Victoria Atkins: As of 30 June 2021, there were 13 females serving a custodial sentence in England and Wales who had declared former military service. Information on previous service does not distinguish between those who have served in the British Armed Forces or those of another nation. Those who choose to declare previous service may be referring to time spent with the UK forces or with those of another...
Victoria Atkins: The report into the Awareness for Staff on Prevent Extremism and Counter Terrorism Strategy (ASPECTS) training programme, which is currently underway, includes sensitive information and will not be available for publication.
Victoria Atkins: The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme commenced on 6th January, providing up to 20,000 women, children and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK. From Spring 2022, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will refer refugees to the scheme, based on assessments of protection need. The UNHCR has the global mandate to provide international protection...
Victoria Atkins: I will publish both the specification for service delivery and for building design once a site has been purchased and planning permission has been secured, and prior to both building refurbishment works and service commencement. We have based our engagement on those local authority areas with sufficient demand and met with the following authorities: Bridgend, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil,...
Victoria Atkins: The Department publishes statistics concerning deaths in prison custody in England and Wales in the quarterly Safety in Custody statistics. A spreadsheet containing statistics on all deaths in custody up to December 2021 is available, in addition to quarterly bulletins outlining trends, at: Safety in custody: quarterly update to September 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Those statistics are...
Victoria Atkins: The Department publishes statistics concerning deaths in prison custody in England and Wales in the quarterly Safety in Custody statistics. A spreadsheet containing statistics on all deaths in custody, up to December 2021, broken down by category including gender is available, in addition to quarterly bulletins outlining trends at: Safety in custody: quarterly update to September 2021 -...
Victoria Atkins: Our aim is to conclude the process of confirmation of Indefinite Leave to Remain status before anyone’s leave expires. Those who entered were granted limited leave to enter with access to public funds and employment. This status is not a bar to them being permanently housed or to starting their life in the UK, including taking employment. We have made arrangements to ensure prospective...
Victoria Atkins: I have taken a number of steps to keep Members of Parliament up to date on Afghan resettlement. I have previously sent two letters to colleagues; one providing an update on casework to the Home Office on Afghanistan and one updating on the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS). I gave detailed evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee and I have updated the House on a number of...
Victoria Atkins: There are currently over 12,000 evacuees in bridging hotel accommodation at the present time. This cohort is made up of British and Afghan Nationals who may be eligible for Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) or Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS).
Victoria Atkins: The Department for Education have confirmed that ACRS/ARAP individuals wishing to access higher education will have access to home fee status and student support from the next academic year. This puts ACRS and ARAP arrivals on the same footing as refugees.
Victoria Atkins: As reported in the latest statistics released on gov.uk, there were 218 persons in custody for terrorism or terrorism-connected offences in Great Britain (as at 30 September 2021). We have a range of capabilities to manage the risk posed by terrorist offenders, and to support their rehabilitation. Risk management is underpinned through a multi-agency, end-to-end case management process. ...
Victoria Atkins: The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme commenced on 6 January, providing up to 20,000 women, children and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK. The scheme will prioritise those who have assisted UK efforts in Afghanistan and stood up for UK values such as democracy, women’s rights, freedom of speech and rule of law; and vulnerable people such as women and girls...
Victoria Atkins: On 5 May 2020, the Government announced the first Residential Women’s Centre will be in Wales. Working closely with partners, including the Welsh Government and local authorities, we are making good progress towards the purchase of a site which, if successful, would then be submitted into a planning application process. We have developed a specification for the service delivery and building...
Victoria Atkins: The resignation volume for prison officers for each month between January 2010 to September 2021 has been provided in a separate excel table. Table 1 shows the annual leaving rate of prison officers between 2009/10 and 2020/21 (by financial year). The latest published data has also been provided for 12 months to 30 September 2021. Table 1: Underlying leaving rate of band 3-5 permanent...
Victoria Atkins: The cumulative length of service, in years, held by all prison officers is given in the following table. Most years’ figures are given as at 31st December each year, aside from 2021, where the latest published figures are as at 30 September 2021. Table 1 – Band 3-5 Prison Officers1 in England and Wales cumulative length of service2, as at 31st December each year from 2010 to 2020 and...
Victoria Atkins: Data on the number of prisoners who have been released is published as part of the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly publication by the Ministry of Justice. The total number of prisoners who have been released in each of the last three years is given in the following table: Year 2018 2019 2020 Number released 69,622 62,771 53,253
Victoria Atkins: Counter terrorism training is available to all prison staff either remotely, when it is more convenient for establishments, or face-to-face. Training is now also more flexible, with sessions available in evenings and at weekends. We started recording grade specific data in April 2021. Since then, a total of 6,893 band 3-5 prison officers have received Counter Terrorism training. This...
Victoria Atkins: The Home Office is committed to publishing data in an orderly way as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics. The next set of figures will be in the quarterly release in February 2022 and will cover the period October-December 2021. These numbers are updated each quarter. This adheres to the standard practice for the release of...
Victoria Atkins: Table 1 shows the number of band 3-5 prison officers who joined in each financial year. Of those officers who joined in that particular year, we have shown the volume and percentage of those who left the service within two years. Table 1: Percentage of all band 3-5 prison officer1 joiners who left within two years2 - based on date of joining, 2009/10 to 2020/21, and 12 months to September...
Victoria Atkins: The Government remains wholly committed to delivering the Female Offender Strategy, which has three overarching priorities of: fewer women coming into the criminal justice system; fewer women in custody, especially on short sentences, with more managed effectively in the community; and better conditions for women in custody. The current project to deliver new facilities on the women’s...