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1199204

registered interest
date	02/06/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Cemeteries: Greater London
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	Her Majesty's Government why they have not responded to the letter, dated 1 April, from Sam Johnson on behalf of the Board of Trustees of The Match Girls Union in relation to the proposed works at Manor Park Cemetery that might cause damage to the grave of Sarah Chapman.
tabling member printed	Lord Beecham
uin	HL4905
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/06/2020 answer text <p>Ms Johnson submitted a query to the Ministry of Justice on 1<sup>st</sup> April 2020 to ask if the email address she had used to send a letter to the Secretary of State was correct. On the 7th April we confirmed that the email address she had was correct.</p><p>Unfortunately, we have no record of any email or letter from Ms Johnson to the Lord Chancellor having been received; and so, we have contacted her asking if she could resubmit her correspondence.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 16/06/2020 16:40:21 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	4181 label Biography information for Lord Beecham

1199219

registered interest
date	02/06/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners: Sexual Offences
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	Her Majesty's Government how many of the sexual assaults in women's prisons since 2016 recorded in the Safety in Custody statistics published on 30 April were carried out by transgender prisoners.
tabling member printed	Baroness Grey-Thompson
uin	HL4973
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/06/2020 answer text <p>There were 97 sexual assaults in female establishments between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2019 and 7 of these assaults involved a transgender prisoner. Of those, 6 were assaults where a transgender individual was identified as the assailant or suspected assailant. One incident was recorded as a transgender prisoner having ‘active involvement’, which means they did not necessarily start the assault.</p><p> </p><p>These figures have been drawn from the HMPPS Incident Reporting System. Care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, but the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system. Although the figures are shown to the last individual the figures may not be accurate to that level.</p><p> </p><p>All sexual assaults in prison are referred to the police and HMPPS have strong safeguards in place to manage risks to all those in custody, regardless of their gender. HMPPS has robust processes in place to care for and manage transgender individuals in custody. The safety of all those in our care is of paramount importance. All known risks, both towards or presented by a transgender person in prison, will always be taken into account in their care and management. Individuals will be cared for and managed in the gender with which they identify, regardless of their location in a male or female prison.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 16/06/2020 16:30:29 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	3862 label Biography information for Baroness Grey-Thompson

1199228

registered interest
date	02/06/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Aid Scheme: Refugees
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to reintroduce legal aid for refugee family reunion cases.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL4994
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/06/2020 answer text <p>Legal aid for refugee family reunion may be available under the Exceptional Case Funding (ECF) scheme, where failure to provide legal aid would mean there is a breach or a risk of breach of the individual’s human rights, and subject to means and merits tests.</p><p>Last year we amended the scope of legal aid so that separated migrant children are able to receive civil legal aid for applications by their family members and extended family members. This includes entry clearance, leave to enter, or leave to remain in the UK, made under the immigration rules or outside the rules on the basis of exceptional circumstances or compassionate and compelling circumstances.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 16/06/2020 16:46:18 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

1199245

registered interest
date	02/06/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Religious Hatred: Prosecutions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	Her Majesty's Government how many cases involving anti-Semitism or Islamophobia were prosecuted in UK courts in (1) 1980, (2) 2000, and (3) 2015.
tabling member printed	Lord Roberts of Llandudno
uin	HL5092
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/06/2020 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice has published information on prosecutions in England and Wales for racially or religiously aggravated offences, however to identify which of these, or wider hate crime offences involved anti-Semitism or Islamophobia would require a manual search of court records which would be of disproportionate cost.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 16/06/2020 16:20:53 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	3691 label Biography information for Lord Roberts of Llandudno

1197854

registered interest
date	21/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Coronavirus
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications of COVID-19 for operational capacity within the (1) male, and (2) female, prison estates.
tabling member printed	Lord Bradley
uin	HL4819
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/06/2020 answer text <p>We will always have enough capacity to accommodate those committed to custody by the courts. As of 29 May, we have reduced useable operational capacity by around 2,600 places in order to ensure prisons can implement a compartmentalisation strategy to isolate the symptomatic, shield the vulnerable and quarantine new arrivals to reduce risk. Further reductions in useable capacity will depend on further population reductions and we will continue to monitor the situation closely.</p><p> </p><p>In March, temporary restrictions were put in place to minimise movements between jails and reduce face-to-face probation meetings to avoid thousands of prisoners and staff becoming infected with COVID-19. Since then, strong further measures have been implemented, including the early release of low-risk offenders, temporary expansion of the prison estate, and work to reduce the number of those held on remand. These measures have helped to contain the spread of the virus so far and limit deaths.</p><p> </p><p>This action has helped to reduce the prison population, allowing jails to implement ‘compartmentalisation’.</p><p> </p><p>Inter-prison transfers are currently limited, however, as normal measures return across the estate, we will be able to undertake routine inter-prison transfers safely.</p><p> </p><p>The baseline certified normal accommodation (CNA) of the prison estate will not change over the next 12 months (as there are no plans to open new prison places or permanently close any prisons). However, in-use CNA and operational capacity will fluctuate over the next 12 months as places come in and out of use for a range of reasons at selected prisons (mainly as a result of large-scale maintenance projects and/or as part of our response to managing the Covid-19 pandemic).</p><p> </p><p>The number of prisoners held in shared accommodation over the next 12 months will be based on the size of the current and the projected prison population. As at 1 May, 36% of the prison population are sharing cells holding two or more people.</p><p> </p><p>To mitigate the spread of infection in the existing estate, we have been creating space in prisons to remove and reduce cell sharing, provide access to in-cell sanitation, and protect the sick and shield the vulnerable.</p><p> </p><p>Over 850 temporary cells have already been delivered to 25 prisons and 217 are in use. We continue to deliver and install these units to provide single occupancy cells at priority sites to support the successful compartmentalisation of prisoners to prevent the spread of COVID-19. We have also opened an Annex at HMP/YOI Rochester to hold up to 70 men.</p><p> </p><p>Extra headroom is being created as a result of population falls and our support for early release schemes and expediting of remand cases.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie grouped question UIN HL4754 HL4755 HL4756 question first answered 04/06/2020 16:58:27 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	452 label Biography information for Lord Bradley

1197855

registered interest
date	21/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners' Release: Coronavirus
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the number of releases from prison over the next 12 months of the Parole Board’s decision to postpone face-to-face hearings due to COVID-19.
tabling member printed	Lord Bradley
uin	HL4820
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/06/2020 answer text <p>The Parole Board take a detailed and sophisticated approach to assessing whether the statutory release test, set by Parliament, is met to ensure the protection of the public. In the temporary absence of face-to-face hearings, the Board has introduced measures to ensure as many parole hearings continue through the use of an intensive paper review process and by telephone and video technology to determine whether it is safe for the protection of the public for an offender to be released. Through these measures, the Board reports it is successfully managing to progress and make decisions without compromising the quality or integrity of the risk assessment process. If that is sustained, the Board does not envisage any significant impact on the number of release decisions it makes.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 05/06/2020 10:16:15 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	452 label Biography information for Lord Bradley

1197858

registered interest
date	21/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners: Coronavirus
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many prisoners have been tested for COVID-19 (1) in each of the last five weeks, and (2) in total up to 20 May.
tabling member printed	Lord German
uin	HL4823
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/06/2020 answer text <p>NHS England and Improvement is responsible for commissioning healthcare in prisons and are, therefore, responsible for testing for Covid-19. As such, we do not hold this data on prisoner testing.</p><p>Covid-19 testing is ongoing in prisons and is being conducted by internal or external healthcare practitioners on symptomatic prisoners on site. The testing capacity is dependent on local commissioning services, therefore the numbers of those tested varies by establishment. Prisoners that require hospital care are being transferred to hospital and may also be tested there.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 05/06/2020 13:44:07 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	4163 label Biography information for Lord German

1197883

registered interest
date	21/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Reading Prison: Change of Use
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to review their decision to reject Reading Council’s bid to convert HM Prison Reading into an art centre; and what consideration they gave to the preservation of the building as an arts venue.
tabling member printed	The Marquess of Lothian
uin	HL4848
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/06/2020 answer text <p>Marketing of the former prison at Reading has completed and a preferred bidder selected. We have no plans to review our decision not to progress with any of the other bids for the site. A range of factors were considered in assessing which bid represented the best value for the department and the taxpayer.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 05/06/2020 13:53:16 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	259 label Biography information for The Marquess of Lothian

1197774

registered interest
date	20/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners' Release
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many prisoners have been refused (1) a Home Detention Curfew, and (2) an End of Custody Temporary Release, because they do not have suitable accommodation to be released to.
tabling member printed	Lord Bradley
uin	HL4752
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/06/2020 answer text <p>Data on refusals to release under the Home Detention Curfew (HDC) and End of Custody Temporary Release (ECTR) schemes are not collated centrally and it would exceed cost limits to establish the number of prisoners who are not released under each scheme because they do not have suitable accommodation to go to.</p><p> </p><p>Where low-risk offenders are assessed as eligible for release under HDC or ECTR but do not have suitable accommodation to return to, HMPPS will work with the offender and with other agencies, including the Bail Accommodation Support Service (BASS) run by Nacro, in order to identify a suitable address if possible.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 04/06/2020 16:40:46 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	452 label Biography information for Lord Bradley

1197775

registered interest
date	20/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Coronavirus
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their projection for the prison population for the next 12 months for (1) men, and (2) women, in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
tabling member printed	Lord Bradley
uin	HL4753
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/06/2020 answer text <p>Prison population projections bulletins are released annually by the Ministry of Justice. The next projections are due in August this year.</p><p>The most recent bulletin, from 29 August 2019, forecasts that the adult male population will be 76,900 in June 2021, and the female adult population will be 3,700 in June 2021.</p><p>As they were published in August last year, these projections do not factor in the impact of measures to contain COVID-19, although we do not expect COVID-19 to significantly affect the underlying drivers of the longer-term population.</p><p>In order to ensure we have sufficient space for those sentenced to custody, we are investing up to £2.5 billion to provide 10,000 additional prison places over the next 6 years. Further construction already taking place, for example at Wellingborough and Glen Parva, will deliver another 3,500 places by 2023.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 04/06/2020 14:54:50 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	452 label Biography information for Lord Bradley