Asked by: Lord Woodley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many prisoners serving an Imprisonment for Public Protection sentence have (1) died, (2) been transferred to secure hospitals, or (3) been sent to another country under the Tariff-Expired Removal Scheme, in each of the past 10 years.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
It falls to the Parole Board to determine whether the statutory release test is met when it reviews the case of a prisoner serving an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) and the prisoner has served in full the minimum term of imprisonment, set by the Court for the purposes of retribution and deterrence. Therefore, those serving an IPP sentence will only be released where the Board assesses that they may be safely managed in the community on licence and supervised by the Probation Service. We have already reduced the number of IPP prisoners by three-quarters since we scrapped the sentence in 2012, and we continue to help those still in custody to progress towards release.
The table below provides the breakdown of those prisoners who have served 5 ,10, and 15 years over their original tariff, correct as at 30 June this year.
Table 1. Tariff-expired unreleased IPP prisoner population
Time over tariff | Total |
5 years or more | 1,140 |
10 years or more | 662 |
15 years or more | 67 |
1. Tariff length is the time between date of sentence and tariff expiry date and does not take into account any time served on remand.
2. Rows do not include the total from the preceding row
3. Figures include only unreleased IPP population.
The tables below provide a breakdown of the number of prisoners who have died, been transferred to secure hospitals under the Mental Health Act 1983, or have been approved for removal to another country under Tariff-Expired Removal Scheme (TERS) in the past 10 years.
The Ministry of Justice processes applications for transfer to another country under TERS; however, it does not manage or routinely record the actual removals of offenders, which is the responsibility of the Home Office. As a result, we have provided in Table 4 the number of approved applications for transfer under TERS.
Table 2. Number of deaths of IPP prisoners, 2013-2022
Year | Count |
2013 | 12 |
2014 | 21 |
2015 | 21 |
2016 | 13 |
2017 | 24 |
2018 | 22 |
2019 | 12 |
2020 | 17 |
2021 | 20 |
2022 | 20 |
4. Figures include death by homicide, natural causes, self-inflicted and other/non-natural for the unreleased and recalled IPP population.
5. Figures are derived from the HMPPS Deaths in Prison Custody database. As classification of deaths may change following inquest or as new information emerges, numbers may change from time to time.
6. Figures include incidents at HMPPS run Immigration Removal Centres and during contracted out escorts.
7. Figures do not include incidents at Medway STC. For more information on Secure Training Centres, please see Youth justice annual statistics at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/youth-justice-annual-statistics.
Table 3. Number of IPP offenders transferred from prison to secure hospital under section 47 of the Mental Health Act, 2013-2022
Year | Count |
2013 | 87 |
2014 | 86 |
2015 | 72 |
2016 | 60 |
2017 | 59 |
2018 | 63 |
2019 | 59 |
2020 | 54 |
2021 | 37 |
2022 | 44 |
8. Mentally disordered offenders can be transferred to psychiatric hospital for treatment and can be kept in varying levels of security (including to psychiatric intensive care units, which are not categorised as ‘secure’). These figures show MHA transfers to secure units. Figures may contain duplicates as an offender can be transferred more than once across the years. However, within each year, only one transfer for an offender is counted.
Table 4. Approvals for transfer of IPP offenders to another country under the Tariff-Expired Removal Scheme, 2013-2022
Year | Approvals |
2013 | 63 |
2014 | 51 |
2015 | 33 |
2016 | 30 |
2017 | 15 |
2018 | 18 |
2019 | 11 |
2020 | 11 |
2021 | 3 |
2022 | 1 |
9. Figures provided relate to the number of approvals of TERS applications in each of the last 10 years. The number of approvals may not match the number of actual removals.
Note:
Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that this data has been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by HM Prison & Probation Service. Consequently, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
Asked by: Lord Woodley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many prisoners currently serving an Imprisonment for Public Protection sentence have served more than (1) 5, (2) 10, or (3) 15, years over their original tariff.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
It falls to the Parole Board to determine whether the statutory release test is met when it reviews the case of a prisoner serving an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) and the prisoner has served in full the minimum term of imprisonment, set by the Court for the purposes of retribution and deterrence. Therefore, those serving an IPP sentence will only be released where the Board assesses that they may be safely managed in the community on licence and supervised by the Probation Service. We have already reduced the number of IPP prisoners by three-quarters since we scrapped the sentence in 2012, and we continue to help those still in custody to progress towards release.
