{ "format" : "linked-data-api", "version" : "0.2", "result" : {"_about" : "https://eldaddp.azurewebsites.net/answeredquestions.text?tablingMemberPrinted.=Dr+Matthew+Offord&min-answer.dateOfAnswer=2018-11-19&houseId=1&answeringDeptId=54", "definition" : "https://eldaddp.azurewebsites.net/meta/answeredquestions.text?tablingMemberPrinted.=Dr+Matthew+Offord&min-answer.dateOfAnswer=2018-11-19&houseId=1&answeringDeptId=54", "extendedMetadataVersion" : "https://eldaddp.azurewebsites.net/answeredquestions.text?tablingMemberPrinted.=Dr+Matthew+Offord&min-answer.dateOfAnswer=2018-11-19&houseId=1&answeringDeptId=54&_metadata=all", "first" : "https://eldaddp.azurewebsites.net/answeredquestions.text?tablingMemberPrinted.=Dr+Matthew+Offord&min-answer.dateOfAnswer=2018-11-19&_page=0&houseId=1&answeringDeptId=54", "hasPart" : "https://eldaddp.azurewebsites.net/answeredquestions.text?tablingMemberPrinted.=Dr+Matthew+Offord&min-answer.dateOfAnswer=2018-11-19&houseId=1&answeringDeptId=54", "isPartOf" : "https://eldaddp.azurewebsites.net/answeredquestions.text?tablingMemberPrinted.=Dr+Matthew+Offord&min-answer.dateOfAnswer=2018-11-19&houseId=1&answeringDeptId=54", "items" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1716953", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Justice"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1716953/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "

The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of offenders found guilty of criminal offences in England and Wales, up to June 2023, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-june-2023<\/a>.<\/p>

<\/p>

Information on whether offenders were prosecuted for offences relating to illegal downloading is not held by the Ministry of Justice, as this information is not recorded centrally in the Court Proceedings Database.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4798", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Gareth Bacon"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Orpington"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Gareth Bacon"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-05-20", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-05-20T08:43:10.137Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "54"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2024-05-09", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Internet: Prosecutions"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the number of prosecutions for illegal downloading in each of the last five years.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4006", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Hendon"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Dr Matthew Offord"} ], "uin" : "25472"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1716971", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Justice"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1716971/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "

Unlike Labour, who in Government reduced the prison time served by all Standard Determinate Sentence prisoners (including rapists and serious violent offenders) from two thirds of their sentence to half, we have taken a robust approach to increasing both the sentence length of rapists and the proportion of that sentence served in prison.<\/p>

<\/p>

Average sentence length for adult rapists has increased by over 40% since 2010, from around 6.5 years to over 9.5 years. We have also reversed Labour\u2019s changes, so that rapists and other serious sexual offenders currently serve two thirds of that time behind bars.<\/p>

But we are now going further. The Sentencing Bill, introduced on 14 November, will ensure that rapists and serious sexual offenders serve their full custodial term in prison, before being released on a fixed licence period, which is critical for public protection and in reducing reoffending.<\/p>

<\/p>

Offenders convicted of certain serious sex offences, including rape, which carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment will no longer receive a standard determinate sentence with automatic or discretionary early release by the Parole Board. Instead, these offenders will now get an Extended Determinate Sentence (EDS) or a Sentence for Offenders of Particular Concern (SOPC).<\/p>

<\/p>

The Bill also alters the release arrangements for these offences so that they will now serve the entirety of the appropriate custodial term in custody, with no referral to the Parole Board at the two-thirds point.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4798", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Gareth Bacon"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Orpington"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Gareth Bacon"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-05-20", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-05-20T08:45:09.407Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "54"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2024-05-09", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Sexual Offences: Sentencing"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to ensure serious sex offenders serve their entire sentence in custody.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4006", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Hendon"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Dr Matthew Offord"} ], "uin" : "25481"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1716973", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Justice"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1716973/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "

The Ministry of Justice has an ambitious programme in place to expand the use of electronic monitoring, as well as building the evidence base for the effective future use of the technologies in helping to protect the public and reduce reoffending.<\/p>

<\/p>

Our latest published data shows at 31 March 2024 the total number of individuals fitted with an electronic monitoring device was 20,084, a 16% increase over the previous 12 months and exceeding 20,000 for the first time. Of this total, 10,031 individuals were wearing a GPS tag, a 36% increase over the previous 12 months, and 2,862 were wearing an alcohol monitoring tag, a 27% increase over the same period.<\/p>

<\/p>

While defendants on court bail make up the largest proportion of electronically monitored individuals, the fastest growing cohort over the 12 months to 31 March 2024 was offenders serving post-custody licences. The Ministry of Justice has focused expansion activity on this cohort, providing probation officers with an additional tool to help support robust offender management by providing certainty of detection of non-compliance with licence conditions. The four expansion projects in the post-custody cohort target prison leavers with risk linked to alcohol, domestic abuse and acquisitive offending, as well as those whose risk increases while they are in the community. Each expansion project is subject to a robust evaluation which will help to inform whether, where and how we continue to expand the use of electronic monitoring.<\/p>

In addition to our expansion projects, the department has a programme of stakeholder engagement with decision makers to raise awareness of the availability and functionality of electronically monitored conditions and requirements as an alternative to custody where appropriate. In October 2023, the Lord Chancellor announced the doubling of GPS tags available to the courts for community orders and suspended sentence orders to support tough community-based sentences. In August 2023 we published the \u2018Electronic Monitoring Court Bail Protocol'<\/a> for England and Wales which sets out key information for those involved in imposing and managing electronically monitored conditions of court bail to help build stakeholder confidence in the delivery of electronic monitoring, including GPS tags.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4798", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Gareth Bacon"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Orpington"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Gareth Bacon"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-05-20", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-05-20T08:46:48.537Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "54"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2024-05-09", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Electronic Tagging"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of (a) GPS and (b) alcohol monitoring tags in operation.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4006", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Hendon"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Dr Matthew Offord"} ], "uin" : "25482"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1690360", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Justice"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1690360/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "

Our published data includes the number of cases outstanding at the court from the point of crown court receipt rather than charge. As of Q3 2023, there were 667 adult rape cases and a further 2,019 cases of sexual offences (excluding adult rape) that had been outstanding at Crown Courts in England and Wales for 12 months or more.<\/p>

We recognise that lengthy waiting times can be particularly difficult for victims of rape and other serious sexual offences who wish to see justice done and move on with their lives. We are doing everything we can to address the outstanding caseload. We are taking action to maximise capacity and hear more cases so we can minimise the impact on victims. As part of this, we are:<\/p>