Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to ensure that victims are (a) informed and (b) consulted about offenders who partake in chemical suppression programmes.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Medication to Manage Problematic Sexual Arousal (MMPSA) is a pharmaceutical intervention for offenders with ongoing clinical needs who may continue to pose a risk of harm to others because their sexual offending behaviour is driven by obsessive thoughts about sex and display compulsive sexual behaviour.
As MMPSA is a medication prescribed by clinicians according to the health needs of individuals, it would be inappropriate to share personal medical information on treatment with victims in accordance with medical confidentiality.
Eligible victims, including those of serious sexual offences, are supported through the Victim Contact Scheme where Victim Liaison Officers will offer tailored guidance, keep victims informed where appropriate, and help them navigate the parole process. Victims are entitled to measures such as being able to request a summary of a Parole Boards decision, and request additional conditions to an offender’s license in relation to themselves. These services are designed to ensure victims feel heard and supported, while also helping to maintain trust in the system.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisons in the North West the expanded pilot for the use of medication to manage problematic sexual arousal for sex offenders will operate in; what criteria he will use to select those prisons; and how many offenders will participate.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
As the Deputy Prime Minister announced on 16 September, the innovative feasibility pilot of Medication to Manage Problematic Sexual Arousal for sex offenders will be expanded to two new regions – the North West and North East of England. This will extend the service across to twenty prisons in three regions, up from the current four in the South West pilot.
Work is underway to establish these pilot services, which will include utilising learnings from the South West, to inform the appropriate prisons to begin the rollout in the North West. This will be based on relevant factors such as prison population composition and existing treatment pathways in place. This will allow us to expand the number of offenders eligible to receive this intervention, subject to clinical need, and determine which specific prisons will be part of the rollout.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to update the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
This government has recently reviewed and made significant changes to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 amended the ROA to significantly reduce the length of time that someone needs to disclose most criminal records. These reforms will improve access to employment, which we know is a key factor in supporting rehabilitation and enabling former offenders to reintegrate into the community. Serious violent, sexual, or terrorist offences are excluded from these changes and continue to never be spent.
Where a person has a conviction disclosed, we are clear that this should not be an automatic bar to employment. Our guidance for employers states that they should make a balanced judgment on whether someone’s convictions make them unsuitable for a particular job. This should take into account the person’s age at the time of the offence, how long ago it took place, the nature of the offence and its relevance to the position in question, among other factors.
The ROA is kept under review. There are no current plans to make further changes, but please see further the answer I gave on 4 April to Question HL3362.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, excluding sexual or violent offences, under what circumstances can someone subject to an Imprisonment for Public Protection sentence who has completed their license period have earlier, minor offences dropped from their record.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (the ROA) sets out when an offender is considered to be ‘rehabilitated’ for the purposes of the Act and the relevant rehabilitation periods for cautions and convictions (also referred to as when a caution or a conviction become ‘spent’). This does not mean that an offence is dropped from their record, rather that the offender only needs to disclose the spent caution or conviction in some circumstances.
The ROA also provides that where a person commits another offence before the first has become spent, then the rehabilitation periods for all sentences are extended to the longest period. This is set out in section 6 of the ROA and referred to as ‘the drag on effect’. The ROA sets out that Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) and Detention for Public Protection (DPP) sentences are excluded from rehabilitation and therefore can never become spent, regardless of whether the licence is terminated or not.
A conviction imposed on an offender before a sentence of IPP will not be spent if, at the time the IPP or DPP was imposed, the sentence for that conviction was still in its rehabilitation period. However, any sentence which is not excluded from rehabilitation, and is received after an IPP or DPP sentence is imposed, will become spent in respect of the usual rehabilitation periods set out in section 5 and 6 of the ROA.
The ROA is kept under review but there are no plans to make further changes at this time.
Asked by: Lord Brennan of Canton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment his Department has made of the efficacy of its data collection systems in regard to victims.
Answered by Laura Farris
There are two main services for victims, the Domestic Abuse Safety Officer Service and the Victim Contact Scheme.
