APPENDIX

In England and Wales the prison population numbers approximately 85,000, and continues to increase year on year. Prisoners from Black, Asian and ethnic minority communities are overrepresented.¹ The Ministry of Justice holds records on those serving a custodial sentence, as well those held on remand while awaiting trial. The criminal justice system in England and Wales also has the power to impose community orders — sometimes called community payback, these orders are for adults (often first time offenders) who have been sentenced for crimes such as assault or criminal damage.

Community orders and supervision orders, for those on suspended sentences where the sentence is delayed for a probationary period, are dealt with by the Probation Service. Probation services were within the remit of the Ministry of Justice. In 2014, the National Probation Service was part privatised. Those deemed to be low risk offenders (about 70% of those convicted) were moved to private companies under the Transforming Rehabilitation agenda².

In August 2018, I submitted two Freedom of Information requests to the Ministry of Justice. Appendix 1 details the number of Newham residents that were in custody at that time. The data in Appendix 2 relates to the “high risk” offenders who are being supervised by the Probation Service. In response to the Freedom of Information request, the MOJ could not provide figures for the “low risk” offenders supervised in the private sector.