The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-03-31.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisons have recycling units run by (a) prisoners and (b) outside contractors.
Jeremy Wright
There are currently 108 prisons that have recycling units. Of the 95 recycling units operated by public sector prisons, three of them are supervised by private contractors. 13 private sector prisons also have recycling units, many of these units employ prisoners.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-05-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average compensation payment ordered in employment tribunal cases relating to discrimination on the grounds of religion was by the religious belief of the complainant in each of the last five years.
Mr Shailesh Vara
I am answering these questions together.
Data on highest compensation awards for discrimination jurisdictions for the last five years are set out in Tables E6 to E10 of the latest Official Statistics release published by the Ministry of Justice, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2013.
Data on average compensation awards in race discrimination and religious discrimination claims are set out in Tables E6 and E9 of that publication, respectively.
Information on the nature of complaints upheld, and the type of race or religion relevant to individual claims, is not recorded centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost following a manual trawl of all relevant tribunal files. The records retention and disposal schedule applicable to such tribunal files also means that information covering each of the last five years would not be held.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders were bailed under an electronic curfew and went on to receive a custodial sentence in the latest period for which figures are available.
Jeremy Wright
Information on bail and remand collected centrally by the Ministry of Justice and held on the Court Proceedings Database does not record whether conditions (including the use of electronic monitoring) were attached to bail. To answer this Question would require a data matching exercise between data held by the electronic monitoring contractors and sentencing data held by the Ministry of Justice, which could be done only at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-03-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department collects on the number of (a) men and (b) women in prison who had alcohol-related issues prior to conviction.
Jeremy Wright
Prisoners are assessed on entry to prison for addiction problems and there is a package of support available to them. The MoJ’s Transforming Rehabilitation programme will provide individual support to all released prisoners. This will include identifying risks and needs for individual ex-prisoners, and providing services to address them.
The Ministry of Justice does not collect these data centrally on a regular basis. However, a survey of 1,435 adult prisoners sentenced to between one month and four years in 2005 and 2006 (Surveying Prisoner Crime Reduction – SPCR) provides self-reported estimates for each question.
The full reports can be accessed on the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/surveying-prisoner-crime-reduction-spcr
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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, 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 2014-03-31.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners who are in open prisons are serving (a) a life sentence and (b) an indeterminate sentence for public protection.
Jeremy Wright
Depending on the length of tariff and the risk they pose, indeterminate sentenced prisoners (ISPs – both those serving life and Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences) move through their sentence via a series of progressive transfers into lower security establishments in the closed estate and then usually into open conditions. The purpose of any placement in open conditions is for such prisoners’ risks to be tested in less stringent conditions in order to inform the Parole Board’s consideration as to whether it is safe to release them into the community. It is also is an important part of the offender’s rehabilitation. The decision to transfer ISPs to open conditions is a categorisation decision which is a matter for the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State may take this decision after seeking advice from the Parole Board or executively where the prisoners may demonstrate exceptional progress.
However, there is nothing automatic about progress from open conditions to eventual release. Rather, the period in open prison will serve as an important time to test the prisoner and will help inform the Parole Board’s decision whether the offenders risk is such that it may be safely managed in the community.
For many prisoners, in particular those such as ISPs who have spent a considerable amount of time in custody; these are essential components for successful reintegration in the community and therefore an important factor in protecting the public. To release these prisoners directly from a closed prison without the resettlement benefits of the open estate would undoubtedly lead to higher levels of post-release re-offending.
The main purpose of open conditions is to test prisoners in conditions more similar to those that they will face in the community. It also enables them to develop their plans for eventual release. Time spent in open prisons affords prisoners the opportunity to find work, re-establish family ties, reintegrate into the community and ensure housing needs are met. Open prisons are the most effective means of ensuring that prisoners are subject to testing, with appropriate risk assessment to ensure the protection of the public, before they are released into the community. Once tariff has expired, an ISP’s continued detention is justified only so long as it is necessary for the protection of the public.
Public protection is the priority and the Board will take into account a range of factors when assessing whether an offender’s risk is reduced sufficiently, in order that they can be managed in open conditions or on licence in the community. These might include the completion of offence related courses, a sustained period of good custodial behaviour, access to appropriate and stable accommodation, access to education, training and employment, and support from professionals as well as family and friends. The Parole Board would not recommend a prisoner’s transfer to open conditions unless they considered it safe to do so. Prisoners located in open prison conditions have been rigorously risk assessed and categorised as being of a low enough risk to the public to warrant their placement in an open prison.
The requested information is provided in the table attached.
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 2014-05-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in what proportion of cases costs have been awarded to an employer following an unsuccessful claim being brought against them at each stage of the proceedings at an employment tribunal in each of the last five years.
Mr Shailesh Vara
The Ministry of Justice publishes Official Statistics, annually, on costs awards made in employment tribunal claims. It also reports on the numbers of cases disposed of by employment tribunals. Data on costs awards are at table E12, and data on disposals of complaints are available at table E2 which shows distribution of disposed complaints by type and by jurisdiction in the latest release, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2013.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what average period of time is spent on bail by an offender whose case is dealt with in a (a) magistrates’ court and (b) Crown court where the offender (i) pleads guilty at the outset, (ii) changes their plea to guilty during the course of the proceedings and (iii) pleads not guilty.
Mr Shailesh Vara
Information on bail and remand collected centrally by the Ministry of Justice and held on the Court Proceedings Database does not include any information on the length of time defendants were held on bail or remand. This information could only be ascertained by reference to individual court files which could only be achieved at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2014-03-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department collects on the number of men and women in prison who have previously been in local authority care.
Jeremy Wright
Prisoners are assessed on entry to prison for addiction problems and there is a package of support available to them. The MoJ’s Transforming Rehabilitation programme will provide individual support to all released prisoners. This will include identifying risks and needs for individual ex-prisoners, and providing services to address them.
The Ministry of Justice does not collect these data centrally on a regular basis. However, a survey of 1,435 adult prisoners sentenced to between one month and four years in 2005 and 2006 (Surveying Prisoner Crime Reduction – SPCR) provides self-reported estimates for each question.
The full reports can be accessed on the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/surveying-prisoner-crime-reduction-spcr
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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, 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.