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1122320

	registered interest
	date	23/04/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Reoffenders
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	What steps the Government is taking to reduce reoffending rates for violent crimes.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow Central
	tabling member printed	Alison Thewliss
	uin	910450
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2019 answer text <p>Reoffending is costing society approximately £15bn per year. It is only through a concerted effort across Government that we will be able to reduce reoffending.</p><p> </p><p>That is why we set up the Reducing Reoffending Board to identify how the Government can work more collaboratively in addressing the drivers of reoffending, and to consider innovative ways of addressing these drivers.</p><p> </p><p>We are looking particularly closely at what we can do to strengthen probation, which is responsible for managing and supporting offenders in the community to turn away from crime. I want to see a wider range of rehabilitative programmes on offer, so that offenders can be directed towards programmes that are targeted to their behaviour.</p><p> </p><p>For instance, we have found that our general offending behaviour programme can reduce violent reoffending by 17 percentage points.</p> answering member constituency Penrith and The Border answering member printed Rory Stewart question first answered 23/04/2019 16:42:03 answering member 4137 label Biography information for Rory Stewart
	tabling member	4430 label Biography information for Alison Thewliss

1107781

	registered interest
	date	29/03/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Alternatives to Prosecution: Shoplifting
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he is taking steps to make an assessment of the effectiveness of out of court disposals for shop theft; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Denton and Reddish
	tabling member printed	Andrew Gwynne
	uin	238625
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2019 answer text <p>We recognise that shoplifting is not a victimless crime. It causes cost and disruption to businesses, as well as damage to communities and consumers. We encourage all victims, including shop workers, to report these crimes to the police so that they can be recorded and dealt with accordingly.</p><p> </p><p>A report by the Centre for Social Justice issued last year concluded that people addicted to heroin and crack cocaine account for 70% of shop thefts. We are committed to ensuring the most vulnerable offenders, including those with drug addictions, are able to access support at the right time. This includes diverting offenders away from custody where appropriate.</p><p> </p><p>Out of Court Disposals are one important tool available in addressing shop theft – they allow the police to deal quickly and proportionately with low-level offending. Where an Out of Court Disposal is appropriate, we encourage the use of disposals which have a condition attached (be that rehabilitative, reparative, punitive or restrictive). This can achieve rapid compensation and/or divert vulnerable offenders with substance misuse or mental health issues into rehabilitative services to address the root causes of their offending behaviour.</p><p> </p><p>We pay attention to trends and changes in the use of Out of Court Disposals on an ongoing basis.</p> answering member constituency Penrith and The Border answering member printed Rory Stewart question first answered 08/04/2019 16:32:47 answering member 4137 label Biography information for Rory Stewart
	tabling member	1506 label Biography information for Andrew Gwynne

1107782

	registered interest
	date	29/03/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Alternatives to Prosecution
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he is taking steps to implement simplified out of court disposals following the 2014 pilot on adult out of court disposals; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Denton and Reddish
	tabling member printed	Andrew Gwynne
	uin	238626
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2019 answer text <p>Out of Court Disposals (OOCDs) allow police to deal quickly and proportionately with low-level offending without recourse to the courts.</p><p> </p><p>We are committed to ensuring the most vulnerable offenders can access community-based support, and recognise the benefits of early intervention. So, where an OOCD is appropriate, we encourage the use of disposals which have a condition attached (be that rehabilitative, reparative, punitive or restrictive), which can achieve rapid compensation for victims and/or divert offenders into rehabilitative services to address the root causes of their offending behaviour.</p><p> </p><p>We are working in partnership with the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) whose <em>Charging and Out of Court Disposals</em> strategy supports forces moving to the simplified two-tier framework when it is operationally and financially viable.</p> answering member constituency Penrith and The Border answering member printed Rory Stewart question first answered 08/04/2019 16:34:46 answering member 4137 label Biography information for Rory Stewart
	tabling member	1506 label Biography information for Andrew Gwynne

