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1285061

registered interest
date	09/02/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Offenders and Prisoners: Gambling
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment has been made of the adequacy of support for problem gamblers serving (a) custodial and (b) suspended sentences.
tabling member constituency	North West Durham
tabling member printed	Mr Richard Holden
uin	151880
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/02/2021 answer text <p>Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) delivers a broad range of interventions to address individual’s criminogenic risks and needs, including an accredited offending behaviour programme to improve thinking skills. While it was not specifically formulated with problem gambling including addiction in mind, the programme aims to enable participants to be less impulsive, more flexible and less rigid in their thinking. It also tackles a number of the cognitive deficits common to gamblers.</p><p>A number of prisons provide access and signposting to external, specialist organisations such as Gamblers Anonymous and “Gamcare” or using debt counselling services and services provided through the chaplaincy and education services. In addition, all prisoners are seen by NHS healthcare services on reception and can be referred to addiction services to help address problem gambling.</p><p>Probation staff also assess individual needs and can assist with referrals to local or national services to address gambling or to access debt counselling services where suitable, including those on suspended sentences. A support guide for staff supervising those with gambling issues has been produced.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 17/02/2021 11:13:33 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4813 label Biography information for Mr Richard Holden

1285143

registered interest
date	09/02/2021
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	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department plans to publish the delayed Proven reoffending statistics: January to March 2019.
tabling member constituency	Shipley
tabling member printed	Philip Davies
uin	151647
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/02/2021 answer text <p>A delay to the proven reoffending statistics publication for the January to March 2019 offender cohort, originally scheduled for release on Thursday 28 January 2021, was announced in December 2020. This was due to the late delivery of data which had a subsequent effect on the production of the Police National Computer (PNC) data extract required for producing the proven reoffending statistics. Since this announcement, a new lockdown has been introduced and access to the PNC, a system which can only be accessed via a fixed location in our offices, has been further limited. This has delayed the process of producing the proven reoffending statistics further. A revised publication date will be announced in due course.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 17/02/2021 11:06:43 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	1565 label Biography information for Sir Philip Davies

1285178

registered interest
date	09/02/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish a list of (a) criminal legal aid providers and (b) civil legal aid providers as of March 2020.
tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull East
tabling member printed	Karl Turner
uin	151693
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/02/2021 answer text <p>A list of current contracted legal aid providers is published at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/directory-of-legal-aid-providers" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/directory-of-legal-aid-providers</a>.</p><p>As at March 2020, there were 1,500 firms who held a civil legal aid contract, and 1,150 who held a criminal legal aid contract.</p><p>The details of those providers are attached.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 22/02/2021 12:22:27 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk attachment 1 file name PQ 151693 answer v4.xlsx title Table
tabling member	4030 label Biography information for Karl Turner

1285246

registered interest
date	09/02/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Offenders: Rehabilitation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to statistics on alcohol and drug treatment in secure settings 2019 to 2020, published on 28 January 2021, if he will make an assessment of the effect on reoffending levels of the finding that 65.5% of adults with a substance misuse treatment need do not successfully engage in community-based structured treatment following release from prison.
tabling member constituency	West Ham
tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
uin	151649
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/02/2021 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) are committed to meeting the health needs of offenders in custody and the community, including those with substance misuse issues. NHS England and NHSE Improvement (NHSE/I) are responsible for commissioning healthcare services in all prisons in England, this includes integrated substance misuse services. Local authorities are responsible for commissioning treatment services in the community.</p><p> </p><p>Although there is not a simple linear relationship between the 12-month rate of reoffending among prison leavers in England &amp; Wales, and the proportion of adults with a drug or alcohol dependency who do not engage with treatment programmes following their release from prison, we do recognise that engagement in substance misuse treatment can reduce the likelihood of reoffending.</p><p> </p><p>In 2017, a joint MoJ and PHE study[1] found that, over a two-year period following the start of treatment, only 34% of all offenders misusing alcohol, opiates and/or non-opiates who <em>dropped out</em> of treatment did not reoffend, whereas 53% of substance misusing offenders who <em>successfully completed</em> treatment did not reoffend.</p><p> </p><p>That is why the government has awarded an additional £80 million to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to fund drug treatment in 2021/22, as part of a £148 million overall funding package for reducing crime. This is the biggest increase in drug treatment funding for 15 years. The £80 million will be used to enhance drug treatment and the numbers of treatment places available, reduce reoffending and tackle the rise in drug-related deaths. Importantly, most of this funding will support delivery of additional services to reduce drug-related crime including treatment places for delivering Community Sentence Treatment Requirements (CSTRs), continuity of care for prison leavers and interventions to reduce drug related deaths. The funding will also include extending the NHS England RECONNECT service, a care after custody service for prison leavers with vulnerabilities, who would otherwise struggle to engage with community health services.</p><p> </p><p>Officials across MoJ and HMPPS will continue to work with DHSC and health partners, including on the development of the additional £80m allocation, to ensure substance misuse services meet the needs of the offender cohort, address significant health inequalities in this patient cohort and reduce crime across communities.</p><p>[1] Ministry of Justice, Public health England (2017). Table 4, page 18, “The Effect of Drug and Alcohol Treatment on re-offending”: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-effect-of-drug-and-alcohol-treatment-on-re-offending" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-effect-of-drug-and-alcohol-treatment-on-re-offending</a></p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 17/02/2021 11:10:11 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1285329

