Every parliamentary written question tabled by Ben Goldsborough this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 81–96 of 96 · Ministry of Justice
How many people were serving life sentences for second listed offences in prisons in England and Wales on 30 June 2024.
Information that would enable us to answer this question robustly is not collated centrally and to obtain it would involve a manual interrogation of courts and prison records which would result in a disproportionate cost to the Department.
How many people serving life sentences for second listed offences in prisons in England and Wales on 30 June 2024 were sentenced (a) on or before 9 November 2000, (b) between 9 November 2000 and 4 April 2005 and
Information that would enable us to answer this question robustly is not collated centrally and to obtain it would involve a manual interrogation of courts and prison records which would result in a disproportionate cost to the Department.
How many people serving life sentences for second listed offences in prisons in England and Wales on 30 June 2024 (a) were serving a recall and (b) have never been released.
Information that would enable us to answer this question robustly is not collated centrally and to obtain it would involve a manual interrogation of courts and prison records which would result in a disproportionate cost to the Department.
If her Department will review the effectiveness of the single justice procedure.
The Single Justice Procedure is an important part of ensuring cases can be heard swiftly within the magistrates' courts.We are aware of the criticism of aspects of the process and are looking at ways to improve the process to ensure the Single Justice Pro...
How many offenders (a) started and (b) completed Prison Education Service (i) catering and (ii) construction apprenticeships in 2023.
The ability of prisoners to undertake apprenticeships was introduced in October 2022.Apprenticeships for prisoners are primarily undertaken by prisoners eligible to be released on temporary licence, where they start their employment and training in the community and fully complete the apprenticeship after release.No prisoners started or completed a catering or construction apprenticeship in 2023. One apprentice started a Commis Chef Level 2 apprenticeship in November 2022 and completed their apprenticeship in April 2024 after release.Three prisoners have started apprenticeships in the catering industry this year including one in a closed prison, where we are trialling the potential of prisoners in the closed estate to also undertake apprenticeships.Apprenticeships are one part of the current employment and training offer. We are developing plans to support prisons to link with more employers and the voluntary sector to increase the number of ex-offenders in employment.
With reference to the press release entitled New Prison Education Service to cut crime, published on 29 September 2023, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of giving prison governors in five prisons increased freedom to organise education, skills and work programmes in their prisons.
Under the current Prison Education Framework, prison governors have the freedom to design and organise delivery of education, skills and work in their prisons. This is further enabled through the Dynamic Purchasing System, which allows for the commissioning of courses in accordance with local learner need. Governor freedoms over education, skills and work will continue under the new Prisoner Education Service. Heads of Education, Skills and Work have already been introduced in all prisons to ensure Governors have the specialist knowledge and skills to maximise impact of these freedoms.Work to increase governor freedoms in five jails was paused earlier this year to ensure successful delivery of the new Prisoner Education Service. Once this is fully mobilised in 2025, consideration of localised provision of education, skills and work will be explored further.
How many and what proportion of prisoners found work within six months of their release in each year since 2010.
We know that finding employment in the year after release makes offenders less likely to reoffend, by up to nine percentage points. Getting ex-offenders into work is critical to the Government’s work to break the cycle of reoffending. That is why in our manifesto, this Government committed to improve access to purposeful activity, including learning, and to support prisons to link with employers and the voluntary sector to support ex-offenders into work. Information on the number and proportion of prison leavers employed at 6 months post release is available from April 2020. The most recent figures were published on 25 July 2024 in the Offender Employment Outcomes Update to March 2024 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-employment-outcomes-update-to-march-2024. The proportion of prison leavers in jobs within six months of their release more than doubled across the past three performance years, from 14% in 2020/21 to 31% in 2023/24.
What assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Prison Education Service for (a) increasing literacy, (b) reducing reoffending and (c) increasing employment opportunities for ex-offenders.
There is good evidence relating to the positive impact of prison education and we continue to carry out evaluation and work to link data to better understand outcomes for prison learners. Literacy provision is a significant element of the current education offer, with all prisons offering functional skills qualifications in Literacy from Entry Level to Level 2. From 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023, the number of prison learners participating in a functional skills course (English and maths) increased by 71%, from 16,866 to 28,832. Prisoners achieving a full or partial grade increased by 80% from 10,755 to 19,329. There is good evidence that participation in any form of in-prison education reduces reoffending by up to 9 percentage points. Research from 2018 also showed that learners were significantly more likely to be in P45 employment one year from release, than non-learners (by 1.8 percentage points). We are continuing to evaluate education initiatives such as the recent Literacy Innovation Fund and Future Skills Projects to add to our knowledge of what works. To further build understanding, the Better Outcomes through Linked Data programme is developing the quantitative evidence base with the aim of understanding the role of different types of prison education in contributing to positive employment outcomes.
How many offenders have taken part in the Future Skills programme; and in which sectors they were trained.
The Future Skills Programme is live in 23 prisons, with training being delivered across a range of sectors including construction, warehousing, hospitality, and third sector case work. The programme will run until March 2025 and is being monitored and evaluated. The requested information will be published as part of the evaluation which is anticipated to be available on GOV.UK by summer 2025.