1107783

	registered interest
	date	29/03/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Retail Trade: Crimes of Violence
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward stronger sanctions on people who attack shopworkers; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Denton and Reddish
	tabling member printed	Andrew Gwynne
	uin	238627
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2019 answer text <p>Everyone has the right to feel safe at work and assaults on shop-workers are unacceptable.</p><p> </p><p>There are a range of offences someone can be convicted of if they assault a shop-worker. Maximum penalties for offences are set by Parliament and include five years’ custody for assault occasioning actual bodily harm and life imprisonment for the most serious cases of causing grievous bodily harm. There are no plans to increase sentences for assault offences.</p><p> </p><p>When making sentencing decisions the courts must follow the relevant sentencing guidelines, produced by the independent Sentencing Council. The <em>Overarching Principles: Seriousness Guideline</em> and <em>Assault Guideline</em> require the court to treat the fact that an offence was committed against those working in the public sector or providing a service to the public as an aggravating factor, making the offence more serious. The Sentencing Council is reviewing its guidelines on assault and a consultation on a revised guideline is anticipated later this year.</p><p> </p><p>On 21 January the Home Office announced the launch of a call for evidence on violence and abuse towards shop workers. The aim of this work is to strengthen our understanding of the issue, including how existing legislation is being applied. The National Retail Crime Steering Group will continue to provide input on tackling this issue.</p> answering member constituency Penrith and The Border answering member printed Rory Stewart question first answered 08/04/2019 16:08:07 answering member 4137 label Biography information for Rory Stewart
	tabling member	1506 label Biography information for Andrew Gwynne

1107784

	registered interest
	date	29/03/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Reoffenders: Community Orders
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of commencing section 151 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 to allow courts to deal with low-level offences by repeat offenders through the use of community orders; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Denton and Reddish
	tabling member printed	Andrew Gwynne
	uin	238628
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/04/2019 answer text <p>There are no current plans to commence Section 151 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, which allows courts, in certain circumstances, to use community orders for repeat offenders who might otherwise expect to receive fines.</p><p> </p><p>Section 143(2) of that Act requires courts to treat previous convictions as an aggravating factor when sentencing. For shop theft offences, the Sentencing Council’s guideline on theft offences came into force in 2016. This guideline allows for the imposition of community sentences for shop theft in a wide range of circumstances. In cases involving significant persistent offending, the community and custodial thresholds may be crossed even though the offence otherwise warrants a lesser sentence.</p> answering member constituency Penrith and The Border answering member printed Rory Stewart question first answered 08/04/2019 16:36:50 answering member 4137 label Biography information for Rory Stewart
	tabling member	1506 label Biography information for Andrew Gwynne

1038044

	registered interest
	date	08/01/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisons: Drugs
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on drug consumption rates in prisons of inmates having access to phones.
	tabling member constituency	Romford
	tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
	uin	206286
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/01/2019 answer text <p>The misuse of drugs in prison drives violence, vulnerability and crime and so tackling this is one of our top priorities. We do not have statistics to demonstrate a causal link between illicit phones and drug misuse but we know that illicit mobile phones can be used for a variety of harmful purposes by criminals in prison, including to organise the supply of drugs. The use of mobile phones in prisons is an important cog in the infrastructure that supports and fuels crime and violence. Consequently, we are improving our security to restrict the availability of both drugs and mobile phones. We use body, property, cell and area searches, metal-detecting scanners and drug and phone detection dogs across the estate. We have recently invested an additional £7 million in modern technology, including extending the use of phone blocking technology and improved searching techniques. We are also investing £6 million to tackle drug supply and reduce demand in 10 of the most challenging prisons, with body scanners and more staff focused on effective searching.</p><p>To reduce the demand for illicit mobile phones, we are also expanding the roll-out of in-cell telephones. Currently, 20 public sector prisons have in-cell phones. We are now investing a further £10 million to roll-out in-cell phones to a further 30 prisons by March 2020. Calls can only be made to pre-agreed numbers and can be monitored, with governors able to remove phones from those who misuse them. We know that maintaining prisoners’ family ties is hugely important too, with prisoners who receive contact from their family while in prison 39% less likely to reoffend. This will enable prisoners to maintain relationships with their family and access talking support services, in a managed and secure way, while we continue to take action to restrict the supply of illicit phones.</p> answering member constituency Penrith and The Border answering member printed Rory Stewart question first answered 16/01/2019 16:18:58 answering member 4137 label Biography information for Rory Stewart
	tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

1081928

	registered interest
	date	04/03/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Knives: Crime
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prosecutions for (a) carrying a knife and (b) knife-related crime resulted in a sentence of (i) up to six months, (ii) six to 12 months and (iii) over 12 months in the last three years for which information is available.
	tabling member constituency	Romford
	tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
	uin	227981
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/03/2019 answer text <p>Data that includes the number of defendants prosecuted and sentenced for (i) up to six months, (ii) six to 12 months and (iii) over 12 months custody for possessing an article with a blade or point has been published up to December 2017 and can be found in the ‘Outcomes by offence data tool’, available at the following link: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/733981/outcomes-by-offence-tool-2017-update.xlsx" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/733981/outcomes-by-offence-tool-2017-update.xlsx</a></p><p> </p><p>Select ‘10D Possession of an article with blade or point’ in the ‘Offence’ filter. The number of defendants prosecuted can be found in row 23 and custodial sentence lengths can be found from row 55.</p><p> </p><p>Identifying the number of prosecutions and custodial sentence lengths for all knife-related offences is not possible within proportionate costs, as there are a range of offences that an offender can be charged with. It would require manual searches of court records, and instances would be recorded under broader offence categories, such as for causing grievous bodily harm, which do not distinguish the use of a knife.</p> answering member constituency Penrith and The Border answering member printed Rory Stewart question first answered 12/03/2019 17:26:26 answering member 4137 label Biography information for Rory Stewart
	tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