The table below provides the breakdown of those prisoners who have served 5 ,10, and 15 years over their original tariff, correct as at 30 June this year.
Table 1. Tariff-expired unreleased IPP prisoner population
Time over tariff | Total |
5 years or more | 1,140 |
10 years or more | 662 |
15 years or more | 67 |
1. Tariff length is the time between date of sentence and tariff expiry date and does not take into account any time served on remand.
2. Rows do not include the total from the preceding row
3. Figures include only unreleased IPP population.
The tables below provide a breakdown of the number of prisoners who have died, been transferred to secure hospitals under the Mental Health Act 1983, or have been approved for removal to another country under Tariff-Expired Removal Scheme (TERS) in the past 10 years.
The Ministry of Justice processes applications for transfer to another country under TERS; however, it does not manage or routinely record the actual removals of offenders, which is the responsibility of the Home Office. As a result, we have provided in Table 4 the number of approved applications for transfer under TERS.
Table 2. Number of deaths of IPP prisoners, 2013-2022
Year | Count |
2013 | 12 |
2014 | 21 |
2015 | 21 |
2016 | 13 |
2017 | 24 |
2018 | 22 |
2019 | 12 |
2020 | 17 |
2021 | 20 |
2022 | 20 |
4. Figures include death by homicide, natural causes, self-inflicted and other/non-natural for the unreleased and recalled IPP population.
5. Figures are derived from the HMPPS Deaths in Prison Custody database. As classification of deaths may change following inquest or as new information emerges, numbers may change from time to time.
6. Figures include incidents at HMPPS run Immigration Removal Centres and during contracted out escorts.
7. Figures do not include incidents at Medway STC. For more information on Secure Training Centres, please see Youth justice annual statistics at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/youth-justice-annual-statistics.
Table 3. Number of IPP offenders transferred from prison to secure hospital under section 47 of the Mental Health Act, 2013-2022
Year | Count |
2013 | 87 |
2014 | 86 |
2015 | 72 |
2016 | 60 |
2017 | 59 |
2018 | 63 |
2019 | 59 |
2020 | 54 |
2021 | 37 |
2022 | 44 |
8. Mentally disordered offenders can be transferred to psychiatric hospital for treatment and can be kept in varying levels of security (including to psychiatric intensive care units, which are not categorised as ‘secure’). These figures show MHA transfers to secure units. Figures may contain duplicates as an offender can be transferred more than once across the years. However, within each year, only one transfer for an offender is counted.
Table 4. Approvals for transfer of IPP offenders to another country under the Tariff-Expired Removal Scheme, 2013-2022
Year | Approvals |
2013 | 63 |
2014 | 51 |
2015 | 33 |
2016 | 30 |
2017 | 15 |
2018 | 18 |
2019 | 11 |
2020 | 11 |
2021 | 3 |
2022 | 1 |
9. Figures provided relate to the number of approvals of TERS applications in each of the last 10 years. The number of approvals may not match the number of actual removals.
Note:
Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that this data has been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by HM Prison & Probation Service. Consequently, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what protocols are in place to (a) monitor and (b) evaluate (i) neonatal mortality rates and (ii) suspicious occurrences in neonatal units in NHS hospitals.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
On 4 September 2023, my Rt. hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, announced an independent inquiry, to be led by Lady Justice Thirlwall, into the events at the Countess of Chester Hospital and the actions of Lucy Letby. In line with the wishes of the families, this will be a full statutory inquiry established under the Inquiries Act 2005, giving it legal powers to compel witnesses to give evidence under oath.
The Secretary of State ordered the Inquiry on the day of Lucy Letby’s conviction and has made clear that the wishes of the families will remain central to how the inquiry is taken forward to provide the answers they need. The Secretary of State will make a statement on the Inquiry’s terms of reference at the earliest opportunity.
We have asked NHS Resolution to look at compensation and it will work with the families and their representatives to agree an approach which is sympathetic and fair and minimises any further distress. At this time, the police have arrangements in place to appropriately support families impacted, including psychological support and family liaison officers.
We have taken action to improve patient safety and identify warning signs more quickly and will continue to make improvements. In 2019, we introduced medical examiners across England and Wales to independently scrutinise deaths not investigated by a coroner and will now make this a statutory role.
Additionally, the Secretary of State has asked for the Department and NHS England to revisit recommendation 5 of the Kark review, on disbarring senior managers for serious misconduct.
In 2020, NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time programme was expanded to cover neonatal services. It reviewed England’s neonatal services using detailed data and gave trusts individual improvement plans, which they are working towards.
On 27 March 2023, the Government announced a review of the whistleblowing legal framework. The Government supports the right of staff working in the National Health Service to speak up and raise concerns. There is a range of support and protection in place, including legal protections to prohibit detriment and discrimination against workers and job applicants who have spoken up. The review will examine the effectiveness of the framework in meeting its intended objectives of enabling workers to come forward to speak up about wrongdoing and to protect those who do so against detriment and dismissal.
The Secretary of State has asked the Department and NHS England to explore if introducing ‘Martha’s rule’ would enhance patient safety in England. This could follow Ryan’s rule, established in Queensland, Australia, which allows patients or their families to request a clinical review of their case from a doctor or nurse if their condition is deteriorating or not improving as expected
A formal assessment has not been made of the level of public trust in the safety of neonatal care. NHS England’s Three-Year Plan for Maternity and Neonatal Services, published in March 2023, sets out how NHS England will make maternity and neonatal care safer, more personalised, and more equitable for women, babies, and families. The Delivery Plan has provided a clear and co-ordinated direction which will guide maternity services to provide women and families with the care and support they need. There are no plans to do a formal review of the use and access to medicines and equipment in neonatal wards.
On neonatal mortality rates and unexplained deaths, although there are no current plans to launch a nationwide review, the ‘Child Death Review: Statutory and Operational Guidance’ outlines the duties of Child Death Review partners in relation to the processes to be followed when responding to, investigating, and reviewing the death of any child, from any cause. The Child Death Review is a statutory process, which involves a multi-disciplinary child death overview panel to ensure that lessons are learnt from child deaths, that learning is widely shared and actions are taken to reduce preventable child deaths in the future.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many deaths there were in care homes in April 2020 that (a) received transfers and (b) did not receive transfers from NHS Hospitals.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people died in Yorkshire Ambulance Service ambulances waiting outside hospitals in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Will Quince
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities has reported on excess mortality throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. In the year to 24 February 2023, there were 45,232 excess deaths in England. Excess deaths are not reported by ambulance service region.
Tables showing the ambulance response times against the national standards in the last 12 months by the Yorkshire Ambulance Service and in England are attached.
The information requested on serious incidents in ambulance trusts across the last 12 months is shown in the attached table.
No such estimate of excess deaths attributed to long ambulance waiting times has been made. There are a wide variety of factors contributing to excess deaths. It is likely that a combination of factors has contributed to excess deaths over the last 12 months, including high flu prevalence, cold weather, the ongoing challenges of COVID-19 and health conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.
The number of deaths in ambulances waiting outside hospitals is not collected centrally.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 estimate of the number of excess deaths that can be attributed to long waiting times at Yorkshire Ambulance Service in the last 12 months.
Answered by Will Quince
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities has reported on excess mortality throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. In the year to 24 February 2023, there were 45,232 excess deaths in England. Excess deaths are not reported by ambulance service region.
Tables showing the ambulance response times against the national standards in the last 12 months by the Yorkshire Ambulance Service and in England are attached.
The information requested on serious incidents in ambulance trusts across the last 12 months is shown in the attached table.
No such estimate of excess deaths attributed to long ambulance waiting times has been made. There are a wide variety of factors contributing to excess deaths. It is likely that a combination of factors has contributed to excess deaths over the last 12 months, including high flu prevalence, cold weather, the ongoing challenges of COVID-19 and health conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.
