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1466398

	registered interest
	date	26/05/2022
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Reading Prison: Sales
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent progress his Department has made on the sale of Reading Gaol; and if he will meet (a) the hon. Member for Reading East and (b) other stakeholders to discuss that matter.
	tabling member constituency	Reading East
	tabling member printed	Matt Rodda
	uin	9992
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2022 answer text <p>The MoJ is considering potential uses for the former HMP Reading. We are in the process of setting up a meeting with the hon members for Reading and others to discuss this.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins grouped question UIN 9993 question first answered 06/06/2022 12:22:33 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
	tabling member	4654 label Biography information for Matt Rodda

1466399

	registered interest
	date	26/05/2022
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Reading Prison: Sales
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which developer his Department is in discussion with about plans to sell Reading Gaol; and if he will meet (a) Reading Borough Council and (b) the hon. Member for Reading East to discuss the status of those discussions.
	tabling member constituency	Reading East
	tabling member printed	Matt Rodda
	uin	9993
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2022 answer text <p>The MoJ is considering potential uses for the former HMP Reading. We are in the process of setting up a meeting with the hon members for Reading and others to discuss this.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins grouped question UIN 9992 question first answered 06/06/2022 12:22:34 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
	tabling member	4654 label Biography information for Matt Rodda

1547048

	registered interest
	date	30/11/2022
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisoners: Police Custody
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many police cells are being used as part of Operation Safeguard.
	tabling member constituency	Croydon North
	tabling member printed	Steve Reed
	uin	99866
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/12/2022 answer text <p>We have requested the police make approximately 400 police cells available through Operation Safeguard. These cells will only be used if necessary. As of 1 December, no prisoners were housed in police cells as part of Operation Safeguard.</p><p>Police forces across the country already use police cells occasionally to house prisoners overnight, for example due to late sitting courts. The triggering of Operation Safeguard expands this practice and is not an unprecedented move. It is an established procedure that has been used before in 2007 to ensure that our prison system can operate effectively and safely during periods of high demand.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds grouped question UIN 99867 question first answered 05/12/2022 14:26:39 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
	tabling member	4268 label Biography information for Steve Reed

1547049

	registered interest
	date	30/11/2022
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisoners: Police Custody
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of prisoners using police cells as a result of the implementation of Operation Safeguard.
	tabling member constituency	Croydon North
	tabling member printed	Steve Reed
	uin	99867
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/12/2022 answer text <p>We have requested the police make approximately 400 police cells available through Operation Safeguard. These cells will only be used if necessary. As of 1 December, no prisoners were housed in police cells as part of Operation Safeguard.</p><p>Police forces across the country already use police cells occasionally to house prisoners overnight, for example due to late sitting courts. The triggering of Operation Safeguard expands this practice and is not an unprecedented move. It is an established procedure that has been used before in 2007 to ensure that our prison system can operate effectively and safely during periods of high demand.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds grouped question UIN 99866 question first answered 05/12/2022 14:26:39 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
	tabling member	4268 label Biography information for Steve Reed

1240927

	registered interest
	date	06/10/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Solicitors: Legal Aid Scheme
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many firms of solicitors hold a civil legal aid contract as of 1 October 2020.
	tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull East
	tabling member printed	Karl Turner
	uin	99598
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2020 answer text <p>Please note for the figures provided that some firms may have more than one office. There are currently 1,136 firms who hold a Criminal Legal Aid Contract. There are currently 1,471 firms who hold a Civil Legal Aid Contract. This data is correct as at 7 October 2020.</p><p>The Legal Aid Agency tracks the number of contracted providers, not the number of individual practitioners who work in either criminal or civil law.</p><p>The Legal Aid Agency frequently reviews market capacity to make sure there is adequate provision around the country and moves quickly to ensure provision where gaps may appear.</p><p>Earlier this year we announced an independent review to look at the sustainability of the legal aid market and have introduced changes to inject up £51m per year.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk grouped question UIN 99599 99600 99601 question first answered 12/10/2020 15:54:00 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	4030 label Biography information for Karl Turner

