Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many recalls to prison there were of people on licence in England and Wales in each of the last ten years for which figures are available; and what plans she has to reduce the number of recalls to prison.

The number of recalls to custody recorded in the ten years from 2013 to 2023 is provided in the table below.

1. The table above shows the number of recalls not the number of offenders – an offender may be recalled more than once.

2. The figures in these tables have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. As such, figures are subject to change as information is updated.

Data source: Public Protection Unit Database (PPUD)

The Government’s absolute focus is on public protection. Offenders on licence can be swiftly recalled to prison if they breach their licence conditions in such a way as to indicate that their risk has increased and they are about to commit further offences. The recall of an offender to custody is an important public protection measure but our priority is to reduce reoffending and the risks presented by offenders, so that they do not need to be recalled in order to protect the public.

Additionally, HMPPS has issued guidance to the probation practitioners, to ensure all safe alternatives to recall are considered before a decision is taken to recall an offender. HMPPS has also re-invigorated the Secretary of State’s power to release recalled offenders following a risk assessed recall review without reference to the Parole Board.

With public protection as our top priority, we continue to work across government to ensure that we take the necessary steps to reduce the recall population and keep the system functioning safely.