The Probation Service runs the Victim Contact Scheme (VCS) for victims of offenders convicted of serious violent or sexual offences, who are sentenced to twelve months or more imprisonment. It has carried out changes in 2021 to ensure efficacy of its systems in relation to data collection to support the Victims’ Code of Practice.
There is also ongoing work to develop a set of national performance measures which can be used to measure the impact of the scheme and inform future development and decision making.
A change to the referral process in 2021, outlined in the Victims’ Code of Practice, now directs that victim’s contact details are automatically sent to Probation Service Victim Contact Units. These details are then recorded on the Probation Service Victim Contact Management System. This ensures timely offers of the VCS to victims, allowing them the choice of whether or not to engage in the scheme. To ensure the receipt of referrals, Probation staff also run reports from court and probation systems to ensure the receipt of qualifying cases. Figures from the Victim Satisfaction Survey linked to the scheme continues to show positive satisfaction of above 80% from victims who engage in the scheme.
To date, there has been no evaluation of the effectiveness of the Domestic Abuse Safety Officer service. This is a service that is offered to all victims and new partners of people attending Probation Service-run domestic abuse rehabilitation programmes. In July 2023, a national case management database was launched. This is a robust system, which enabled efficient collation, monitoring, and analysis of victim data. There is ongoing work to develop a set of national performance measures which can be used to measure the impact of the scheme and inform future development and decision making.
Furthermore, in September 2023, the new digital service to apply for criminal injuries compensation was made available to 100% of applicants. The number of questions asked as part of applying for compensation was reduced where possible - by 20-30% on some application journeys - compared to the older service we replaced.
This approach was supported by user research and trauma-informed practice, to ensure the data we are collecting is proportionate and required to enable the decision-making process - for example, we removed the mandatory need for victims to describe the nature of the incident as part of the application process, to reduce the risk of re-traumatisation.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference his Oral Statement of 16 October 2023 on Prison Capacity, Official Report, column 68, whether he (a) has had and (b) plans to have discussions with the Parole Board on the process for reviewing sentences of imprisonment for public protection; how such cases will be prioritised for review; and what consideration will be given to length of sentence served.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The Government’s view is that retrospectively changing the sentence of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) which was lawfully passed would give rise to unacceptable risks to the public protection. It would inevitably result in the release of many offenders who have committed serious sexual or violent offences, where the Parole Board has not assessed them as safe to be released.
However, it remains a priority for the His Majesty’s Government that all those serving the IPP sentence receive the support which they need to progress towards safe release from custody or, where they are being supervised on licence in the community, towards having their licence terminated altogether. In that respect, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Justice, advised in his statement to this House on 16 October that he would be looking at options to curtail the licence period to restore greater proportionality to IPP sentences in line with recommendation 8 of the report by the Justice Select Committee’ (JSC) report, published on 28 September 2022. He will come back to the House on that in due course.
In the meantime, the Government continues to focus on the rehabilitation of IPP prisoners through a refreshed and updated Action Plan, published on 26 April 2023 as a response to the JSC’s report. The Plan provides a renewed focus on supporting those serving IPP sentences in both custody and the community, by ensuring that each prisoner has a robust and effective sentence plan, tailored to their individual needs, by to supporting those in the community on licence to comply with their conditions.
The independent Parole Board is responsible for considering whether prisoners serving indeterminate sentences are suitable for release following a referral of the prisoner’s case by the Secretary of State.
The priority given when listing cases for a review is a matter for the Parole Board which is independent of Government. The Lord Chancellor does, however, maintain regular engagement with the Parole Board to ensure that the parole process continues to be effectively managed and that HMPPS is accurately sharing information with the Parole Board in a timely manner.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference his Oral Statement of 16 October 2023 on Prison Capacity, Official Report, column 68, if he will take steps to ensure that all sentences of imprisonment for public protection are reviewed in the next 12 months.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The Government’s view is that retrospectively changing the sentence of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) which was lawfully passed would give rise to unacceptable risks to the public protection. It would inevitably result in the release of many offenders who have committed serious sexual or violent offences, where the Parole Board has not assessed them as safe to be released.