registered interest
date	09/02/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Magistrates' Courts: Urban Areas
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that magistrates' courts are based in town centres.
tabling member constituency	South Holland and The Deepings
tabling member printed	Sir John Hayes
uin	151603
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/02/2021 answer text <p>Our current magistrates’ court buildings across England and Wales are located in town and city centres, making sure that they are accessible to court users, including by public transport.</p><p> </p><p>Access to justice is our top priority when we consider the future location of any court or tribunal building. There are currently no plans to relocate or acquire new magistrates’ court buildings.</p><p> </p><p>The HMCTS Court and Tribunal Design Guide published in 2019 is clear that when choosing any potential future court sites that they offer a suitable location, accessibility, amenity, security, urban context and planning potential.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 17/02/2021 11:52:14 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	350 label Biography information for Sir John Hayes

1285331

registered interest
date	09/02/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Sexual Offences
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 reduce the number of sexual assault incidents taking place in prisons.
tabling member constituency	South Holland and The Deepings
tabling member printed	Sir John Hayes
uin	151605
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/02/2021 answer text <p>We take any allegation of sexual assault in prisons extremely seriously and have robust processes in place to ensure such incidents are immediately referred to the police and victims are given the support they need.</p><p>Our approach to reducing all types of violence in prisons, including sexual assaults, is threefold. First, we know that there is a link between staffing numbers and violence in prison, which is why we continue to take actions to strengthen the frontline and ensure we have the staff they need to ensure the safety of everyone who lives and works in our prisons. Our short term target was to recruit 2,500 extra prison officers and as of 30 September 2020, 3,844 new staff are now in post. This has placed our prisons on a stronger footing and enabled us to begin the rollout of new reforms such as the key worker role, which focuses on supporting individual prisoners.</p><p>Secondly, it is vital that we ensure our staff have the right support, training and tools to empower them to do their jobs. We are rolling out Trauma Risk Management, a trauma-focused peer support system designed to help people who have experienced a traumatic or potentially traumatic event, and we are currently considering other ways in which we can better support victims of violence in our prisons, including staff. We provide post-incident care teams, occupational health support and counselling for members of staff who are assaulted while doing their jobs.</p><p>Thirdly, we are investing £100 million to bolster prison security, clamping down on the weapons, drugs and mobile phones that fuel violence, including sexual assaults, and crime behind bars. This is funding tough measures including x-ray body scanners and phone-blocking technology.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 17/02/2021 10:55:45 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	350 label Biography information for Sir John Hayes

1285332

registered interest
date	09/02/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners: Radicalism
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce and prevent (a) radicalisation and (b) extremism in prisons.
tabling member constituency	South Holland and The Deepings
tabling member printed	Sir John Hayes
uin	151606
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/02/2021 answer text <p>The Government takes the threat posed by terrorist offenders very seriously and is committed to tackling radicalisation and terrorism in our prisons.</p><p>We have a range of capabilities and controls to manage the unique risk posed by terrorist offenders and to prevent them from radicalising others. All risk management is underpinned through specialist counter terrorism case management. This includes rehabilitative tools, which tackle the drivers of radicalisation and seek to draw prisoners away from extremist ideologies.</p><p>The Joint Extremism Unit (JEXU) is the strategic centre for counter-terrorism work in prisons; since 2017, it has led important investment and improvement in the sector. Over 30,000 prison staff have been trained to identify, report and deal with extremist behaviour in prison. The Government introduced separation centres to manage the risk of a small number of prisoners who may pose a particular risk of radicalising other offenders in the mainstream prison estate.</p><p>The CT Step Up programme will transform this response in prisons by addressing gaps in our current capabilities. The programme will increase counter-terrorism capability in the system by focusing resource into a number of centres of excellence and specialist functions that can deliver a strengthened set of controls and interventions to terrorist offenders at a pace and scale commensurate to the threat.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 17/02/2021 11:03:16 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	350 label Biography information for Sir John Hayes

