The Prisons Strategy White Paper sets out the government’s ambition to equip all prisoners with the literacy skills they need to get jobs on release. To support this, HMPPS has introduced new performance measures for English and maths and we are holding Governors to account for improving the teaching of reading in their prisons.

The joint report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons and Ofsted on Prison education: a review of reading education in prisons highlighted the need to improve literacy education in prisons. To address its recommendations, we will review the current mechanisms for assessing and recording the levels of prisoners’ reading; improve the curriculum guidance given to governors to ensure they prioritise the teaching of reading and review teacher capability to ensure that all providers have staff who are properly qualified to teach reading.

We are also planning to develop a Literacy Innovation Scheme to encourage new providers to work with us to trial new approaches to teaching reading with the aim of driving up quality and improving outcomes across the estate.

The Prisons Strategy White Paper set out a new approach for women’s prisons: one which is trauma responsive, recognises the distinct nature of women’s experience in custody and provides the appropriate levels of support, particularly for pregnant women and those with young children.

So far, we have developed bespoke selection and assessment criteria for staff in women’s prisons and started to roll out a bespoke model of staff training.

We have also funded a number of activities to support improvements in safety, including additional support for women with complex needs, specialist support for women who have experienced abuse and extra support during early days in custody.

In addition, we have announced the opening of a pilot Residential Women’s Centre in Swansea to provide a community-based alternative to a short custodial sentence.

The Pregnancy, Mother and Baby Unit and Maternal Separation from Children up to the Age of Two in Women’s Prisons Policy Framework (September 2021), committed to the introduction of the Pregnancy, Mother and Baby Liaison Officer across the women’s estate. There are 13 Liaison Officers in place and 12 attended the national ‘Managing Pregnant Women in Prison’ course in March 2022. Additionally, we have introduced a National Pregnancy, Mother and Baby Liaison Officers Support Network.

We also committed to The National Stakeholder Advisory Forum on Pregnancy, Mother and Baby Units, and Maternal Separation from Children up to the Age of Two in Women’s Prisons. This bi-annual event will bring together key stakeholders and individuals with lived experience ensuring a culture of reflective practice and informed policy development. The first event is scheduled for Autumn 2022 and the terms of reference will be shared with forum attendees in advance.

Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service collects information on both victims and perpetrators of domestic abuse where a full risk and needs assessment is undertaken, in accordance with the Offender Assessment System (OASys). Only by means of a full assessment can a victim or perpetrator of domestic abuse be definitively identified. A full assessment is made only on certain offenders, having regard to their risk and sentence type/length. Consequently, the Department is not in a position to publish comprehensive data on victims and perpetrators of domestic abuse currently in prison.

HM Prison and Probation Service will continue to look at ways to expand and enhance data held.

Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service collects information on both victims and perpetrators of domestic abuse where a full risk and needs assessment is undertaken, in accordance with the Offender Assessment System (OASys). Only by means of a full assessment can a victim or perpetrator of domestic abuse be definitively identified. A full assessment is made only on certain offenders, having regard to their risk and sentence type/length. Consequently, the Department is not in a position to publish comprehensive data on victims and perpetrators of domestic abuse currently in prison.

HM Prison and Probation Service will continue to look at ways to expand and enhance data held.

The answer to question (ii) is information held by the Department for Health and Social Care. We can provide information from individuals in prison as, at 30 June 2021, who have a detailed assessment (Layer 3) completed on the Offender Assessment System (OASys). Individuals have been excluded where there is missing data for any of the assessment items required to answer questions (i) and (iii) to (xii). Definitions used for specific needs areas are given below.

Numbers

Proportions

Definitions used

Item (i), mental health issues: OASys reports significant difficulties (score of 2) on question 10.2 psychological problems and/or question 10.6 psychiatric problems.

Item (iii), a learning disability: the disabilities listed on Delius include a learning disability.

Item (iv), a physical disability: the disabilities listed on Delius include hearing difficulties, a progressive condition, reduced mobility, reduced physical capacity, severe disfigurement, speech impairment or visual impairment.

Item (v), unemployment histories: OASys reports significant difficulties (score of 2) on question 4.3 employment history.

Item (vi), housing issues or are homeless: OASys reports a criminogenic need in the accommodation section.

