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1137666

	registered interest
	date	09/07/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Reoffenders: Sentencing
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	If he will review sentencing policy for prolific offenders.
	tabling member constituency	Harborough
	tabling member printed	Neil O'Brien
	uin	911814
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2019 answer text <p>We are looking to take forward reform of short custodial sentences. We know that offenders serving short sentences often have long offending histories, as well as multiple and complex needs. In cases of the most persistent offenders, the evidence shows they are 36% more likely to re-offend where they have received a short custodial sentence rather than a court order. Community penalties can address underlying behaviour, answer mental health and alcohol or drug misuse needs and provide reparation for the benefit of the wider community.</p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland question first answered 09/07/2019 16:03:15 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
	tabling member	4679 label Biography information for Neil O'Brien

1134843

	registered interest
	date	26/06/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Television Licences: Older People
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for Justice, what support he plans to provide to the courts service to deal with the potential increase in non-payment prosecution for TV licences by vulnerable defendants over the age of 75 who do not pay for a TV licence from June 2020.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow North East
	tabling member printed	Mr Paul Sweeney
	uin	269760
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>TV Licensing prosecutions are dealt with via the Single Justice Procedure, which was introduced in 2015 to allow for more efficient resolution of low-level, summary only-non imprisonable offences in which the offender pleads guilty or does not respond. HMCTS has not made any specific arrangements for any potential increase in non-payment prosecutions for TV licences from June 2020. If required, to meet any emerging demand HMCTS will deploy its planning and allocation processes which allow for resource adjustment or reallocation.</p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland question first answered 01/07/2019 16:48:27 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
	tabling member	4642 label Biography information for Mr Paul Sweeney

1134846

	registered interest
	date	26/06/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Television Licences: Older People
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Minister for Justice, whether he has made an estimate of the potential increase in the number of prosecutions there will be of people over 75 who have not paid for a TV licence from June 2020.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow North East
	tabling member printed	Mr Paul Sweeney
	uin	269763
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/07/2019 answer text <p>The lead department on TV licencing is the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DDCMS).</p><p> </p><p>The responsibility for TV licence fee concessions will pass from government to the BBC in June 2020, at which time the BBC has taken the decision to end free TV licences for all over 75s.</p><p> </p><p>The Ministry of Justice has reviewed prosecution data between 1992 and 1999 for TV licence fee evasion, prior to the introduction of the concession, and established that there were no prosecutions of defendants over the age of 75 during this period.</p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland question first answered 01/07/2019 16:48:13 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
	tabling member	4642 label Biography information for Mr Paul Sweeney

1137611

	registered interest
	date	08/07/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Offenders: Employment
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, by what (a) criteria and (b) date the performance of his Department’s New Futures Network initiative supporting offenders into employment will be assessed.
	tabling member constituency	Delyn
	tabling member printed	David Hanson
	uin	274446
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2019 answer text <p>We are completing the roll-out of the New Futures Network, with 13 of the 15 geographical prison groups across England and Wales now covered.</p><p> </p><p>The New Futures Network is responsible for three things:</p><ol><li>The availability and quality of work for prisoners in commercial workshops.</li><li>Brokering partnerships with employers that produce workplace ROTL opportunities.</li><li>Brokering partnerships that generate employment opportunities on release.</li></ol><p> </p><p>It will be assessed against those criteria at the end of this financial year, as part of the annual HMPPS reporting cycle.</p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland question first answered 16/07/2019 10:57:13 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
	tabling member	533 label Biography information for David Hanson

1130918

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Rehabilitation: Offenders
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reason all accredited programmes run by (a) prisons and (b) the Probation Service have not been subject to an impact and outcome evaluation.
	tabling member constituency	Leeds East
	tabling member printed	Richard Burgon
	uin	262418
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/06/2019 answer text <p>The Department has undertaken several outcome evaluations of accredited offending behaviour programmes, and further evaluations are currently underway. In 2018 we invested in new resources to address the backlog in evaluations. Impact evaluations may not be suitable for all accredited programmes due to the low volume of participants. In these circumstances other types of evaluations are undertaken, for example studies to assess whether delivery is in line with the evidence.</p><p> </p><p>All accredited programmes are assessed against a set of principles which are drawn from the evidence base about what works and considered against the latest thinking internationally. All programmes are subject to evaluation, but this can take many years due to the sample sizes required to meet academic standards.</p><p> </p><p>It is the Secretary of State’s policy to make accredited offending behaviour programmes available to people convicted of crime. An evaluation plan must be submitted in order to achieve initial accreditation and the evaluation results must be provided to achieve reaccreditation (usually after 5 years). Accreditation also requires that the programme is designed based on the best available evidence, and that robust monitoring of practice is in place.</p><p> </p><p>Research has shown that HMPPS programmes, when properly targeted, can reduce reoffending by 8 percentage points, and up to 17 percentage points for violent offenders.</p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland grouped question UIN 262422 question first answered 13/06/2019 16:01:43 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
	tabling member	4493 label Biography information for Richard Burgon

