Commons Chamber

Tuesday 11th November 2025

(began 1 hour, 54 minutes ago)

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None Portrait Q2. What his Department's policy is on the use of the Welsh language in prisons. (906246)
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Mr. Roberts. Question number two, Minister. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In line
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None Portrait Q3. What steps he is taking to support the Probation Service. (906247)
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In solemn. Speaker.
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None Portrait Q5. What steps he is taking to increase access to legal aid for people in rural areas. (906250)
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Question number five. Please, Mr. Speaker. Minister. Legal aid can be a lifeline and
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Sarah Sackman Portrait Sarah Sackman MP, The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (Finchley and Golders Green, Labour)
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The review of criminal law in that area is something that is incredibly delicate. It's something that we need to look at in line with common law and the case law.

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And it's something that we're keeping under review. Helen Morgan number seven, please, Mr. Speaker.

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Mr. Behind the backlogs in our

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Behind the backlogs in our courts, behind each and every one of those case statistics, there is a human story, and there is no a human story, and there is no doubt that the delays in our criminal courts are taking their toll on victims. And all participants in the criminal participants in the criminal justice system. But we are gripping the situation by investing in greater number of Crown Court greater number of Crown Court sitting days, additional investment in criminal legal aid, and of course, the review that we've course, the review that we've commissioned from Sir Brian Leveson, because what it was going to be required is once in a generation reform of our criminal justice

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reform of our criminal justice system and will be providing our course. Melissa, I think it's grouped,

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Minister. Forgive me. Forgive me, Mr. Speaker. I was

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Forgive me, Mr. Speaker. I was going to answer both questions seven and 22 together, and I think you have my answer on the backlogs
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None Portrait Q8. What assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the number of prisoners serving Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences. (906254)
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I can also help with the reopening of Chorley Court. Mid Ulster Jonathan Brash.

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Number eight, Mr. Speaker, Sir.
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None Portrait Q11. What steps he is taking through the criminal justice system to help support victims of environmental crimes. (906257)
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Doctor Roz Savage. 11 Minister.
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None Portrait Q12. What steps his Department is taking to help improve rehabilitation outcomes for people with unspent convictions. (906258)
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Minister. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The government is committed to helping people with convictions find
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None Portrait Q14. What steps his Department is taking to provide adequate funding for the courts system. (906261)
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Vikki Slade. Vikki Slade.

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Speaker. I wasn't aware. Wasn't it? Question 15. That is the.
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None Portrait Q16. Whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals on litigation funding agreements. (906262)
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Reopen Chorley to help you, sir.

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Well, first of all, can I thank the right hon. Gentleman's commitment on this issue? We had an
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None Portrait Ministerial statement: Release in error
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Chancellor. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, Mr. Speaker, with permission, I'll make a statement permission, I'll make a statement on releases an error from prison. Let me begin on Armistice Day by paying tribute to those we honour, members of both houses and parliamentary staff who gave their tomorrow for our today. Whatever divides our politics today, we remember what binds us together. Our belief in service and pursuit of the common good. Mr. speaker, on Wednesday, the 5th of November, I answered Prime Minister's questions.

As someone who served in this House for 25 years, I take my responsibilities to Parliament incredibly seriously. The House will recall that I was asked repeatedly whether any asylum seeking offender had been released in error. At that time, I had been alerted of the release of Brahim Kader Sharif from HMP Wandsworth. Details about the case were still emerging throughout Wednesday. Importantly, my officials had not had confirmation about whether or not he was an asylum seeker. Indeed, it was not until later that afternoon that the Home Office confirmed to the Ministry of Justice that he was not.

Given the nature of the opposition's question, I made a judgement that I would wait until I had all the detail, rather than risk giving an inaccurate or incomplete or misleading picture to the House about a sensitive case. Members opposite may argue that they would have handled the situation differently. All I can do is be open about the factors I was weighing at the time, and that the data in the system we inherited is painfully slow. I thank the speaker for the opportunity to update the House in full today.