1284588

registered interest
date	08/02/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Suicide: Terminal Illnesses
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with coroners about the number of people with terminal illnesses who die as a result of suicide per year.
tabling member printed	Baroness Hayman
uin	HL13087
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/02/2021 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice oversees the legal framework that governs the coronial system but does not have operational responsibility for coroner services. Ministers and officials meet with the Chief Coroner, individual coroners and local authorities from time to time to discuss a range of issues including suicide. We have not had recent discussions on the issue or the number of people with terminal illnesses who take their own lives.</p> answering member printed Lord Wolfson of Tredegar question first answered 19/02/2021 12:06:02 answering member 4901 label Biography information for Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
tabling member	1649 label Biography information for Baroness Hayman

1284707

registered interest
date	08/02/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Juries: Key Workers
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether people categorised as key workers during the covid-19 outbreak remain exempt from being called for jury service.
tabling member constituency	Bristol North West
tabling member printed	Darren Jones
uin	150908
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/02/2021 answer text <p>In line with the Juries Act 1974, jurors are summoned randomly by the Jury Central Summoning Bureau (JCSB) using the Electoral Voting Registers. The registers are a list of everyone who has registered themselves as eligible to vote which are supplied to HM Courts &amp; Tribunals Service (HMCTS) by every Local Authority each year. At the point of being called for jury service a person’s occupation is not known.</p><p> </p><p>At this time, the Government does not expect frontline emergency services staff, including those in the NHS, Police and Fire Service, to be serving on juries. Anyone in these groups, or any Key Worker working in any other frontline role, who is summoned for jury service should contact the JCSB. While by law we cannot automatically defer jurors, HMCTS has issued guidance to help staff deal sympathetically with all requests from the public who wish to be released or deferred from jury service as a result of COVID-19. Each application for deferral/excusal is considered on its own merit, in a way that is both fair to the individual and consistent with the needs of the court in providing a representative jury. We are keeping the situation under constant review.</p><p> </p><p>We have published further details here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-courts-and-tribunals-planning-and-preparation#jury-trials-and-jury-service" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-courts-and-tribunals-planning-and-preparation#jury-trials-and-jury-service</a></p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 16/02/2021 15:20:01 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	4621 label Biography information for Darren Jones

1284810

registered interest
date	08/02/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Advisory Board on Female Offenders
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department's announcement of 23 January 2021 entitled Extra funding for organisations that steer women away from crime, whether the Advisory Board on Female Offenders has been given access to his Department's modelling of demand for places in women's prisons.
tabling member constituency	West Ham
tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
uin	150738
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/02/2021 answer text <p>The Female Offender Strategy set out the Government’s vision of fewer women offending and reoffending; fewer women in custody, especially on short-term sentences, with a greater proportion of women managed in the community successfully; and where prison is necessary, better conditions for those in custody. The average female prison population in 2010 was 4236, compared to 3126 as of 29 January 2021 - a decrease of 26%. Delivery of the community commitments in our Strategy and in the recent Sentencing White Paper should see this trend continue in the long-term.</p><p>We published our latest population projections in November 2020, in which we included prison projections for four scenarios – the three police impact scenarios in response to the plan to recruit an additional 20,000 police offices and a fast court recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p>At a meeting of the Advisory Board on Female Offenders (ABFO) on 21 January, attendees were informed that the additional police officers were expected to lead to an increase in the male and female prison populations, and that it was necessary to plan for this, to ensure that there were safe, decent and secure places to meet this demand. On 22 January 2021, in advance of the announcement on 23 January 2021, we informed all ABFO members that up to 500 new places, designed to meet the specific needs of women, will be built in existing prisons to increase availability of single cells and improve conditions as part of the 18,000 additional prison places programme. These places will enable us to hold more women closer to home and their families.</p><p>All ABFO members were invited to a workshop on 4 February, attended by the Minister of State for Prisons and Probation, to discuss and understand their views and concerns surrounding the women’s prison estate. During this session, we were able to provide further information on the scope of our work, and our future proposals. We will continue to engage with stakeholders as our plans develop.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 150739 150740 question first answered 11/02/2021 17:41:36 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown