Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners have been released in error from HMP Littlehey since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Releases in error have been increasing for several years and are another symptom of the prison system crisis inherited by this Government. On 11 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a five-point action plan setting out initial steps to address this issue.
Totals for releases in error, including a breakdown by releasing prison (or Prisoner Escort Custody Services), are published each July in the HMPPS Annual Digest, available via HMPPS Annual Digest, April 2024 to March 2025 - GOV.UK, and provide data up to March 2025.
Breakdowns of the number of people who have been released in error since April 2025 cannot be provided because it would form a subset of releases in error data which underpins future versions of these Official Statistics.
The Government is determined to fix the issue of mistaken releases and ensure the public is properly protected.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of defendants under the age of 18 who have been remanded by the police are released by the court at the first hearing on (a) sentence, (b) bail and (c) for other reasons.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on pre-court remands at criminal courts in England and Wales in the Remand data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal justice statistics - GOV.UK.
However, data held centrally does not include details on the circumstances around the release of a defendant held on remand.
The information may be held in court records but to examine individual court records would incur disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of defendants over the age of 18 who have been remanded by the police are released by the court at the first hearing on (a) sentence, (b) bail and (c) for other reasons.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on pre court remands at criminal courts in England and Wales in the Remands data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics.
However, data held centrally does not include details on the circumstances around the release of a defendant held on remand.
This information may be held in court records but to examine individual court records would incur disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much (a) their Department and (b) its arm’s length bodies have spent on (i) installing electric vehicle charging facilities and (ii) purchasing electric vehicles since 4 July 2024; and what estimate their Department has made of the difference in capital cost between (A) the electric vehicles purchased by their Department and (B) comparable (1) petrol and (2) diesel models.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Since 4 July 2024, the Department and its arm’s length bodies have spent £3,537 on the installation of electric vehicle charging facilities.
Since 4 July 2024, the Department and its arm's length bodies have spent £483,909 on the purchase of electric vehicles.
The Department estimates that the capital cost of the electric vehicles purchased is approximately £11,545 higher than comparable petrol or diesel models.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) single sex and (b) gender neutral bathroom facilities his Department provides in its premises.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
This information can only be provided at disproportionate cost.