1138209

	registered interest
	date	10/07/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prison Service: Blood Diseases
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) prison officers (b) other prison staff contracted a blood-borne virus at work in each year since 2010.
	tabling member constituency	Leeds East
	tabling member printed	Richard Burgon
	uin	275791
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>Since December 2017 any staff who are potentially exposed to blood and other body fluids are able to call our Body Fluid Exposure and Sharps Injury 24/7 telephone helpline to obtain prompt medical advice. If the employee is advised to attend A&amp;E this signifies that the body fluid exposure is high risk and medical assessment by A&amp;E is required to obtain blood for serum save and to assess suitability for post exposure prophylaxis and/or Hepatitis B injection.</p><p> </p><p>Should Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) be required, the member of staff will call the Body Fluid Exposure and Sharps Injury helpline with details of treatment they have received. Follow up testing for Blood Borne Virus (BBV) is provided for all injured staff to determine if they have contracted a BBV, however, staff are not required to report if they have contracted a blood borne virus at work and the data is therefore it is not possible to report data with any certainty.</p><p> </p><p>If an employee were to contract a Blood Borne Virus from an occupational exposure and had reported this to the Body Fluid Exposure and Sharps Injury helpline (provided by HMPPS’ Occupational Health supplier Optima Health) then HMPPS are required to be made aware under RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013) with the employees consent. None of these cases have been reported to date.</p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland question first answered 15/07/2019 16:42:19 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
	tabling member	4493 label Biography information for Richard Burgon

1137642

	registered interest
	date	08/07/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Council Tax: Sentencing
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) women, and (b) men have been given a custodial sentence for the non-payment of council tax in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Oxford East
	tabling member printed	Anneliese Dodds
	uin	274623
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/07/2019 answer text <p>Non-payment of council tax is not a criminal offence and cannot attract a custodial sentence.</p><p> </p><p>Committal to prison can only ever be the last resort for non-payment of council tax. Before a magistrates’ court commits someone to prison for failure to pay their council tax, it must have issued a “liability order” and the local authority must have (at least) tried and failed to take control of the debtor’s goods and sell them to recover the debt. Councils have additional powers of enforcement under a liability order, including deduction from earnings, deduction from benefit, charging orders on the property, and bankruptcy. If a council applies for committal to prison, the court must inquire into the debtor’s means, and the council must satisfy the court that there is no other effective method of collection and that failure to pay is due to wilful refusal or culpable neglect. This is to prevent persons who are genuinely unable to pay their council tax from being committed to prison. Where that is the case courts have the power to remit the debt.</p><p> </p><p>The number of people admitted to prison for non-payment of council tax, covering the period 1990 – 2018, can be viewed in Table A2.12 at the following link:</p><p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/796916/receptions-2018.ods" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/796916/receptions-2018.ods</a></p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland question first answered 11/07/2019 15:23:07 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
	tabling member	4657 label Biography information for Anneliese Dodds

1129885

	registered interest
	date	04/06/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisoners: Mental Health Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many IPP sentenced prisoners have been refused access to a mental health treatment courses in each year since 2010.
	tabling member constituency	Leeds East
	tabling member printed	Richard Burgon
	uin	260075
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2019 answer text <p>The information requested is not held. NHS England has statutory and financial responsibility for providing health care in English prisons, including delivering mental health treatment.</p><p> </p><p>No prisoners should be refused access to a mental health treatment based on their sentence type. Individual cases are assessed on the basis of the offender’s readiness and suitability to engage in treatment.</p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland question first answered 10/06/2019 14:05:41 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
	tabling member	4493 label Biography information for Richard Burgon

1129187

	registered interest
	date	03/06/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Prisoners: Health Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many IPP sentenced prisoners have been refused access to a therapeutic community in each year since 2010.
	tabling member constituency	Leeds East
	tabling member printed	Richard Burgon
	uin	259341
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2019 answer text <p>The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>No prisoners are refused access to a Therapeutic Community based on their sentence type, with each individual case having been assessed on the basis of their readiness and suitability to engage in therapy. Referral and assessment processes for Therapeutic Communities include a structured clinical assessment to determine a prisoner’s suitability to participate in a therapeutic programme. This assessment considers levels of risk and complexity, readiness, motivation to engage, security status and appropriate medical information such as current mental state.</p> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland question first answered 06/06/2019 14:33:23 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
	tabling member	4493 label Biography information for Richard Burgon

1130929

	registered interest
	date	10/06/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Offences against Children: Internet
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many UK nationals have been convicted of offences relating to the online sexual exploitation of children in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Gedling
	tabling member printed	Vernon Coaker
	uin	262240
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <table><tbody><tr><td><p>We have interpreted ‘sexual exploitation of children’ as child sexual abuse offences, as sexual exploitation of children is not specifically defined in legislation. The Ministry of Justice has published information (<a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/804510/HO-code-tool-principal-offence-2018.xlsx" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/804510/HO-code-tool-principal-offence-2018.xlsx</a>) on the number of defendants found guilty of child sexual abuse offences and average custodial sentence lengths, however it is not possible to identify the nationality of the defendant as this information is not held in the courts proceedings database. Additionally, centrally held court and prisons data does not distinguish online child sexual abuse offences from all child sexual abuse offences. Information on offences that involve online sexual exploitation of children may be held on record, however to identify these records would be at a disproportionate cost. I have made no assessment of sentencing for offences relating to the online sexual exploitation of children. Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the Courts, who must follow any relevant guidelines produced by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales. The Sentencing Council has a duty under section 128 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 to monitor the operation and effect of its guidelines. Child sexual abuse is abhorrent and rightly carries tough sentences including life imprisonment for the most serious offences. The Sexual Offences Act 2003 provides a range of offences with robust sentences to tackle the scourge of child sexual exploitation in all its forms. Sentencing is a matter for the independent judiciary, who take into account the full facts of each case.</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency South Swindon answering member printed Robert Buckland grouped question UIN 262241 262242 question first answered 18/06/2019 14:52:50 answering member 4106 label Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland
	tabling member	360 label Biography information for Lord Coaker