Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many deaths have been recorded at HMP Wandsworth since 30 June 2023.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Deaths recorded by prison are published as part of our Safety in Custody statistics, updated quarterly, and available in the Deaths Data Tool at the following link: Safety in custody: quarterly update to September 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Please note that deaths at Wandsworth are currently published from 30 June 2023 – end of December 2023. Figures to the end of March 2024 are not due for publication until April 2024 and cannot be released at this time.
Deaths in prison custody figures include all deaths of prisoners arising from incidents during prison custody. They include deaths of prisoners while released on temporary license (ROTL) for medical reasons but exclude other types of ROTL where the state has less direct responsibility.
In addition to deaths in prison custody which occur in hospitals, hospices or nursing homes, a small proportion will occur while in an ambulance on the way to hospital, while the prisoner is under escort.
Every death in custody is a tragedy and we continue to do all we can to improve the safety of prisoners.
We have implemented a revised version of the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) case management approach across the prison estate. Revisions in ACCT v6 include a stronger emphasis on taking a person-centred approach; better multi-disciplinary team working; a consistent quality assurance process and an improved focus on identifying and addressing an individual’s risks, triggers and protective factors.
We are implementing a new safety training package for staff. It brings together related safety topics, including suicide and self-harm prevention and understanding risks, triggers and protective factors.
We fund Samaritans through a grant providing total funding of just under £2 million between 2022 and 2025. This is primarily for the delivery of the Listener scheme (through which selected prisoners are trained to provide support to fellow prisoners in emotional distress).
We have also worked with Samaritans to develop a postvention response to providing support in the period following a self-inflicted death in order to reduce the risk of further deaths. This has been successfully piloted and the renewed grant includes funding for this service to be maintained until March 2025.
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 (1) took their own life, or (2) died from other causes, in 2023.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Every death in custody is a tragedy and we continue to do all we can to improve the safety of prisoners
We have implemented a revised version of the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) case management approach across the prison estate which is used to support people at risk of suicide or self-harm in prison. Revisions in ACCT v6 include: a stronger emphasis on taking a person-centred approach; better multi-disciplinary team working; a consistent quality assurance process and an improved focus on identifying and addressing an individual’s risks, triggers and protective factors.
To support the implementation of ACCT v6 we are developing and introducing a new safety training package for staff (called Safety Support Skills training). It brings together related safety topics, including suicide and self-harm prevention, understanding risks, triggers and protective factors, and encourages a joined-up approach to prison safety.
We have also worked with Samaritans to develop a postvention response to providing support in the period following a self-inflicted death in order to reduce the risk of further deaths. This has been implemented across the adult male estate, and the roll out of an adapted version of the approach in the women’s estate will shortly be completed. Our grant to Samaritans includes funding for this service to be maintained until March 2025.
In 2023, 17 prisoners serving an imprisonment for public protection sentence died in custody, 9 of these were classified as self-inflicted deaths.
(1) Deaths in prison custody figures include all deaths of prisoners arising from incidents during prison custody. They include deaths of prisoners while released on temporary license (ROTL) for medical reasons but exclude other types of ROTL where the state has less direct responsibility.
(2) An indeterminate sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) was introduced in 2005. It was intended for high risk prisoners considered ‘dangerous’ but whose offence did not merit a life sentence. The number of prisoners held on this sentence increased initially and the increase was offset by reductions elsewhere
(3) Figures include incidents at HMPPS run Immigration Removal Centres and during contracted out escorts. Figures do not include incidents at Medway STC
(4) The self-inflicted deaths category includes a wider range of deaths than suicides. When comparing figures with other sources it is important to determine whether the narrower suicide or broader self-inflicted deaths approach is in use.
Data Sources and Quality
These 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.
Please note that all deaths in prison custody are subject to a coroner’s inquest. It is the responsibility of the coroner to determine the cause of death. The HMPPS system for classifying deaths provides a provisional classification for administrative and statistical purposes. The final classification is only determined at inquest. Figures dependent on classification of deaths should therefore be treated as provisional.
It remains a priority for this Government that all those serving the IPP sentence receive the support 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, the Lord Chancellor, announced on 28 November 2023, this Government is taking changes forward in the Victims and Prisoners Bill to reform legislation relating to the termination of the licence for IPP offenders by making amendments to section 31A of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997.