1081935

	registered interest
	date	04/03/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Knives: Crime
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of increasing the minimum sentence for knife-related crime.
	tabling member constituency	Romford
	tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
	uin	227988
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/03/2019 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice is working closely with other departments, to tackle the serious issue of knife crime, which we recognise is an absolute priority.</p><p> </p><p>The Courts already have a comprehensive range of sentencing options. Unlawful possession of a knife or offensive weapon in public is a serious criminal offence which a maximum penalty of four years’ imprisonment. Since 2015, adults now face a minimum sentence of 6 months’ imprisonment and young people aged 16 or 17 face a minimum sentence 4 month Detention and Training Order for second or subsequent knife possession or threatening with a weapon in public offences. Courts can only depart from minimum sentencing if it would be unjust to impose these terms.</p><p> </p><p>Where someone is actually harmed by a knife or offensive weapon there are a range of other offences, such as causing grievous bodily harm, that the person will be charged with. These can result in lengthy sentences up to life imprisonment. For any offence, the possession, threatening with or use of a weapon will be treated as an aggravating factor meriting an increased sentence.</p><p> </p><p>Since minimum custodial penalties were introduced, people caught carrying a knife or offensive weapon for a second time are now more likely than ever before to go to prison – 83% of offenders received a custodial sentence for repeat possession offences. The average immediate custody sentence length in the year ending September 2018 was 7.9 months.</p> answering member constituency Penrith and The Border answering member printed Rory Stewart grouped question UIN 227990 question first answered 12/03/2019 17:27:27 answering member 4137 label Biography information for Rory Stewart
	tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

1081937

	registered interest
	date	04/03/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Knives: Crime
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of introducing a compulsory custodial sentence for carrying a knife.
	tabling member constituency	Romford
	tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
	uin	227990
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/03/2019 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice is working closely with other departments, to tackle the serious issue of knife crime, which we recognise is an absolute priority.</p><p> </p><p>The Courts already have a comprehensive range of sentencing options. Unlawful possession of a knife or offensive weapon in public is a serious criminal offence which a maximum penalty of four years’ imprisonment. Since 2015, adults now face a minimum sentence of 6 months’ imprisonment and young people aged 16 or 17 face a minimum sentence 4 month Detention and Training Order for second or subsequent knife possession or threatening with a weapon in public offences. Courts can only depart from minimum sentencing if it would be unjust to impose these terms.</p><p> </p><p>Where someone is actually harmed by a knife or offensive weapon there are a range of other offences, such as causing grievous bodily harm, that the person will be charged with. These can result in lengthy sentences up to life imprisonment. For any offence, the possession, threatening with or use of a weapon will be treated as an aggravating factor meriting an increased sentence.</p><p> </p><p>Since minimum custodial penalties were introduced, people caught carrying a knife or offensive weapon for a second time are now more likely than ever before to go to prison – 83% of offenders received a custodial sentence for repeat possession offences. The average immediate custody sentence length in the year ending September 2018 was 7.9 months.</p> answering member constituency Penrith and The Border answering member printed Rory Stewart grouped question UIN 227988 question first answered 12/03/2019 17:27:27 answering member 4137 label Biography information for Rory Stewart
	tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

1077335

	registered interest
	date	25/02/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Charities
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) charitable organisations will be paid for resettlement support services they have provided under contract to Working Links (b) those services are able to continue.
	tabling member constituency	South West Bedfordshire
	tabling member printed	Andrew Selous
	uin	225430
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/03/2019 answer text <p>As you know, Working Links went into administration on 14 February. Probation services in Dorset, Devon and Cornwall; Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire; and Wales, transferred to Kent, Surrey and Sussex Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC), owned by Seetec, on 15 February. The probation supply chain in these areas will now be the responsibility of Kent, Surrey and Sussex CRC and Seetec.</p><p> </p><p>We recognise the importance of Voluntary and Community Sector organisations and are in continued dialogue, engaging directly with them. Service improvements and stability in probation services are our priorities and we are working closely with all affected organisations, alongside Seetec, to monitor the transition and mobilisation of services against contractual obligations.</p> answering member constituency Penrith and The Border answering member printed Rory Stewart question first answered 05/03/2019 17:34:18 answering member 4137 label Biography information for Rory Stewart
	tabling member	1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous