Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to ensure that people on early prison release have (a) housing, (b) employment and (c) sufficient probation provision to support them.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Individuals released through the Standard Determinate Sentence changes, known as SDS40, and at risk of homelessness can be referred to HMPPS’s Community Accommodation Service Tier 3 (CAS3), which can provide up to 12-weeks temporary accommodation. We are working closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government and the Welsh Government to mitigate any impact on Local Authorities, as well as taking practical steps to minimise the chances that individuals are released homeless. This includes ensuring data is shared with the 49 Strategic Housing Specialists based in prisons and the Probation-based Homeless Prevention Teams to make sure plans are in place for those who need accommodation support.
We are also working closely with the Department of Work and Pensions to ensure that prisons and Jobcentres are prepared to support temporarily higher volumes of prisoners approaching release. We will collectively ensure that relevant staff in prisons and Jobcentres have the right data on prisoners who are being released and will provide guidance and regular communications to those staff, so they are aware of what actions to take. This will ensure that prisoners are supported on release in the community with provision of bank accounts and ID, referrals to work programmes on release, arranging employment pre-release, and timely access to benefits where appropriate.
It is vital there is sufficient probation capacity to manage these individuals upon release. The move to SDS40 gives probation staff more time to prepare and plan for release, compared to the previous government’s End of Supervised Licence Scheme meaning there will be more resilience in the system. We are also onboarding 1,000 new trainee probation officers by March 2025.
Once released, offenders will be subject to the same set of strict licence conditions that would apply had they been released at a 50% automatic release point and will be liable to recall to prison if they do not comply with these conditions or are judged to be a risk to public safety. These could include electronic monitoring, alcohol tags, and exclusion zones.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she plans to (a) develop a different approach to youth justice and (b) use programmes of diversion to prevent young people entering the youth estate.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
This Government is committed to intervening early and supporting the most vulnerable children to address their needs and reduce the risk of young people offending. We are developing a new approach to youth justice by creating a new Young Futures programme with a network of hubs reaching every community. These hubs will have youth workers, mental health support workers and careers advisers to support young people’s mental health and avoid them being drawn into crime. Local prevention partnerships will identify young people who could be drawn into violence and crime and intervene.
Custody should always be a last resort for children. To divert more children from custodial remand, we are also running pilots in Greater Manchester and London for new forms of community accommodation as robust alternatives to custody and will continue to explore potential further reforms and steps in this area.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to provide safe conditions for prisoners.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Making prisons safe remains a key priority. We are working hard to reduce violence and self-harm and have a range of measures in place to address these safety issues.
We have completed our landmark £100 million Security Investment Programme to clamp down on illicit items such as drugs, mobile phones and weapons – that drive prison violence and undermine safety.
To ensure our staff are equipped with the right tools to protect themselves and prisoners from serious assaults, we have completed the roll out of PAVA – a synthetic pepper spray – for use by prison officers in the adult male estate alongside SPEAR, a personal safety training package.
We recognise that rates of self-harm across the estate are high, and we are taking action to address this. We provide individualised support through our case management process for people identified as at risk of suicide and self-harm.
We fund Samaritans through a £2 million grant (provided up until March 2025). This is primarily for the delivery of the Listener scheme in over 100 prisons; In 2023 there were over 1,300 prisoners volunteering as Listeners who provided over 14,000 hours of emotional support to other prisoners.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to ensure adequate funding for support for victims of sexual violence after 31 March 2025.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
My department provides funding for vital rape and sexual abuse support, to help victims cope and recover from the impacts of crime, through a mix of locally and nationally commissioned services.
Funding beyond March 2025 will be agreed with HM Treasury through the Spending Review, which we cannot pre-empt. We will work closely with HMT officials through this process.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will update the Victim's Code so that children who have experienced sexual exploitation are able to access immediate professional psychological help.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Victims’ Code sets out the services and support that victims and survivors of crime are entitled to receive from the criminal justice system in England and Wales.
Currently, under the Code, all victims and survivors, including children, are entitled to be given information and be referred to support services by the police to help them cope and recover from the impact of a crime. This is regardless of whether anyone has been charged or convicted of a criminal offence or when the crime itself occurred. If they choose not to report the crime, they can also access support services directly.
We will be carefully considering the implementation of measures under the Victims and Prisoners Act, including the measure to publicly consult on and issue a new Victims’ Code, and the requirement to consider whether different provision for child victims and survivors is needed in the Code to meet their distinct needs.
We recognise the importance of supporting child victims and survivors through access to various forms of support, including psychological help. The Department provides Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) with annual grant funding to commission local practical, emotional and therapeutic support services to victims and survivors of all crime, including children and young people. PCCs commission local providers at their discretion based on their assessment of local need in relation to and not exclusively for child sexual exploitation. We also provide direct grant funding to over 60 specialist organisations through the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund. These services offer tailored support programmes to victims and survivors of all ages, including children, to help them cope with their experiences and move forward.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will take steps to ensure that legal aid is available to people using the family courts who have been subject to (a) financial control and (b) domestic abuse.
Answered by Heidi Alexander - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government is committed to supporting victims of domestic abuse.
In private family proceedings, legal aid is available for child arrangements, financial remedy proceedings and divorce for domestic abuse victims, including those subjected to economic abuse, and where the child is at risk of abuse, subject to providing the required evidence and meeting the means and merits tests.
Emergency representation is available for the purpose of obtaining urgent protection, such as non-molestation orders. We understand how important it is that anyone who needs a protective order can access legal advice and representation quickly, whatever their means. An eligibility waiver is available for victims of domestic abuse applying for an injunction or other protective order, which means they can receive legal aid even if they would not otherwise pass the means test, though they may then have to pay a financial contribution towards their legal costs.
In public family proceedings, means-free legal aid is available for parents and children in public family law children cases, including care proceedings and adoption proceedings under the Children Act 1989 and in related proceedings. Legal aid is also available to prospective kinship carers, subject to the means and merits test. Victims of domestic abuse do not need to provide evidence of abuse when accessing legal aid for public family matters.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to ensure that the family court system (a) provides adequate support for court users who have experienced abuse by their (i) partner and (ii) former partner and (b) cannot be misused by perpetrators of domestic abuse.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This Government is committed to halving incidences of violence against women and girls; a key element of this is ensuring that the courts are safe and supportive environments for victims, including within the family court.
We are committed to supporting children, parents and carers throughout the family justice system, and will set out a package of measures to see this done across the course of this Parliament.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, (a) how and (b) when she intends to enact the public protection decisions provisions of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government is carefully considering how and when to implement the public protection provisions in the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to ensure that perpetrators of violent crimes who live close to their victims are not bailed to their home address.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
The decision to remand an individual in custody or to grant bail is solely a matter for the independent judiciary acting in accordance with the law. The Ministry of Justice therefore cannot intervene in any decision made by the court. The procedures for considering bail and custodial remand are set out in the Bail Act 1976. The Bail Act 1976 sets out the statutory rules which govern the making of judicial decisions on whether to grant bail or remand in custody. The Act creates the presumption in favour of bail for all defendants involved in criminal proceedings.
The courts have the power to impose a broad range of robust bail conditions as part of a bail package. This includes electronically monitored exclusion zones and curfews. Courts will ensure that they have all information concerning the possible imposition of conditions such as suitable accommodation and proximity to victims, before they make a decision on final bail conditions. The rollout of the Bail Information Service, which has received £53 million of funding until 2028, means that dedicated Bail Information Officers will provide courts with bail information reports which contain relevant and factual information to enable the court to reach an informed yet independent decision on whether bail should be granted to a defendant. This will include any recommendations on the suitability of their accommodation or whether alternatives need to be considered.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of (a) drug use and (b) synthetic drug use in prisons.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
The latest information on random mandatory drug testing in prisons can be found in the HMPPS Annual Digest here: HMPPS Annual Digest, April 2022 to March 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
All prisons have a zero-tolerance approach to drugs, and we are highly aware of the threat synthetic substances present. In response, His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) continue to develop capabilities to drug test prisoners who are suspected to have used, or are at risk of using, these dangerous substances. In addition, all prisons have been provided with access to forensic testing of items seized or found within the estate.
Our £100 million Security Investment Programme, aimed at reducing crime in prisons, including reducing the conveyance of illicit items such as drugs, was completed in March 2022. This investment delivered 75 additional X-ray body scanners resulting in full coverage across the closed adult male estate. Under this programme, all public sector sites have also been provided with next-generation drug trace detection machines. This technology enables prisons to detect attempts to convey drugs into prisons. The equipment is effective in identifying drugs that have been soaked onto letters, clothing and other items.