However, it remains a priority for the His Majesty’s Government that all those serving the IPP sentence receive the support which they need to progress towards safe release from custody or, where they are being supervised on licence in the community, towards having their licence terminated altogether. In that respect, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Justice, advised in his statement to this House on 16 October that he would be looking at options to curtail the licence period to restore greater proportionality to IPP sentences in line with recommendation 8 of the report by the Justice Select Committee’ (JSC) report, published on 28 September 2022. He will come back to the House on that in due course.
In the meantime, the Government continues to focus on the rehabilitation of IPP prisoners through a refreshed and updated Action Plan, published on 26 April 2023 as a response to the JSC’s report. The Plan provides a renewed focus on supporting those serving IPP sentences in both custody and the community, by ensuring that each prisoner has a robust and effective sentence plan, tailored to their individual needs, by to supporting those in the community on licence to comply with their conditions.
The independent Parole Board is responsible for considering whether prisoners serving indeterminate sentences are suitable for release following a referral of the prisoner’s case by the Secretary of State.
The priority given when listing cases for a review is a matter for the Parole Board which is independent of Government. The Lord Chancellor does, however, maintain regular engagement with the Parole Board to ensure that the parole process continues to be effectively managed and that HMPPS is accurately sharing information with the Parole Board in a timely manner.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and East Dulwich)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much the Probation Service spent on running specialist sex offender units in each of the last five years.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Each probation region has a sexual offending unit, the purpose of which is to deliver accredited sexual offending programmes. Therefore, PQ156218 and PQ156220 are asking the same question, as it is the role of those specialist units to deliver the programmes. HMPPS does not disaggregate spend on sexual offending programmes from the overall spend on all its programme delivery therefore we are not able to provide the data requested.
In relation to PQ156219, all probation practitioners are trained to assess and address offending behaviour. Responsibility for the risk management and rehabilitation of people convicted of sexual offences is allocated to appropriately trained probation staff.
Trainee probation officers receive specialised input on their course in working with this cohort, and we have introduced an advanced training course for relevant experienced staff to help them develop and maintain their skills in their work with those convicted of sexual offences. In addition, 193 probation staff nationally are trained to run the accredited sexual offending programmes.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and East Dulwich)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many staff in the Probation Service are trained specialists in sexual offending.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Each probation region has a sexual offending unit, the purpose of which is to deliver accredited sexual offending programmes. Therefore, PQ156218 and PQ156220 are asking the same question, as it is the role of those specialist units to deliver the programmes. HMPPS does not disaggregate spend on sexual offending programmes from the overall spend on all its programme delivery therefore we are not able to provide the data requested.
In relation to PQ156219, all probation practitioners are trained to assess and address offending behaviour. Responsibility for the risk management and rehabilitation of people convicted of sexual offences is allocated to appropriately trained probation staff.
Trainee probation officers receive specialised input on their course in working with this cohort, and we have introduced an advanced training course for relevant experienced staff to help them develop and maintain their skills in their work with those convicted of sexual offences. In addition, 193 probation staff nationally are trained to run the accredited sexual offending programmes.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and East Dulwich)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much the Probation Service has spent on programmes for sex offenders in each of the last five years.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Each probation region has a sexual offending unit, the purpose of which is to deliver accredited sexual offending programmes. Therefore, PQ156218 and PQ156220 are asking the same question, as it is the role of those specialist units to deliver the programmes. HMPPS does not disaggregate spend on sexual offending programmes from the overall spend on all its programme delivery therefore we are not able to provide the data requested.
In relation to PQ156219, all probation practitioners are trained to assess and address offending behaviour. Responsibility for the risk management and rehabilitation of people convicted of sexual offences is allocated to appropriately trained probation staff.
Trainee probation officers receive specialised input on their course in working with this cohort, and we have introduced an advanced training course for relevant experienced staff to help them develop and maintain their skills in their work with those convicted of sexual offences. In addition, 193 probation staff nationally are trained to run the accredited sexual offending programmes.