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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders were sentenced to a custodial sentence of 12 months or less for each offence by each Crown Court in the latest year for which figures are available.

Mike Penning

The information you have requested cannot be extracted from our raw data due to the extensive nature of what you have requested. I will therefore write to my honourable Friend as soon as it is available.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of offenders were sentenced to a custodial sentence for each offence by each magistrates’ court in the latest year for which figures are available.

Mike Penning

The information you have requested cannot be extracted from our raw data due to the extensive nature of what you have requested. I will therefore write to my honourable Friend as soon as it is available.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in what circumstances a foreign criminal serving a prison sentence for an offence committed outside the UK could serve their sentence in the UK.

Andrew Selous

International prisoner transfer arrangements may enable non-nationals to apply to transfer to their state of normal residence or to the state to which they have close ties. There is no requirement on a state to accept the transfer of a non-national resident. Since 2010, no such transfers have taken place to England and Wales. Prisoner transfer is a devolved matter and is the responsibility of the relevant Minister in Scotland and in Northern Ireland.

The numbers of foreign national prisoners from each country convicted of each offence in the violence offence group from April 2013 to March 2014 are in the attached table 1.

The numbers of foreign national prisoners from each country, convicted of each offence type from 1 October 2013 to 31 March 2014 are at the attached table 2. Prison receptions data for April to June 2014 is not available by offence group due to problems with data quality. Figures for this period will be published in due course subject to the result of ongoing investigations. Prison receptions data for July to September 2014 is currently not available and is due to be published on 29 January 2015.

The number of foreign national offenders in our prisons has reduced since 2010, compared to that number doubling between 1997 – 2010.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will commission research to establish the main reasons foreign offenders commit offences in the UK.

Andrew Selous

Whereas the number of foreign national offenders in our prisons have more than doubled between 1997 – 2010, that trend has been reversed by this Government.

We already collect data on offence types per nationality and have good understanding of the types of offences committed by foreign national offenders. We are not planning further research into the reasons foreign offenders commit offences in the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 25 November 2014 to Question 214859, how many foreign national prisoners from each country were convicted of each offence in the violence offence group from April 2013 to March 2014.

Andrew Selous

International prisoner transfer arrangements may enable non-nationals to apply to transfer to their state of normal residence or to the state to which they have close ties. There is no requirement on a state to accept the transfer of a non-national resident. Since 2010, no such transfers have taken place to England and Wales. Prisoner transfer is a devolved matter and is the responsibility of the relevant Minister in Scotland and in Northern Ireland.

The numbers of foreign national prisoners from each country convicted of each offence in the violence offence group from April 2013 to March 2014 are in the attached table 1.

The numbers of foreign national prisoners from each country, convicted of each offence type from 1 October 2013 to 31 March 2014 are at the attached table 2. Prison receptions data for April to June 2014 is not available by offence group due to problems with data quality. Figures for this period will be published in due course subject to the result of ongoing investigations. Prison receptions data for July to September 2014 is currently not available and is due to be published on 29 January 2015.

The number of foreign national offenders in our prisons has reduced since 2010, compared to that number doubling between 1997 – 2010.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of those convicted of a knife crime offence were sentenced to prison for (a) up to six months, (b) up to and (c) over 12 months in the last 12 months.

Mike Penning

Knives on our streets are a social scourge. Unlawful possession of a knife or offensive weapon is already a serious criminal offence (which carries a maximum 4 year custodial sentence). We are building on that to send a clear and unequivocal message that those who use a knife or offensive weapon to threaten another person are behaving in a wholly unacceptable manner and can expect an automatic custodial sentence.

This Government introduced the offences of threatening with a knife or offensive weapon in public or in a school. And last year, the Government made changes to the Simple Cautions Guidance issued to police to restrict the use of cautions for certain offences, including knife possession, in all but exceptional circumstances. The Ministry of Justice is also legislating on these changes within the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill, to make it absolutely clear that cautions should no longer be used for serious offences such as those involving a knife or offensive weapon.

Within the sentencing framework, it is for judges and magistrates to decide the appropriate sentence in individual cases taking account of the harm the offence caused and the culpability of the offender. Under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, there is an obligation on courts, when sentencing for offences, to follow the guidelines issued by the Sentencing Council, unless it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so.

The Ministry of Justice does not hold information disaggregating crimes committed using a knife, as opposed to violent offences committed via other means. However, detailed figures relating to knife and offensive weapon possession are published on a quarterly basis, the latest version of which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/knife-possession-sentencing-quarterly-brief-july-to-september-2014

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners are currently serving sentences in the UK that were (a) handed down by the International Criminal Court or (b) heard at the Hague.

Andrew Selous

One prisoner convicted and sentenced at The Hague by the Special Court for Sierra Leone is serving his sentence in the United Kingdom. There are no prisoners serving sentences in the UK which were handed down by the International Criminal Court.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners had reached the state pension age (a) on the latest date and (b) during the most recent year for which information is available.

Andrew Selous

The number of prisoners of state pensionable age on 30 September 2014 was 2221. In the year to 30 September 2014, 262 prisoners reached state pensionable age.

Further information can be found in the National Offender Management Service Offender Equalities Annual Report 2013/14 the link to which is below.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/380129/noms-offender-equalities-annual-report-2013-14.pdf

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