1240933

	registered interest
	date	06/10/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Solicitors: Legal Aid Scheme
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many firms of solicitors held a criminal legal aid contract on October 2020.
	tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull East
	tabling member printed	Karl Turner
	uin	99599
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2020 answer text <p>Please note for the figures provided that some firms may have more than one office. There are currently 1,136 firms who hold a Criminal Legal Aid Contract. There are currently 1,471 firms who hold a Civil Legal Aid Contract. This data is correct as at 7 October 2020.</p><p>The Legal Aid Agency tracks the number of contracted providers, not the number of individual practitioners who work in either criminal or civil law.</p><p>The Legal Aid Agency frequently reviews market capacity to make sure there is adequate provision around the country and moves quickly to ensure provision where gaps may appear.</p><p>Earlier this year we announced an independent review to look at the sustainability of the legal aid market and have introduced changes to inject up £51m per year.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk grouped question UIN 99598 99600 99601 question first answered 12/10/2020 15:54:00 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	4030 label Biography information for Karl Turner

1240953

	registered interest
	date	06/10/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Solicitors: Legal Aid Scheme
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many solicitors are undertaking legal aid work in criminal law as of 1 October 2020.
	tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull East
	tabling member printed	Karl Turner
	uin	99600
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2020 answer text <p>Please note for the figures provided that some firms may have more than one office. There are currently 1,136 firms who hold a Criminal Legal Aid Contract. There are currently 1,471 firms who hold a Civil Legal Aid Contract. This data is correct as at 7 October 2020.</p><p>The Legal Aid Agency tracks the number of contracted providers, not the number of individual practitioners who work in either criminal or civil law.</p><p>The Legal Aid Agency frequently reviews market capacity to make sure there is adequate provision around the country and moves quickly to ensure provision where gaps may appear.</p><p>Earlier this year we announced an independent review to look at the sustainability of the legal aid market and have introduced changes to inject up £51m per year.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk grouped question UIN 99598 99599 99601 question first answered 12/10/2020 15:54:00 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	4030 label Biography information for Karl Turner

1240954

	registered interest
	date	06/10/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Solicitors: Legal Aid Scheme
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many solicitors are undertaking legal aid work in civil law as of 1 October 2020.
	tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull East
	tabling member printed	Karl Turner
	uin	99601
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2020 answer text <p>Please note for the figures provided that some firms may have more than one office. There are currently 1,136 firms who hold a Criminal Legal Aid Contract. There are currently 1,471 firms who hold a Civil Legal Aid Contract. This data is correct as at 7 October 2020.</p><p>The Legal Aid Agency tracks the number of contracted providers, not the number of individual practitioners who work in either criminal or civil law.</p><p>The Legal Aid Agency frequently reviews market capacity to make sure there is adequate provision around the country and moves quickly to ensure provision where gaps may appear.</p><p>Earlier this year we announced an independent review to look at the sustainability of the legal aid market and have introduced changes to inject up £51m per year.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk grouped question UIN 99598 99599 99600 question first answered 12/10/2020 15:54:01 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
	tabling member	4030 label Biography information for Karl Turner

1240830

	registered interest
	date	06/10/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Reoffenders: Coronavirus
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect on reoffending rates of slower progression through indeterminate sentences by prisoners as a result of limited access to (a) legal support, (b) offender managers, (c) release on temporary license and (d) offending behaviour programmes during the covid-19 outbreak.
	tabling member constituency	West Ham
	tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
	uin	99568
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/10/2020 answer text <p>We are doing everything we can to minimise the impact of the pandemic across all responsibilities of our prisons, including on the progression of Indeterminate Sentence Prisoners (ISPs). Whilst some changes to prison regimes have been necessary due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no evidence that the progression of ISPs has been significantly impaired. Consequently, it would be entirely premature to posit any effect on reoffending rates or future public spending on prisons and probation or overcrowding within prisons. We recognise that anxieties regarding COVID-19 and the regime restrictions required for infection control may increase the risk of self-harm and violence for some prisoners, and we will continue to work to mitigate this risk as far as possible.</p><p> </p><p>Despite necessary restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, legal visits have been prioritised to ensure that ISPs maintain meaningful contact with their legal representatives.</p><p> </p><p>The Offender Management in Custody (OMiC) Model continues to make transformational improvements in the way we support and manage prisoners through their sentence plan. A joint prison and probation Exceptional Delivery Model (EDM) was developed during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure key offender management tasks were completed in line with the regime level of the prison, whilst upholding the ethos of the OMiC Model.</p><p> </p><p>As to be expected, most Release On Temporary Licence (ROTL) was suspended in March 2020 to help tackle the threat from Covid-19; however, we have been working with Public Health authorities to support prisons to re-introduce ROTL where it is safe and practicable to do so.</p><p> </p><p>HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) is reviewing the reduced provision of offending behaviour programmes (OBPs), in order to prioritise access to such opportunities on those who present the highest risk of reoffending on release. When it comes to the parole reviews of ISPs, the Parole Board is presented with a wide range of evidence, not just completion of OBPs, in order to assess whether a prisoner’s risk has been reduced to the point where s/he might be safely release on licence.</p><p> </p><p>The HMPPS Safety Team has produced a range of products to support Governors in devising and implementing local safety and welfare plans designed to mitigate risks during the pandemic of disorder, self-harm, suicide and violence. The Team has issued guidance on operating the key safety systems (such the case management models for self-harm and suicide and violence), whilst complying with infection control measures and in the context of staff shortfalls and/or the absence of trained staff. This guidance includes materials to support wellbeing at this particularly difficult time, including a range of in-cell activities.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, I would like to be clear that our primary responsibility is to protect the public. We do not want to keep ISPs in custody any longer than is necessary, but we have a duty to ensure that they are progressed in a safe manner. It remains the case that prisoners serving indeterminate sentences will be released only when the independent Parole Board concludes that the risk to the public is capable of being safely managed in the community under probation supervision.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 99569 99570 99571 question first answered 14/10/2020 14:17:27 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1240831

