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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-04-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions a prisoner did not spend at least one period of 24 consecutive hours in prison in a week in each of the last three years.

Jeremy Wright

Prisoners may be released on temporary licence for reasons linked to their resettlement needs and sentence plans, or where there are compelling circumstances that justify the release. Last month, we announced a range of measures to strengthen the existing temporary release provisions to ensure that the right balance is always struck between facilitating resettlement and protecting the public. Under our plans, public protection will always take priority.

Data on the number of hours for which prisoners are released on temporary licence is not collated centrally.

Data on temporary releases in 2012 is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statistical-notice-releases-on-temporary-licence-2012

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-04-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people of each gender were sentenced in the West Yorkshire Police Force area to immediate custody for a first offence in each year since 2008; and for which offences such people were sentenced.

Jeremy Wright

The sentencing framework and sentencing guidelines apply equally to all offenders. Sentencing is entirely a matter for the courts, taking account of all the circumstances of each case. This will include the seriousness of the offence, including all aggravating and mitigating factors, and a guilty plea.

Defendants are now more likely to be convicted for committing crime and sent to prison for longer than they were a decade ago. In addition criminals convicted since 2010 are more likely to receive an immediate custodial sentence, both overall and for a first time offence.

Table 1 shows the number of offenders given an immediate custodial sentence in the West Yorkshire Police Force Area for their first offence, by offence class and gender 2008 -2013.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-04-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average custodial sentence was for people of each gender sentenced in the West Yorkshire Police Force area to immediate custody for (a) summary only offences, (b) either way offences and (c) indictable only offences; and for which offences such people were sentenced.

Jeremy Wright

The sentencing framework and sentencing guidelines apply equally to all offenders. Sentencing is entirely a matter for the courts, taking account of all the circumstances of each case. This will include all aggravating and mitigating factors, the criminal history of the offender and a guilty plea.

Defendants are now more likely to be convicted for committing crime and sent to prison for longer than they were a decade ago. In addition criminals convicted since 2010 are more likely to receive an immediate custodial sentence, both overall and for a first time offence.

Offenders sentenced at all courts, by gender, class type, offence type in West Yorkshire police force area from 2008 to 2012 (latest available) can be viewed in the table. In many cases the numbers are too small for the average custodial sentence length to be meaningful.

Court proceedings data for 2013 are planned for publication in May 2014.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-04-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2014, Official Report, column 284W, on Muslim prisoners, how many and what proportion of Muslim prisoners included in the figures listed for 2013 have converted to that religion since they arrived in prison; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright

Information on the number of prisoners who convert to each religion (including Islam) whilst in prison is not held centrally. The data held centrally relates to prisoners’ current declared religion, not any previously declared religion.

In order to provide data relating to offender conversions to Islam in prison, it would be necessary to manually examine the individual prison records of over 11,700 Muslims in prison as at 31 December 2013 – this could only be done at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-04-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners serving (a) life and (b) indeterminate sentences for public protection were granted release on temporary licence in the latest period for which figures are available.

Jeremy Wright

Release on temporary licence is the process where, towards the end of his or her sentence, an offender can be released from a prison establishment on a temporary basis. This release has to be for a specific purpose, which may include training, employment, or maintaining family ties, and comes with strict conditions that must be met. All offenders are subject to a risk assessment before being released. Temporary release contributes to public protection by enabling release plans to be tested, under strict conditions, before the offender is released. It also allows prisoners to participate in necessary activities outside of the prison establishment. This helps them to adjust to life on release, which contributes to reducing reoffending.

On 10 March, the Government announced a package of measures to improve the consistency, risk assessment and monitoring of releases on temporary licence. The improvements will apply to all prisoners but, in addition, a new scheme of Restricted ROTL will be introduced for those prisoners who have committed serious crimes in the past. This will feature more stringent risk assessment procedures carried out by probation professionals, and more robust monitoring arrangements when this sort of offender is on temporary licence in the community.

In 2012, the latest period for which figures are available, 611 prisoners serving a life sentence, and 1,043 prisoners serving an indeterminate sentence for public protection, were granted release on temporary licence. These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-04-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners were released on temporary licence for (a) up to 12 hours, (b) 12 to 24 hours and (c) over 24 hours in a week in the latest period for which figures are available.

Jeremy Wright

Prisoners may be released on temporary licence for reasons linked to their resettlement needs and sentence plans, or where there are compelling circumstances that justify the release. Last month, we announced a range of measures to strengthen the existing temporary release provisions to ensure that the right balance is always struck between facilitating resettlement and protecting the public. Under our plans, public protection will always take priority.

Data on the number of hours for which prisoners are released on temporary licence is not collated centrally.

Data on temporary releases in 2012 is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statistical-notice-releases-on-temporary-licence-2012

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