Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Joint Enterprise: Cost of Judicial Processes

Tuesday 20 February 2024 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The Ministry of Justice does not collate data on whether crimes were part of joint enterprise since 2014.
  • Manchester Metropolitan University research estimates 250 million spent on prosecuting joint enterprise cases.
  • The cost of incarcerating people found guilty under joint enterprise is not a reason to review the law.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Kim Johnson Lab Liverpool Riverside
Justice & Courts
Context

Kim Johnson asks about the cost to the public purse of judicial processes involving joint enterprise for violent crimes since 2014.

Question

If he will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of judicial processes under joint enterprise relating to violent crimes in each year since 2014.

Answer from Gareth Bacon

Although the Ministry of Justice collates statistics nationally on the principal criminal offence for which a perpetrator is prosecuted, convicted or sentenced, including data on their ethnicity, it does not collate data on whether the crime that they committed was part of joint enterprise, so unfortunately I am unable to provide the information that the hon. Lady requests. However, we are considering whether such data could be collected as part of the common platform programme.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Cost estimate and specific data on joint enterprise cases

How: We Are Considering Whether Such Data Could Be Collected

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Q2 Kim Johnson Lab Liverpool Riverside
Justice & Courts
Context

Manchester Metropolitan University research indicates £250 million spent on prosecuting under joint enterprise and an additional £1.2 billion on incarcerating over 1,000 people convicted.

Question

I welcome that response, but the Minister will know that Manchester Metropolitan University has recently carried out some research into the cost of prosecuting under joint enterprise. Some £250 million is spent processing joint enterprises cases, and an extra £1.2 billion is spent incarcerating the just over 1,000 people who are convicted. Those are eye-watering amounts of money, so does the Minister agree that we need to review the doctrine of joint enterprise to ensure that only those who are responsible for significant contribution to a crime are punished for it?

Answer from Gareth Bacon

There is a cost to justice. People who are found guilty of crime based on the evidence presented to a court of law have been sentenced, and there is a cost to their incarceration. Simply put, the cost of incarcerating people is not a reason to review the law.

Not addressed: Need for reviewing joint enterprise doctrine

How: The Cost Of Incarcerating People Is Not A Reason To Review The Law

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