The new measure, subject to the views of Parliament, will:
a. reduce the qualifying period which triggers the duty of the Secretary of State to refer an IPP licence to the Parole Board for termination from ten years to three years;
b. include a clear statutory presumption that the IPP licence will be terminated by the Parole Board at the end of the three-year qualifying period;
c. introduce a provision that will automatically terminate the IPP licence two years after the three-year qualifying period, in cases where the Parole Board has not terminated the licence, so long as the offender is not recalled in that period; and
d. introduce a power to amend the qualifying period by Statutory Instrument;
The Government was particularly persuaded by the Justice Select Committee’s (JSC) recommendation to reduce the qualifying licence period from 10 years to five years – a recommendation in their IPP inquiry report published on 28 September 2022. We are going further: reducing the period to three years. These amendments will restore greater proportionality to IPP sentences by reducing the qualifying period to three years and providing a clear pathway to a definitive end to the licence and, therefore, the sentence.
The safety workstream will actively support Prisons to deliver improvements to safety of those serving an IPP sentence. We plan to;
• Continue to raise staff awareness of the heightened risk of self-harm, suicide and violence of IPP prisoners.
• Monitor, analyse and share any changing or emerging trends in published IPP prisoner data to inform and update guidance where appropriate
• Share internal and external learning, initiatives and communications to inform and enable prisons to support IPP prisoners at risk of self-harm, suicide and violence.
• Develop and pilot a IPP safety toolkit, based on positive practice, to support prisons to improve their approach to IPP prisoners and encourage local innovation.
Asked by: Lord Harries of Pentregarth (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the number of suicides in prison.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Every death in custody is a tragedy and we continue to do all we can to improve the safety of prisoners.
We know that relationships between staff and prisoners plays an important role in preventing self-inflicted deaths in prisons and that is why we have announced additional investment in our workforce. As of 30 September 2023, there were 23,058 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Band 3-5 prison officers in post, an increase of 1,441 FTE since 30 September 2022. This means staff can provide more support for prisoners and better monitor the risk of harm. In addition to recruiting new officers, we are developing and phasing in a new safety training package for staff. It brings together information on related safety topics, including suicide and self-harm prevention, understanding risks, triggers and protective factors. This training is complemented by a revised version of the case management approach used in prisons to support people at risk of suicide or self-harm.
We will continue to fund the Samaritans (£625,000 each year until March 2025) to deliver the Listener scheme where prisoners are trained to provide emotional support to each other. We have also worked with the Samaritans to design an additional support service for prisons in the period following a self-inflicted death, with the aim of reducing the risk of further deaths.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what work is being done in prisons to identify victims of Foetal Alcohol Syndrome; and what steps they are taking to introduce appropriate management and treatment regimes for those prisoners identified.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
All people in prison receive an early health assessment through a reception screening process. Every person receives a first and second stage health assessment, which incorporates a mental health screening in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines. This screening includes questions and actions relating to their risk of self-harm and/or suicide, learning disabilities and neurodevelopmental disorders.
For women who are pregnant and in prison, a full health assessment is undertaken. Any risks, such as alcohol dependency which could lead to foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), should be monitored and managed by the healthcare team, including midwife support. Currently there is no specific treatment for FASD, but where a baby is at risk of FASD, this will form part of the birth plan with the hospital.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) suicides and (b) attempted suicides that have taken place in prisons in (i) 2019, (ii) 2020, (iii) 2021 and (iv) 2022.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The data on self-inflicted deaths is recorded in our published Safety in Custody Statistics.
The number and rates of self-inflicted deaths across the estate in the 12 months to March 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 is published in the Safety in Custody Summary table which can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1153227/Safety-in-custody-summary-q4-2022-final-tables.xlsx.
We do not produce official statistics on suicides. Self-inflicted deaths are any death of a person who has apparently taken his or her own life irrespective of intent. This not only includes suicides but also accidental deaths as a result of the person’s own actions. This classification is used because it is not always known whether a person intended to take their own life.
We are unable to answer the question on attempted suicide as we do not record this data.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish a breakdown of the number of Serious Further Offence convictions by (a) the type of index sentence and (b) offence type in each year since 2010.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Figures on the number of serious further offence notifications that have resulted in a conviction for 2021/22 will be published in October 2023. Figures will be accessible using the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/proven-reoffending-statistics
Figures are published based on the date of SFO notification (charge) to HMPPS. The lag between the date of publication and the conviction figures is to allow time for most cases to complete the criminal justice process.