	registered interest
	date	06/10/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons and Probation: Coronavirus
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect on future public spending on (a) prisons and (b) probation of slower progression through indeterminate sentences by prisoners as a result of limited access to (i) legal support, (ii) offender managers, (iii) release on temporary license and (iv) offending behaviour programmes during the covid-19 outbreak.
	tabling member constituency	West Ham
	tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
	uin	99569
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/10/2020 answer text <p>We are doing everything we can to minimise the impact of the pandemic across all responsibilities of our prisons, including on the progression of Indeterminate Sentence Prisoners (ISPs). Whilst some changes to prison regimes have been necessary due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no evidence that the progression of ISPs has been significantly impaired. Consequently, it would be entirely premature to posit any effect on reoffending rates or future public spending on prisons and probation or overcrowding within prisons. We recognise that anxieties regarding COVID-19 and the regime restrictions required for infection control may increase the risk of self-harm and violence for some prisoners, and we will continue to work to mitigate this risk as far as possible.</p><p> </p><p>Despite necessary restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, legal visits have been prioritised to ensure that ISPs maintain meaningful contact with their legal representatives.</p><p> </p><p>The Offender Management in Custody (OMiC) Model continues to make transformational improvements in the way we support and manage prisoners through their sentence plan. A joint prison and probation Exceptional Delivery Model (EDM) was developed during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure key offender management tasks were completed in line with the regime level of the prison, whilst upholding the ethos of the OMiC Model.</p><p> </p><p>As to be expected, most Release On Temporary Licence (ROTL) was suspended in March 2020 to help tackle the threat from Covid-19; however, we have been working with Public Health authorities to support prisons to re-introduce ROTL where it is safe and practicable to do so.</p><p> </p><p>HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) is reviewing the reduced provision of offending behaviour programmes (OBPs), in order to prioritise access to such opportunities on those who present the highest risk of reoffending on release. When it comes to the parole reviews of ISPs, the Parole Board is presented with a wide range of evidence, not just completion of OBPs, in order to assess whether a prisoner’s risk has been reduced to the point where s/he might be safely release on licence.</p><p> </p><p>The HMPPS Safety Team has produced a range of products to support Governors in devising and implementing local safety and welfare plans designed to mitigate risks during the pandemic of disorder, self-harm, suicide and violence. The Team has issued guidance on operating the key safety systems (such the case management models for self-harm and suicide and violence), whilst complying with infection control measures and in the context of staff shortfalls and/or the absence of trained staff. This guidance includes materials to support wellbeing at this particularly difficult time, including a range of in-cell activities.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, I would like to be clear that our primary responsibility is to protect the public. We do not want to keep ISPs in custody any longer than is necessary, but we have a duty to ensure that they are progressed in a safe manner. It remains the case that prisoners serving indeterminate sentences will be released only when the independent Parole Board concludes that the risk to the public is capable of being safely managed in the community under probation supervision.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 99568 99570 99571 question first answered 14/10/2020 14:17:27 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown