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Update on Foreign National Offenders, Prisons and Probation
11 March 2024
Type
Written Ministerial Statement
Department
Ministry of Justice
At a Glance
Issue Summary
The statement provides an update on measures taken to reduce crime by increasing prison sentences and managing foreign national offenders (FNOs), as well as steps to address the remand population growth and improve probation practices.
Action Requested
The Government will invest £53 million in expanding the Bail Information Service, fund community accommodation with additional £22 million for 2024/25, extend end of custody supervised licence measure, increase awareness about electronic monitoring options, and refocus probation practice on public protection points. These actions aim to efficiently manage FNOs and remand population while enhancing public safety.
Key Facts
- Violent and neighbourhood crime reduced by over 50% since 2010.
- Reoffending rate dropped from 31% to 25%.
- Average prison time increased by more than 40% over a decade.
- Government ended automatic halfway release for serious sexual and violent offenders, ensuring they serve two-thirds of their sentence.
- Over 10,000 (c.12%) prisoners are Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) at an average cost of £50,000 per year to the taxpayer.
- Government returned nearly 4,000 FNOs from prison and community in the previous year, a 27% increase.
- Early Removal Scheme extended from 12 months to 18 months since January.
- The Criminal Justice Bill enables prisoners to be transferred and held in rented prisons overseas.
- Remand population increased by over 6,000 to more than 16,000 since 2019.
- £53m additional funding for Bail Information Service expansion announced at Budget.
- £22m of additional funding available in 2024/25 to fund community accommodation.
- Government invested £155 million extra annually in the unified Probation Service since 2021.
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