Item (viii), social isolation: OASys reports significant difficulties (score of 2) on question 10.3 social isolation.

Item (ix), financial issues: OASys reports that the assessor judges financial issues to be linked to “risk of serious harm, risks to the individual and other risks” and/or linked to offending behaviour.

Item (x), substance misuse issues: OASys reports a criminogenic need in the drug misuse and/or alcohol misuse sections.

Item (xi), experienced physical, psychological or social trauma: OASys reports that any of the following were present – question 2.10, current offence disinhibited by a traumatic life event; significant difficulties (score of 2) on question 6.3, experience of childhood; question 6.7, victim of domestic violence, and question 10.7, history of severe head injuries, fits, periods of unconsciousness.

Item (xii) checks how many of (i) and (iii) to (xi) are present, and is counted as present if two or more of these ten items are present.

An MoJ study estimated that there were approximately 200,000 children in England & Wales who had a parent in prison at some point during the year 2009. Looking at the number of children with a parent in prison at a single point in time, approximately 90,000 children had a parent in prison at the end of June 2009. No recent annual estimate has been made of the number of children affected by the imprisonment of a parent or main caregiver.

The Prisons Strategy White Paper includes a commitment to improve the quality of the data collected and to improve the support provided. We are investigating opportunities for data sharing between Government organisations, to facilitate targeted support for offenders and their families.

Changes have been made to the Basic Custody Screening Tool to enable us to collect data on entry to prison about how many primary carers are in custody and how many children under the age of 18 are affected by their imprisonment. As this data is self-reported, we will monitor the quality of the data over the next year and make a decision as to what format the data will be published.

The information requested is shown in the table below.

We recognise that race disparities persist in the Criminal Justice System, and we are committed to actively tackling the impact of this across MoJ. As part of this commitment, in December 2020 HMPPS launched the Race Action Programme (RAP), which builds on the MoJ Race Action Plan.

The RAP will increase the diversity of our workforce, address the risk of bias in our policies and tackle disparity in outcomes for prisoners, people on probation and children in our system. This will also help to reduce reoffending and enhance rehabilitative practices.

Prisons use a monitoring tool which shows the distribution of prisoner protected characteristics across a range of components of prison life. This includes prisoners placed on the incentives scheme, as well as adjudications and complaints. The tool will be expanded to include other areas such as release on temporary licence and use of force.

Governors use this tool to monitor the characteristics of their local prison population, and in this way can better explain local conditions and discern whether changes may be warranted.

The Ministry of Justice and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) approach to managing transgender offenders is set out in the policy framework ‘The Care and Management of Individuals who are Transgender’.

Prisoners are allocated to prisons initially according to their legal gender, which for the vast majority will be their sex recorded at birth. We are not obliged to allocate transgender prisoners according to their wishes, and their views are one of a range of factors considered when making allocation decisions. Any decisions to locate differently to an individual’s legal gender, at any point during a sentence, are made on a case-by-case basis by a Complex Case Board, an expert multi-disciplinary panel chaired by a senior operational manager in HMPPS with specialist training.

As we do not have a definition of a “serious violent offence against the person”, we have provided data on transgender women with any offence of violence against the person.

Data on transgender prisoners is not available for 20th May 2022. This is because transgender data comes from an annual collection exercise and is a snapshot of the transgender prison population on 31st March of each year.

The most recent data available is from 31st March 2021. On 31st March 2021, there were 146 transgender women without GRCs in prison estates across England and Wales. Of these, 41 individuals were serving their sentence for the principal offence of violence against the person in male establishments. There were no transgender women with a principal offence of violence against the person in the women’s estate.

The number of transgender women with GRCs serving sentences for offences of violence against the person in either estate is fewer than 5.

The Ministry of Justice and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) approach to managing transgender offenders is set out in the policy framework ‘The Care and Management of Individuals who are Transgender’.

Prisoners are allocated to prisons initially according to their legal gender, which for the vast majority will be their sex recorded at birth. We are not obliged to allocate transgender prisoners according to their wishes, and their views are one of a range of factors considered when making allocation decisions. Any decisions to locate differently to an individual’s legal gender, at any point during a sentence, are made on a case-by-case basis by a Complex Case Board, an expert multi-disciplinary panel chaired by a senior operational manager in HMPPS with specialist training.