Members will recall that following the release of Cabatu on the 24th of October, I put in place stronger release checks. I can confirm that the error leading to Mr. Sharif's release happened in September, before those checks came in. He was charged with burglary at Snaresbrook Crown Court and a warrant was issued to HMP Pentonville for his remand. Contrary to the set down process, it was then forwarded by email to HMP Wandsworth. When Mr. Sharif was transferred.

However, staff did not pick it up and he was released on the 29th of October. Mr. Sharif was taken back into custody on the 7th of November by Haringey Police. I'm grateful to officers from my part of North London again after they also re-arrested Mr. Cabatu. I'm grateful to to the wider Metropolitan Police and the public who assisted them. I can tell the House, Mr. Speaker, that in the year to March 2025, there were around 57,000 routine releases from prison.

In that same time, there were 262 releases in error from prison. New data my department published today shows that from April to the end of October this year, there were 91 releases in error from prison. Further data on the breakdown of offences are official statistics that need to be combed through in detail before being put into the public domain. This was not a publication due today, but we recognise the public interest in being transparent about the overall number.

It's important to note that this may be revised as additional cases are subsequently recorded, but this is the very latest that I have been provided. We understand that there are three mistakenly released prisoners currently lawfully at large, their prison records show. None of these are convicted sex offenders. I have been informed, Mr. Speaker, this afternoon, that Hmps are investigating a further case of a potential release in error on the 3rd of November. Who may still be at large.

It is symptomatic of the data issues we inherited that this that all this information I have been given at this time, while police and hmps investigate of the confirmed cases, case one was in prison for failing to surrender to the police and released an error in December 2020 for case two was in prison for a class B drug offence and released in error in August 2024. In case three was in prison for aggravated burglary and released in error in June 2025.

Two are a British national and one is a foreign national offender. I will not provide any further details on individual cases. In each case, we have to consider the welfare of victims and the judgement of our law enforcement agencies. Of the 262 releases in error from prison in the year to March 2025, 87 were of offenders whose main offence was violence against the person and three whose main offence was a sexual offence. I am clear that we must bear down on these numbers, which are symptomatic of a prison system under horrendous strain.

As the shadow justice secretary admitted last week, the state of the prison Service has been unacceptable for a very long time, including under the conservative government. Prisons today are still struggling with violence. The safety and custody statistics show an 8% rise in the rate of assaults in the year to June 2025. Systems are archaic. Every prisoner's sentence is worked out on paper. Considering the type of offence and the legislation covered by it. Mr. speaker, there are more than 500 pages of sentence management guidance.

Mr. speaker, I pay tribute to prison officers doing an incredibly important job. But as the Prison Officers Association has said, prisons throughout the country are underfunded, they're understaffed, and they're operating under relentless strain. Frontline prison officers were cut by a quarter between 2010 and 2017. That's around 6000 fewer people and means that there are less experienced staff, which places more pressure on the system and, unsurprisingly, mistakes happen in those circumstances. Indeed, from 20 1011 to the end of 2324.

Under the previous government, there were 860 known releases in error from prison. We must recognise the distress caused to victims knowing that the person who harmed them is free, when they should be behind bars. In the worst cases, like William Fernandez back in 2021, prisoners have committed further horrific offences. I give an unequivocal apology to all who have faced worry or worse, as a result of releases in error, especially Haddish. Victims who I'm offered to meet.

I hope the right hon. Gentleman. Mr. speaker, I hope the right hon. Gentleman opposite will join me in that apology to all who have suffered because of releases in error under this and previous governments. Mr. speaker, human error will always exist, and no Justice Secretary could prevent every mistake. But we must reduce the risk and reverse the trend over the course of this Parliament. But we must be honest. The release process requires a radical overhaul, and establishing the facts in individual cases is complex.