The number of deaths in ambulances waiting outside hospitals is not collected centrally.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on (a) excess deaths and (b) ambulance waiting times in (i) York Ambulance Service and (ii) England in the last 12 months.
Answered by Will Quince
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities has reported on excess mortality throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. In the year to 24 February 2023, there were 45,232 excess deaths in England. Excess deaths are not reported by ambulance service region.
Tables showing the ambulance response times against the national standards in the last 12 months by the Yorkshire Ambulance Service and in England are attached.
The information requested on serious incidents in ambulance trusts across the last 12 months is shown in the attached table.
No such estimate of excess deaths attributed to long ambulance waiting times has been made. There are a wide variety of factors contributing to excess deaths. It is likely that a combination of factors has contributed to excess deaths over the last 12 months, including high flu prevalence, cold weather, the ongoing challenges of COVID-19 and health conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.
The number of deaths in ambulances waiting outside hospitals is not collected centrally.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many serious incidences have been recorded by each of the Ambulance Trusts in each of the last 12 months for which data is available.
Answered by Will Quince
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities has reported on excess mortality throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. In the year to 24 February 2023, there were 45,232 excess deaths in England. Excess deaths are not reported by ambulance service region.
Tables showing the ambulance response times against the national standards in the last 12 months by the Yorkshire Ambulance Service and in England are attached.
The information requested on serious incidents in ambulance trusts across the last 12 months is shown in the attached table.
No such estimate of excess deaths attributed to long ambulance waiting times has been made. There are a wide variety of factors contributing to excess deaths. It is likely that a combination of factors has contributed to excess deaths over the last 12 months, including high flu prevalence, cold weather, the ongoing challenges of COVID-19 and health conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.
The number of deaths in ambulances waiting outside hospitals is not collected centrally.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the findings in the article by Guest, J. et.al entitled Modelling the annual NHS costs and outcomes attributable to healthcare-associated infections in England, published in the British medical journal on 22 January 2020, on (a) the cost to the NHS, (b) the number of patient deaths, (c) the number of occupied hospital bed days and (d) days of absenteeism by health and care professionals due to hospital-acquired infections.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Government is aware of the findings in the article by Guest, J. et al. 'Modelling the annual NHS costs and outcomes attributable to healthcare-associated infections in England'. Estimates of the cost to the National Health Service, the number of patient deaths, the number of occupied hospital bed days and days of absenteeism by health and care professionals due to healthcare-associated infections are welcome and inform the Government’s assessment of the cost-effectiveness of policy options.
The UK Health Security Agency monitors the numbers of certain infections that occur in healthcare settings through routine surveillance programmes and advises on how to prevent and control infection in establishments such as hospitals, care homes and schools.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much the Government has spent on developing community services for autistic people and people with learning disabilities since (a) the publication of the Building the Right Support National Plan in 2015 and (b) the Care Quality Commission’s report on Winterbourne View in 2011.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The information requested is not held centrally in the format requested.
The following table shows NHS England’s national investment since 2019/20 to support the NHS Long Term Plan commitments for people with a learning disability and autistic people. These include the development of community health services which will help people to live in the community, help prevent people going into mental health hospitals and support timely discharge.
| 2019/20 budget | 2020/21 budget | 2021/22 budget | 2022/23 budget |
Community services | £17 million | £20 million | £62 million | £51 million |
Children and young people keyworkers | £0 million | £3 million | £14 million | £29 million |
Source: NHS England
Note: Community Services includes:
- Community development Care (Education);
- Treatment Reviews Learning from Lives and Deaths – people with a learning disability and autistic people (LeDeR); and
- Diagnostic pathway for autistic children and young people.
The following table shows the national Funding Transfer Agreement (FTA) funding which supports the discharge of long stay patients into the community.
| 2019/20 budget | 2020/21 budget | 2021/22 budget | 2022/23 budget |
FTA funding | £80 million | £83 million | £84 million | £84 million |
Source: NHS England
The Building the Right Support Delivery Board has set up a task and finish group to look at how to improve national oversight of NHS and local authority spend related to Building the Right Support.