.


Written Question
Prisoners: Females
Tuesday 1st August 2017

Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

Her Majesty's Government how many females are currently imprisoned in England and Wales serving sentences of less than six months.

Answered by Lord Keen of Elie

On 31 March 2017, there were 443 women in prison serving an immediate custodial sentence of less than 6 months.


Written Question

Question Link

Wednesday 5th July 2017

Asked by: Lord Trefgarne (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

Her Majesty's Government what are the principal rules relating to young children visiting their parents in prison.

Answered by Lord Keen of Elie

As set out in our 2016 White Paper on Prison Safety and Reform, we are committed to giving prisoners the support and help they need to maintain and strengthen family ties.

Lord Farmer was commissioned to undertake a review of family engagement, and to make proposals that will augment the Prison Safety and Reform agenda. The Ministry of Justice will consider his findings in due course.

Visits, where appropriate, by children to their parent in prison are central to maintaining the relationship during the sentence. Ethos, statutory entitlement and practices are detailed in secondary legislation and in Prison Service Instructions, as follows:

Prison Rules 1999, Rule 4 - ‘Outside Contacts‘, requires Governors to encourage and assist prisoners to maintain relations with persons and agencies outside of the prison which may, in the opinion of the Governor, best promote the interests of his family and own social rehabilitation. Rule 35 ‘Personal Letters and Visits’ sets out the statutory entitlement to visits and Governors may allow an additional privilege under Rule 8.

Prison Service Instruction 16/2011 ‘Providing Visits and Services to Visitors’ sets out, among other things, guidelines to prisons on the management of family visits.

Prison Governors are accountable for the safeguarding and welfare of children during prison visits. This is set out through the statutory framework under the Children Act 2004. Prison Service Instruction 15/2011 ‘Management of Security at Visits’ requires social visits to be conducted in a manner which ensures the safeguarding of children and provides arrangements for this.

Prisoners can earn additional visits by demonstrating good behaviour and commitment to their rehabilitation; this is detailed in Prison Service Instruction 30/2013 ‘Incentives and Earned Privileges’.