Every parliamentary written question tabled by Rupert Lowe this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 161–180 of 222 · Ministry of Justice
If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the operation of Sharia courts on the legal system.
I refer the honourable Member to the answer I gave on 18 December to Question 18879: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-12-10/18879.Sharia Councils are not part of the judicial system.
What the average time is for grooming-gang offences to proceed through the judicial system from initial report to final decision.
Information on timeliness through the criminal justice system is published as part of the quarterly Accredited Official Statistics series “Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly” which is available at the link provided: Criminal court statistics.Information on whether defendants dealt with are part of ‘grooming gangs’ is not centrally identified in the criminal courts data systems relevant to this question. Therefore, it is not possible to provide the specific information requested.The Government’s priority is to take action on delivering the recommendations of the final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). The Home Secretary announced that we will be bringing in mandatory reporting, making grooming an aggravating factor in CSA cases, and introducing a new performance framework for policing.
If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a review of sentencing guidelines for people convicted of grooming-gang offences.
Child sexual abuse and exploitation are the most horrific of crimes and the Government is determined to act to strengthen the law in this area. We have committed to legislate to make grooming an aggravating factor in the sentencing of child sexual offences, to ensure that this behaviour is reflected in the sentencing of perpetrators. We will also make it a mandatory duty for those working with children to report child sexual abuse – a key recommendation of Professor Alexis Jay’s report – and this will go into the Crime and Policing Bill due to be introduced to Parliament this spring.Sentencing guidelines are developed by the independent Sentencing Council for England and Wales, in fulfilment of its statutory duty to do so. The guidelines produced provide the Court with guidance on factors that should be considered, which may affect the sentence given. They set out different levels of sentence based on the harm caused and how culpable the offender is.Sentencing guidelines for child sex offences, including for the offence of meeting a child following sexual grooming, were first published by the Council in 2013. Following consultation, revised guidelines for some child sex offences were published in May 2022. As an independent body, the Council decides its own work plan and priorities.
How many of those convicted for their involvement in Pakistani heritage grooming gangs (a) are still in prison, (b) have been deported, (c) have been released back into the same community and (d) did not serve a custodial sentence.
Information on whether individuals are part of ‘Pakistani heritage grooming gangs’ is not centrally identified in the data systems relevant to these questions. Therefore, it is not possible to provide the specific information requested.It is also not possible to identify an offender’s nationality from the centrally collated convictions data. This information may be held on court records: however, to identify the nationality of people convicted of specific crimes would require the examination of individual court records. This would incur disproportionate costs.
How many and what proportion of people convicted for their involvement in Pakistani heritage grooming gangs (a) had previous convictions and (b) have reoffended.
Information on whether individuals are part of ‘Pakistani heritage grooming gangs’ is not centrally identified in the data systems relevant to these questions. Therefore, it is not possible to provide the specific information requested.It is also not possible to identify an offender’s nationality from the centrally collated convictions data. This information may be held on court records: however, to identify the nationality of people convicted of specific crimes would require the examination of individual court records. This would incur disproportionate costs.
If she will publish the nationality of people convicted for their involvement in grooming gangs.
Information on whether individuals are part of ‘Pakistani heritage grooming gangs’ is not centrally identified in the data systems relevant to these questions. Therefore, it is not possible to provide the specific information requested.It is also not possible to identify an offender’s nationality from the centrally collated convictions data. This information may be held on court records: however, to identify the nationality of people convicted of specific crimes would require the examination of individual court records. This would incur disproportionate costs.
If the Minister will make an assessment of the potential merits of immediately releasing of all court transcripts related to the Pakistani heritage grooming gangs.
The release of court transcripts to interested parties in relation to individual court cases is a matter for the trial judge to consider. There is a standard process all applicants must follow to request and access a Crown Court transcript. An application form must be submitted to the court where the trial took place, and it is then considered by the judge. The provision of transcripts is also subject to payment of the relevant charge to cover the cost of transcription. Additionally, in certain high-profile cases, the judge’s sentencing remarks are published online on judiciary.uk.
How many and what proportion of officials in her Department were hired via positive action schemes in the last financial year.