How many and what proportion of prisons have neurodiversity support managers.
All public prisons have successfully recruited a Neurodiversity Support Manager. All private prisons have also recruited Neurodiversity Support Managers, unless they already held equivalent neurodiversity specialisms and expertise. Due to natural role attrition, as of 29 July 2024, there are 116 Neurodiversity Support Managers in post across the 124 prisons in England and Wales.
How many single justice procedure notices issued by local authorities for truancy relating to a child (a) with and (b) without special educational needs have been prosecuted in each of the last five years.
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of prosecutions for truancy offences, however, information held centrally does not include whether the prosecution was processed through the Single Justice Procedure, or if the offence related to a child with or without special educational needs. This information may be held on court records, but to examine individual court records would be of disproportionate cost.
If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing single justice procedure hearings to be observable by accredited journalists.
Single Justice Procedure (SJP) cases are decided by a single magistrate, with support of a legal adviser, in private rather than in a hearing in open court. This means that cases can be dealt with by courts anywhere in the country and are therefore not scheduled in the same way as conventional cases in court proceedings. As a result of this, these cases can be decided quickly and are often used to fill gaps between in person hearings and so enable efficient use of magistrates’ court capacity and time. Magistrates have the ability to refer cases to open court if they feel it would be appropriate. Although journalists cannot observe magistrates deciding individual SJP cases, there is already more information published on SJP cases than cases heard in open court. This allows scrutiny from journalists, who can request additional information on cases under the Criminal Procedure Rules. Under a protocol agreed between HMCTS and media organisations, magistrates’ courts must provide lists of both pending cases and copies of the court register to local media. This includes SJP cases. The protocol also outlines what documents relating to SJP cases can be provided to the media – unlike any other case type, this includes a copy of the prosecution statement of facts or, if there is no statement of facts, the witness statement(s) and any defence representations in mitigation. We will keep the procedure under review.
How much her Department has spent on training relating to the single justice procedure for (a) magistrates and (b) legal advisers in each of the last five years.
The Ministry of Justice is not responsible for judicial training, which is the responsibility of the Judicial College.
How many women were taken into immediate custody from (a) Crown courts and (b) magistrates courts for sentences of (i) less than and (ii) more than six months for each offence classification in each police force area in England and Wales in 2022-23.
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of custodial sentences issued at criminal courts in England and Wales. This includes breakdowns by sex, sentence length, offence group and police force area, and therefore the information requested can be obtained from the following published data:Magistrates’ courts: Magistrates' court data toolCrown Court: Crown Court data tool
How many women sentenced to (a) less than and (b) more than six months were taken into immediate custody from each (i) magistrates and (ii) Crown court in East Anglia in 2022-23; and what the offence classification was in each of those cases.
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of custodial sentences issued at criminal courts in England and Wales. This includes breakdowns by sex, sentence length, offence group and police force area:- Magistrates’ courts: Magistrates' court data tool- Crown Court: Crown Court data toolHowever, this published data does not include breakdowns by individual courts. Therefore, the information requested for magistrates’ courts has been provided in table 1 (broken down by Local Justice Area) and for Crown Court centres in table 2, both attached. The figures provided in these tables relate to criminal courts located in the police force areas of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk only, as an approximation to East Anglia.
How many adult men with no previous convictions were taken into immediate custody from (a) Crown and (b) magistrates courts for sentences of (i) below six months and (ii) six months and over in each police force area in England and Wales in 2022-23; and what the offence classification was in each of those cases.
Information on the numbers of adult men with no previous convictions who were taken into immediate custody from the Crown Courts and the Magistrates courts for sentences of below six months, and six months and over, are provided below. It is not possible to provide breakdowns by police force area because, due to low numbers, this would risk identification of the individuals concerned. Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for our independent courts, taking into account the circumstances of each case.Number of adult(1) male offenders with no previous convictions(2) sentenced to immediate custody by court type(3), sentence length(4)(5), and offence type; England and Wales(6), 2022-23(7): Offence type8Crown CourtMagistrates CourtLess than 6 months6 months or moreLess than 6 months6 months or moreViolence against the person319506940Sexual offences161,3472332Robbery111805Theft Offences111739718Criminal damage and arson32223Drug offences711,9801887Possession of weapons12848131Public order offences1197288Miscellaneous crimes against society574295027Fraud offences510973Summary offences excluding motoring22161617Summary motoring offences12541All offences2415,327590262 Source: Ministry of Justice extract of the Police National Computer(9) Notes:1) Aged 18 or over at time of sentence.2) Counting the number of male offenders who were convicted in court for the first time.3) Includes crown and magistrates’ courts cases, where this information is recorded on the PNC.4) 6 months has been assumed to be 180 days.5) Excludes cases where the sentence length is not known.6) England and Wales include all 43 police force areas plus the British Transport Police.7) Includes financial year beginning April 2022 to March 2023.8) For more detailed information on the offences included in each classification see the Offence Group Classifications file at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-20239) 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.