Decisions about public statements rightly rest with the police. Issuing details too early could frustrate covert inquiries, or put police officers or the public at risk. These are judgements for experienced operational leaders, and parliamentarians must give them the space to make them. Mr. speaker, this is a complex issue. We must be straight with the public about that, and I'm clear that we have a mountain to climb in response. So first, I'm chairing a new Justice Performance Board. It will give a comprehensive view of prisons and criminal court performance, including releases in error, to drive a step change in how we respond.

The first monthly meeting took place yesterday. Secondly, I'm making sure we understand the issues following the release of Kabata, I asked Damian Hinds to carry out a review. This will conclude by the end of February next year. It will now include the adequacy of data collected and published on releases in error, and we fully expect to uncover additional incidents. I can also announce that we will set up a team of data scientists to review historic releases in error to understand what's going wrong.

Third, I'm improving processes because some of these errors actually originated not in the prison process, but in the court process. I will implement an urgent warrant query unit, supported by court experts, so that prisons can escalate queries and get rapid clarifications to reduce the risk of releases in error that emanate from the court system. We're also issuing instructions to court staff to reinforce mandatory requirements for imprison orders to be confirmed verbally with judges, before finalising a measure which has been shared with the judiciary.

The court and the Prison Service are also scoping a joint exercise to look at live warrants, initially taking place within the London region, it will identify errors and ensure prisoners are subject to the correct warrants. Fourth, I'm accelerating upgrades. I stood up a digital Rapid Response team last week to reduce human error with cutting edge technology. Over the next six months, we will provide up to £10 million to deliver AI and technology solutions to help frontline staff avoid mistakes and support them to calculate sentences accurately.

Finally, I'm simplifying the release policy. One of the aims of the sentencing bill is to standardise how cases are treated, and following Damian Hinds review, we will consider whether amendments are required to operational policy. These are the initial steps to address the issue, but I will update the House where further changes are necessary. I

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commend this statement to the House. Right. Just can I just clear
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Robert Jenrick Portrait Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP (Newark, Conservative)
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secretary. So, Mr. Speaker, we're back here again. Then at least the Justice again. Then at least the Justice Secretary gets some use out of his new suit. But. But where has Wednesday's bombast and bravado gone? Get a grip, man. He thundered last week without even a hint of irony. None of that today was there. And why is that? Well, it's because, like increasing numbers of criminals in our jails, the justice secretary just doesn't know whether he's coming or going.

Even his colleagues in government are now turning on him, some with unbridled contempt. The handling is terrible. Was the verdict of a Cabinet Minister just rank incompetence? Cowardly? Frankly, pretty dodgy. Was the verdict of another. Before long, the Prime Minister will be saying he has full confidence in him. And we all know what that means. Look, two weeks ago he came to the house and he said he had put in place the strongest checks ever to stop releases in error.

48 hours later, another prisoner with a history of sex offences was released in error. Seven days later and a fraudster is let out the very day he was sentenced to 45 months inside. And today he admits that he's lost another prisoner. That same day. They're lammy's lags a whole new category of criminal who can just waltz out of prison despite having the strongest ever checks introduced by this justice secretary. The public are being endangered as the circus rumbles on week after week, with no end in sight.

When will he put a stop to it? He can't just hide behind the inquiry that he's commissioned. He couldn't even get the head of the review, Lynne Owens name right. Last week. Anne Owens, Anne Owens, he bellowed. Well, I looked her up, and the only Anne Owens I could find was a panto performer who recently appeared in Alice in Wonderland. Perhaps she was the one who gave him some tips on his performance at the despatch box last week. The former chief inspector of prisons says that this has been caused, at least in part, by the confusion created by Labour's botched early release scheme.

Does he now concede that there is a link between the doubling of prisoners accidentally released in the last year and the introduction of their SDS 40? Or is it just an extremely unlucky coincidence? Don't take us for fools and Mr Speaker. When will he finally come clean? He won't provide details in parliamentary questions. He won't answer even when he is here for Prime Minister's questions, he won't respond to letters. Well, perhaps that's because they weren't addressed to the Deputy Prime Minister.

He's now been dragged here kicking and screaming to admit that one prisoner has been on the run from this Labour government for
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