In respect of the number of serious further offence convictions by offence type and region in each year since 2010, I refer the honourable Member for Croydon North (Steve Reed) to the answers I gave on 20 January 2023 to Question UIN 125451 and on 3 February 2023 to Question UIN 132490.
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-01-17/125451
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-01-25/132490
The table below sets out the total number of notifications – that is, where an offender subject to probation supervision has been charged with a qualifying serious further offence (SFO) – which resulted in a conviction for an SFO, by index sentence, for notifications submitted to NOMS/HMPPS between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2014.
The latest figures for 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2021 were published in October 2022 and can be found in in Table 2 of the ‘Serious Further Offence Annual Tables’ which can be accessed by the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/proven-reoffending-statistics-october-to-december-2020
Index Sentence | 2009/10 | 2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 |
Community Supervision | 205 | 153 | 151 | 151 | 147 |
Determinate Prison Sentence | 102 | 100 | 100 | 118 | 116 |
Life Licence | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
IPP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Total | 313 | 257 | 253 | 270 | 275 |
1. Time period for conviction data relates to the date of SFO notification to HMPPS not the date of conviction.
2. Index sentence refers to the sentencing disposal imposed by the court which led to probation services supervision of the offender
3. The data only includes convictions for serious further offences that have been notified to the national SFO Team, HMPPS.
4. The data provided are provisional subject to change when any outstanding cases are concluded at court.
5. Conviction data also includes cases where the offender committed suicide or died prior to the trial, where the judicial process concluded that they were responsible.
6. The data for April 2010 to March 2014 has been updated and may differ to the original publication due to data cleansing, re-categorising and re-grouping.
7. Data Sources and Quality. We have drawn these figures from administrative IT systems which, as with some large-scale recording systems, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
8. A basic SFO scheme was introduced in 2003 but data was not captured accurately. An electronic case management system was introduced in 2009/10, which recorded all SFOs referred to the central SFO Review Team, but even then, it was a couple of years since we had assurance that local areas were referring all SFO cases to the SFO Review Team to be recorded on the case management system.
9. The list of offences that qualify as SFOs has changed since 2009.
In respect of the number of serious further offence convictions by index sentence and offence type in each year since 2010, I refer the honourable Member for Croydon North (Steve Reed) to the answers I have given to Questions UIN 185282 and 185281.
The Ministry of Justice publishes the number of offenders convicted of a serious further offence but do not expect to publish the names, due to the personal nature of the information. Personal data relating to offenders can only be released if to do so would not contravene any of the principles set out in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018.
Serious further offences are incredibly rare, with fewer than 0.5% of offenders supervised by the Probation Service going on to commit serious further offences but each one is investigated fully so we can take action where necessary. We have also injected extra funding of more than £155 million a year into the Probation Service to deliver tougher supervision, reduce caseloads and recruit thousands more staff to keep the public safer.
On Wednesday 29 March 2023, we announced the introduction of the Victims and Prisoners Bill. As part of this, Ministers will be given the power to veto the release of the most dangerous offenders, including murderers, rapists and terrorists - putting public protection back as the overriding focus of the parole process. The Bill will also legislate for a new release test for the Parole Board making it clear that public safety is the only priority when making release decisions – to stop a balancing exercise taking into account prisoners’ rights.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish a breakdown of the number of serious further offence convictions by the type of index sentence in each year since 2010.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Figures on the number of serious further offence notifications that have resulted in a conviction for 2021/22 will be published in October 2023. Figures will be accessible using the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/proven-reoffending-statistics
Figures are published based on the date of SFO notification (charge) to HMPPS. The lag between the date of publication and the conviction figures is to allow time for most cases to complete the criminal justice process.
In respect of the number of serious further offence convictions by offence type and region in each year since 2010, I refer the honourable Member for Croydon North (Steve Reed) to the answers I gave on 20 January 2023 to Question UIN 125451 and on 3 February 2023 to Question UIN 132490.
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-01-17/125451
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-01-25/132490
The table below sets out the total number of notifications – that is, where an offender subject to probation supervision has been charged with a qualifying serious further offence (SFO) – which resulted in a conviction for an SFO, by index sentence, for notifications submitted to NOMS/HMPPS between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2014.