As we do not have a definition of a “serious violent offence against the person”, we have provided data on transgender women with any offence of violence against the person.

Data on transgender prisoners is not available for 20th May 2022. This is because transgender data comes from an annual collection exercise and is a snapshot of the transgender prison population on 31st March of each year.

The most recent data available is from 31st March 2021. On 31st March 2021, there were 146 transgender women without GRCs in prison estates across England and Wales. Of these, 41 individuals were serving their sentence for the principal offence of violence against the person in male establishments. There were no transgender women with a principal offence of violence against the person in the women’s estate.

The number of transgender women with GRCs serving sentences for offences of violence against the person in either estate is fewer than 5.

What steps his Department is taking to improve literacy among prisoners.

I welcome what the Minister has said on improving literacy among prisoners and what the Secretary of State said in answer to the previous question. May I just strengthen the point about governor accountability? Training in prisons is currently accountable through Ofsted and the training provider is held accountable. Until governors themselves are fully accountable for the literacy of prisoners as they leave, tied of course with the need to get prisoners into work, on which there has been excellent progress, it will always be harder than it should be to get the reading training needed, especially for those who are dyslexic.

Diolch yn fawr, Lefarydd. Education and literacy highlight the inconsistency between what is devolved and what is reserved in relation to justice in Wales. Does the Minister therefore welcome Welsh Government’s proposals, published today, to further the devolution of justice in Wales, and will she commit to work with Welsh Government to further those proposals?

If we can improve prisoners’ literacy and numeracy skills, we will increase their ability to get jobs when they are released, which, in turn, will cut crime and make our streets safer. That is why we have set our plans to achieve exactly that in the prisons strategy White Paper. We have already introduced measures of progress in English and maths to hold governors to account, and we will be establishing an innovation scheme to deliver new initiatives to improve the reading and writing of prisoners.

Screening for Learning Difficulties and Disabilities (LDD) is delivered in prisons by contractors. The number of assessments carried out increased during the pandemic with more learners being supported.

As part of the MoJ’s Action Plan response to the Justice inspectorate’s review of Neurodiversity in the Criminal Justice System, the Cross Government Neurodiversity Working Group will consider current screening tool use, including assessing practicality, affordability and value for money. To help improve support for neurodivergent people, a new role of lead for neurodiversity is also being introduced in the Accelerator prisons with the view to expanding the role across the estate.

We have recently commissioned external research to evaluate current provision and are awaiting the findings. Our response to the recommendations from the recently published HMIP/OFSTED report, ‘Prison education: a review of reading education in prisons’ will include a review of all initial assessments taking place within custody.

We are committed to ensuring all those who need drug treatment in prison have access to a full range of treatment options, including abstinence-based interventions, to support a meaningful recovery from drug dependency.

In 2011, responsibility for health services, including substance misuse treatment, in prisons transferred from the National Offender Management Service to NHS England. Data on the number of prisoners in treatment services is collected via the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System and can be obtained from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities.

Substance misuse treatment in secure settings: 2020 to 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The Independent Monitoring Boards (IMBs) play an important role in supporting the Ministry of Justice to improve the safety and security of our prisons. Although the IMB is responsible for the recruitment of its volunteers, the Department recognises the challenges that exist in recruiting members to some individual Monitoring Boards. MoJ has, therefore, increased the funding available to the organisation in 2022-23. This increase in funding will help support improvements to member recruitment and retention policies to ensure Boards continue to deliver statutory responsibilities to monitor and report on the treatment of those detained in custody.

The requested information is published quarterly at: Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Projections for the young adult population only include those aged 18-20, and are available up to July 2025 here: Juvenile, young adult and adult populations by sex. Projections for the young adult population only include those aged 18-20, and are available up to July 2025 here: Juvenile, young adult and adult populations by sex.

Data on the age and location of prisoners throughout the adult estate is provided in the ‘prison population tool’ which is released as part of the Offender Management Statistics quarterly series. The most recent document can be accessed via the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1050261/Prison_Population_data_tool_20211231.xlsx.

Children and young people between 10-17 are held across the youth secure estate. The Youth Custody Service provides transition planning for those who will be in custody at the point of their 18th birthday and identify suitable placements for them.