The Ministry of Justice works within the Civil Service Recruitment Principles, as regulated by the Civil Service Commission, to recruit using a fair and open process and appoint on merit. The Department will only limit a campaign to a specific group as a ...
How much the Forward Trust received from contracts in HMP (a) Maidstone, (b) Huntercombe and (c) Morton Hall in the last financial year.
In the last financial year (FY 23/24) Forward Trust has received £7,401,140 from the Department for prison contracts. Forward Trust has received £0 for contracts relating to HMP Maidstone, HMPS Huntercombe and HMP Morton Hall in the last financial year.
How many and what proportion of foreign national offenders serving prison sentences have been transferred to prison in their country of origin in each of the last five years.
The table below shows the number of foreign national offenders removed under prisoner transfer agreements in each year since 2020, including 2024 to date:202081202173202250202333202474As the number of foreign national prisoners is constantly changing, it ...
How many and what proportion of prisoners in HMP (a) Maidstone, (b) Huntercombe and (c) Morton Hall have access to mobile phones.
Prisoners are not permitted to have mobile telephones, and stringent measures are in place to prevent the entry of mobile telephones into establishments.
How much the Prison Phoenix Trust has received from her Department for (a) prison contracts and (b) contracts relating (i) HMP Maidstone, (ii) HMP Huntercombe and (iii) HMP Morton Hall in the last financial year.
In the last financial year (FY 23/24) Prison Phoenix Trust has received £54,663 from the Department for prison contracts. The Prison Phoenix Trust has received £0 for contracts relating to HMP Maidstone, HMPS Huntercombe and HMP Morton Hall in the last f...
If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing guidance on the sentencing of people committing offences on social media.
Sentencing guidelines are developed by the independent Sentencing Council for England and Wales, in fulfilment of its statutory duty to do so.The Council is independent of Parliament and Government. As an independent body, the Council decides on its own p...
Pursuant to the Answer of 4 December to Question 16095 on Reoffenders: Foreign Nations, what was the (a) total number of reoffences and (b) nationality of the five reoffenders with the highest number of reoffence
Regarding (a), the total number of reoffences for all adult foreign national offenders who received a court or custody order, I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 11 November to Question 12200.We have provided data for (b), the nationalities of...
If she will provide a breakdown of the offences inmates are serving time for in (a) HMP Maidstone, (b) HMP Huntercombe and (c) HMP Morton Hall.
To provide data on prisoners remaining in custody beyond their sentence date would require a search of individual records, which could not be done without incurring disproportionate cost.Information on interpretation and translation costs covering the tim...
How many assaults on staff there were by prisoners in HMP (a) Maidstone, (b) Huntercombe and (c) Morton Hall in each of the last five years; and what the national average was for those assaults.
Please see the below table showing the number and rate of assaults on staff in HMP (a) Maidstone, (b) Huntercombe and (c) Morton Hall in each of the last five years, together with the rate of assaults on staff across the estate as a whole.Number and rate ...
How many (a) foreign national offenders have been deported and (b) UK citizens have been returned following imprisonment abroad for each country with which the UK has a prisoner transfer agreement in each of the
Data on returns of foreign national offenders are regularly published in the Home Office’s quarterly release “Immigration Systems Statistics”.Statistics on UK citizens who were returned to England and Wales following imprisonment abroad are provided in th...
How many prisoners remained in prison beyond the end of their sentence in HMP (a) Maidstone, (b) Huntercombe and(c) Morton Hall in each of the last ten years.
To provide data on prisoners remaining in custody beyond their sentence date would require a search of individual records, which could not be done without incurring disproportionate cost.Information on interpretation and translation costs covering the tim...
How much was spent on (a) translation and (b) interpretation in HMP (i) Maidstone, (ii) Huntercombe and (iii) Morton Hall in each of the last ten years.
To provide data on prisoners remaining in custody beyond their sentence date would require a search of individual records, which could not be done without incurring disproportionate cost.Information on interpretation and translation costs covering the tim...
If she will make an estimate of the total number of drug related incidents in (a) HMP Maidstone, (b) HMP Huntercombe and (c) HMP Morton Hall in each of the last five years.
To provide data on prisoners remaining in custody beyond their sentence date would require a search of individual records, which could not be done without incurring disproportionate cost.Information on interpretation and translation costs covering the tim...