The latest figures for 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2021 were published in October 2022 and can be found in in Table 2 of the ‘Serious Further Offence Annual Tables’ which can be accessed by the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/proven-reoffending-statistics-october-to-december-2020
Index Sentence | 2009/10 | 2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 |
Community Supervision | 205 | 153 | 151 | 151 | 147 |
Determinate Prison Sentence | 102 | 100 | 100 | 118 | 116 |
Life Licence | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
IPP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Total | 313 | 257 | 253 | 270 | 275 |
1. Time period for conviction data relates to the date of SFO notification to HMPPS not the date of conviction.
2. Index sentence refers to the sentencing disposal imposed by the court which led to probation services supervision of the offender
3. The data only includes convictions for serious further offences that have been notified to the national SFO Team, HMPPS.
4. The data provided are provisional subject to change when any outstanding cases are concluded at court.
5. Conviction data also includes cases where the offender committed suicide or died prior to the trial, where the judicial process concluded that they were responsible.
6. The data for April 2010 to March 2014 has been updated and may differ to the original publication due to data cleansing, re-categorising and re-grouping.
7. Data Sources and Quality. We have drawn these figures from administrative IT systems which, as with some large-scale recording systems, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
8. A basic SFO scheme was introduced in 2003 but data was not captured accurately. An electronic case management system was introduced in 2009/10, which recorded all SFOs referred to the central SFO Review Team, but even then, it was a couple of years since we had assurance that local areas were referring all SFO cases to the SFO Review Team to be recorded on the case management system.
9. The list of offences that qualify as SFOs has changed since 2009.
In respect of the number of serious further offence convictions by index sentence and offence type in each year since 2010, I refer the honourable Member for Croydon North (Steve Reed) to the answers I have given to Questions UIN 185282 and 185281.
The Ministry of Justice publishes the number of offenders convicted of a serious further offence but do not expect to publish the names, due to the personal nature of the information. Personal data relating to offenders can only be released if to do so would not contravene any of the principles set out in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018.
Serious further offences are incredibly rare, with fewer than 0.5% of offenders supervised by the Probation Service going on to commit serious further offences but each one is investigated fully so we can take action where necessary. We have also injected extra funding of more than £155 million a year into the Probation Service to deliver tougher supervision, reduce caseloads and recruit thousands more staff to keep the public safer.
On Wednesday 29 March 2023, we announced the introduction of the Victims and Prisoners Bill. As part of this, Ministers will be given the power to veto the release of the most dangerous offenders, including murderers, rapists and terrorists - putting public protection back as the overriding focus of the parole process. The Bill will also legislate for a new release test for the Parole Board making it clear that public safety is the only priority when making release decisions – to stop a balancing exercise taking into account prisoners’ rights.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of serious further offence convictions by offence type and region in each year since 2010.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Figures on the number of serious further offence notifications that have resulted in a conviction for 2021/22 will be published in October 2023. Figures will be accessible using the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/proven-reoffending-statistics
Figures are published based on the date of SFO notification (charge) to HMPPS. The lag between the date of publication and the conviction figures is to allow time for most cases to complete the criminal justice process.
In respect of the number of serious further offence convictions by offence type and region in each year since 2010, I refer the honourable Member for Croydon North (Steve Reed) to the answers I gave on 20 January 2023 to Question UIN 125451 and on 3 February 2023 to Question UIN 132490.
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-01-17/125451
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-01-25/132490
The table below sets out the total number of notifications – that is, where an offender subject to probation supervision has been charged with a qualifying serious further offence (SFO) – which resulted in a conviction for an SFO, by index sentence, for notifications submitted to NOMS/HMPPS between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2014.
The latest figures for 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2021 were published in October 2022 and can be found in in Table 2 of the ‘Serious Further Offence Annual Tables’ which can be accessed by the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/proven-reoffending-statistics-october-to-december-2020
Index Sentence | 2009/10 | 2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 |
Community Supervision | 205 | 153 | 151 | 151 | 147 |
Determinate Prison Sentence | 102 | 100 | 100 | 118 | 116 |
Life Licence | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
IPP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Total | 313 | 257 | 253 | 270 | 275 |
1. Time period for conviction data relates to the date of SFO notification to HMPPS not the date of conviction.
2. Index sentence refers to the sentencing disposal imposed by the court which led to probation services supervision of the offender
3. The data only includes convictions for serious further offences that have been notified to the national SFO Team, HMPPS.
4. The data provided are provisional subject to change when any outstanding cases are concluded at court.
5. Conviction data also includes cases where the offender committed suicide or died prior to the trial, where the judicial process concluded that they were responsible.
6. The data for April 2010 to March 2014 has been updated and may differ to the original publication due to data cleansing, re-categorising and re-grouping.
7. Data Sources and Quality. We have drawn these figures from administrative IT systems which, as with some large-scale recording systems, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
8. A basic SFO scheme was introduced in 2003 but data was not captured accurately. An electronic case management system was introduced in 2009/10, which recorded all SFOs referred to the central SFO Review Team, but even then, it was a couple of years since we had assurance that local areas were referring all SFO cases to the SFO Review Team to be recorded on the case management system.
9. The list of offences that qualify as SFOs has changed since 2009.
In respect of the number of serious further offence convictions by index sentence and offence type in each year since 2010, I refer the honourable Member for Croydon North (Steve Reed) to the answers I have given to Questions UIN 185282 and 185281.
The Ministry of Justice publishes the number of offenders convicted of a serious further offence but do not expect to publish the names, due to the personal nature of the information. Personal data relating to offenders can only be released if to do so would not contravene any of the principles set out in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018.
Serious further offences are incredibly rare, with fewer than 0.5% of offenders supervised by the Probation Service going on to commit serious further offences but each one is investigated fully so we can take action where necessary. We have also injected extra funding of more than £155 million a year into the Probation Service to deliver tougher supervision, reduce caseloads and recruit thousands more staff to keep the public safer.
On Wednesday 29 March 2023, we announced the introduction of the Victims and Prisoners Bill. As part of this, Ministers will be given the power to veto the release of the most dangerous offenders, including murderers, rapists and terrorists - putting public protection back as the overriding focus of the parole process. The Bill will also legislate for a new release test for the Parole Board making it clear that public safety is the only priority when making release decisions – to stop a balancing exercise taking into account prisoners’ rights.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of serious further offence notifications that have resulted in a conviction in 2021-22 broken down by original offence type.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Figures on the number of serious further offence notifications that have resulted in a conviction for 2021/22 will be published in October 2023. Figures will be accessible using the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/proven-reoffending-statistics
Figures are published based on the date of SFO notification (charge) to HMPPS. The lag between the date of publication and the conviction figures is to allow time for most cases to complete the criminal justice process.
In respect of the number of serious further offence convictions by offence type and region in each year since 2010, I refer the honourable Member for Croydon North (Steve Reed) to the answers I gave on 20 January 2023 to Question UIN 125451 and on 3 February 2023 to Question UIN 132490.
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-01-17/125451
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-01-25/132490
The table below sets out the total number of notifications – that is, where an offender subject to probation supervision has been charged with a qualifying serious further offence (SFO) – which resulted in a conviction for an SFO, by index sentence, for notifications submitted to NOMS/HMPPS between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2014.
The latest figures for 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2021 were published in October 2022 and can be found in in Table 2 of the ‘Serious Further Offence Annual Tables’ which can be accessed by the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/proven-reoffending-statistics-october-to-december-2020
Index Sentence | 2009/10 | 2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 |
Community Supervision | 205 | 153 | 151 | 151 | 147 |
Determinate Prison Sentence | 102 | 100 | 100 | 118 | 116 |
Life Licence | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
IPP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Total | 313 | 257 | 253 | 270 | 275 |
1. Time period for conviction data relates to the date of SFO notification to HMPPS not the date of conviction.
2. Index sentence refers to the sentencing disposal imposed by the court which led to probation services supervision of the offender
3. The data only includes convictions for serious further offences that have been notified to the national SFO Team, HMPPS.
4. The data provided are provisional subject to change when any outstanding cases are concluded at court.
5. Conviction data also includes cases where the offender committed suicide or died prior to the trial, where the judicial process concluded that they were responsible.
6. The data for April 2010 to March 2014 has been updated and may differ to the original publication due to data cleansing, re-categorising and re-grouping.
7. Data Sources and Quality. We have drawn these figures from administrative IT systems which, as with some large-scale recording systems, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
8. A basic SFO scheme was introduced in 2003 but data was not captured accurately. An electronic case management system was introduced in 2009/10, which recorded all SFOs referred to the central SFO Review Team, but even then, it was a couple of years since we had assurance that local areas were referring all SFO cases to the SFO Review Team to be recorded on the case management system.
9. The list of offences that qualify as SFOs has changed since 2009.
In respect of the number of serious further offence convictions by index sentence and offence type in each year since 2010, I refer the honourable Member for Croydon North (Steve Reed) to the answers I have given to Questions UIN 185282 and 185281.
The Ministry of Justice publishes the number of offenders convicted of a serious further offence but do not expect to publish the names, due to the personal nature of the information. Personal data relating to offenders can only be released if to do so would not contravene any of the principles set out in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018.
Serious further offences are incredibly rare, with fewer than 0.5% of offenders supervised by the Probation Service going on to commit serious further offences but each one is investigated fully so we can take action where necessary. We have also injected extra funding of more than £155 million a year into the Probation Service to deliver tougher supervision, reduce caseloads and recruit thousands more staff to keep the public safer.
On Wednesday 29 March 2023, we announced the introduction of the Victims and Prisoners Bill. As part of this, Ministers will be given the power to veto the release of the most dangerous offenders, including murderers, rapists and terrorists - putting public protection back as the overriding focus of the parole process. The Bill will also legislate for a new release test for the Parole Board making it clear that public safety is the only priority when making release decisions – to stop a balancing exercise taking into account prisoners’ rights.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish the names of every offender who has committed a Serious Further Offence since 2010.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Figures on the number of serious further offence notifications that have resulted in a conviction for 2021/22 will be published in October 2023. Figures will be accessible using the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/proven-reoffending-statistics
Figures are published based on the date of SFO notification (charge) to HMPPS. The lag between the date of publication and the conviction figures is to allow time for most cases to complete the criminal justice process.
In respect of the number of serious further offence convictions by offence type and region in each year since 2010, I refer the honourable Member for Croydon North (Steve Reed) to the answers I gave on 20 January 2023 to Question UIN 125451 and on 3 February 2023 to Question UIN 132490.
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-01-17/125451
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-01-25/132490
The table below sets out the total number of notifications – that is, where an offender subject to probation supervision has been charged with a qualifying serious further offence (SFO) – which resulted in a conviction for an SFO, by index sentence, for notifications submitted to NOMS/HMPPS between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2014.
The latest figures for 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2021 were published in October 2022 and can be found in in Table 2 of the ‘Serious Further Offence Annual Tables’ which can be accessed by the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/proven-reoffending-statistics-october-to-december-2020
Index Sentence | 2009/10 | 2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 |
Community Supervision | 205 | 153 | 151 | 151 | 147 |
Determinate Prison Sentence | 102 | 100 | 100 | 118 | 116 |
Life Licence | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
IPP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Total | 313 | 257 | 253 | 270 | 275 |
1. Time period for conviction data relates to the date of SFO notification to HMPPS not the date of conviction.
2. Index sentence refers to the sentencing disposal imposed by the court which led to probation services supervision of the offender
3. The data only includes convictions for serious further offences that have been notified to the national SFO Team, HMPPS.
4. The data provided are provisional subject to change when any outstanding cases are concluded at court.
5. Conviction data also includes cases where the offender committed suicide or died prior to the trial, where the judicial process concluded that they were responsible.
6. The data for April 2010 to March 2014 has been updated and may differ to the original publication due to data cleansing, re-categorising and re-grouping.
7. Data Sources and Quality. We have drawn these figures from administrative IT systems which, as with some large-scale recording systems, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
8. A basic SFO scheme was introduced in 2003 but data was not captured accurately. An electronic case management system was introduced in 2009/10, which recorded all SFOs referred to the central SFO Review Team, but even then, it was a couple of years since we had assurance that local areas were referring all SFO cases to the SFO Review Team to be recorded on the case management system.
9. The list of offences that qualify as SFOs has changed since 2009.
In respect of the number of serious further offence convictions by index sentence and offence type in each year since 2010, I refer the honourable Member for Croydon North (Steve Reed) to the answers I have given to Questions UIN 185282 and 185281.
The Ministry of Justice publishes the number of offenders convicted of a serious further offence but do not expect to publish the names, due to the personal nature of the information. Personal data relating to offenders can only be released if to do so would not contravene any of the principles set out in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018.
Serious further offences are incredibly rare, with fewer than 0.5% of offenders supervised by the Probation Service going on to commit serious further offences but each one is investigated fully so we can take action where necessary. We have also injected extra funding of more than £155 million a year into the Probation Service to deliver tougher supervision, reduce caseloads and recruit thousands more staff to keep the public safer.
On Wednesday 29 March 2023, we announced the introduction of the Victims and Prisoners Bill. As part of this, Ministers will be given the power to veto the release of the most dangerous offenders, including murderers, rapists and terrorists - putting public protection back as the overriding focus of the parole process. The Bill will also legislate for a new release test for the Parole Board making it clear that public safety is the only priority when making release decisions – to stop a balancing exercise taking into account prisoners’ rights.