Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has conducted research into the potential impacts on long-term rehabilitation of Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Section 67 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 requires the Secretary of State to prepare and publish an annual report about the steps taken to support the rehabilitation of IPP and Detention for Public Protection (DPP) offenders and their progress towards release from prison or licence termination and lay the report before Parliament.
Although there has not been research conducted in this area the Government published its latest IPP Annual Report on 17 July 2025, which included a commitment for HMPPS Psychology Services to complete a review of the Never Released IPP cohort. The review aims to ensure the current barriers to IPP progression are considered and services reviewed relating to these findings to support IPP progression. We will report on the outcome of this review in our next Annual Report, which is due to be published this summer.
The 2025 Annual Report also contained a refreshed version of the IPP Action Plan, which includes measurable targets to ensure transparency and accountability.
Through the IPP Action Plan we have significantly improved support for those serving the IPP sentence, with greater access to rehabilitation and mental health support.
Changes we have made in the Sentencing Act 2026 will provide IPP offenders with an earlier opportunity for licence termination, whilst allowing suitable time for support and rehabilitation in the community and ensuring victims and the public are best protected from harm.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department will consider the potential merits of retrospectively abolishing Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
It is right that the Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence was abolished. Public protection will always be the top priority and abolishing the IPP sentence retrospectively would result in prisoners being released whom the independent Parole Board has determined are too dangerous. This would pose an unacceptable risk of harm to victims and the public.
We are determined to support those serving IPP sentences, but not in a way that undermines public protection. This is why the Government made changes in the Sentencing Act 2026 to provide IPP offenders with an earlier opportunity for licence termination, whilst allowing suitable time for support and rehabilitation in the community and ensuring victims and the public are best protected from harm
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the commissioning model for adult social care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care markets to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes commissioning a diverse range of care and support services that enable people to access quality care.
The Care Quality Commission is assessing how local authorities in England are meeting the full range of their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, including those related to commissioning. The assessments identify local authorities’ strengths and areas for improvement, facilitating the sharing of good practice and helping us to target support where it is most needed.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to improve the quality of initial decision-making in asylum cases.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
We have adopted a plan to improve the quality of asylum casework, this includes improved training for decision makers and feedback loops to ensure we are learning from appeals to get decisions right first time.
Asylum decisions are subject to stringent quality checks to ensure that claims are properly considered, decisions are sound, and protection is granted to those who genuinely need it.
Each quality assessment will rate the impact of any casework or process errors against the agreed marking standards. Asylum decision quality data is published in the ADQ_01A table found in Migration transparency data - GOV.UK of the Immigration and Protection data.
Quality assessments must adhere to Home Office interview and decision standards. These standards are shared with Decision Makers to improve understanding of quality scores when receiving feedback.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department plans to take to help speed up decision-making for asylum cases; and what targets her Department has set for improving decision-making times.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office is investing in innovative techniques, including AI, to explore how we can improve productivity, speed up the processing of asylum cases awaiting an initial decision, and restore order in the asylum system.
The proportion of asylum claims receiving an initial decision within six months is at the highest level since Q3 2017 (60.6%).
Asylum decisions are subject to stringent quality checks to ensure that claims are properly considered, decisions are sound, and protection is granted to those who genuinely need it.
We are working to improve the speed of decisions and reduce the number of outstanding claims; but there will always be complex cases, and it is right we take time to work through them carefully.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has been made of co-designing adult social care to meet community needs.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local authorities are responsible for commissioning social care. As part of this, local authorities should pursue the principle that market shaping and commissioning should be shared endeavours, with commissioners working alongside people with care and support needs, carers, family members, care providers, representatives of care workers, relevant voluntary, user and other support organisations, and the public to find shared and agreed solutions.
To support this aim, the Department funds Think Local Act Personal (TLAP) as part of its national improvement and support offer to the sector. Co-design of services is facilitated by local adoption of TLAP’s ‘Making it Real’ framework and principles, which ensure that people who draw on care and support are involved in shaping services. TLAP also helps with practical models of self-directed support and advice on the personalisation of services to areas that request it.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average timeframe is for decisions on fee waiver applications for partner visas.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Fee Waiver data is published in tables FW_01 – FW_03 of the ‘Immigration and Protection dataset’ found here: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK,
However, the specific information requested is not currently available from the published statistics because fee waiver applications are not categorised by a specific route such as "partner", instead, fee waiver applications include everyone applying on Family and Private Life grounds. The requested data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will consider the potential merits of implementing service standards for visa applications expedited in cases of compassionate circumstances.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Visa, Status and Information Services have a range of premium services including; the Priority Services and Super Priority Services for visa applications where needed: Get a faster decision on your visa or settlement application: Applying for a faster decision - GOV.UK. Visa applications are assessed on their individual merits and caseworkers will consider any compassionate grounds raised as part of the application assessment. Published policy guidance for each visa route will factor this where relevant. Caseworker guidance for each visa type can be found here: Visas and immigration operational guidance: Immigration staff guidance - detailed information - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab)
Those seeking to raise compassionate grounds to expedite their application should still apply and pay for their visa application online in the normal way. They should alert their request to their chosen Visa Application Centre or by contacting UKVI here: Contact UK Visas and Immigration for help - GOV.UK. Where a case may contain individual factors which make it compelling or compassionate then the case will be expedited by UKVI staff and considered under its own merits. The Department does not have a separate customer service standards for these cases, and if expedited they will be concluded as quickly as possible. Further information relating to Visa waiting times can be found on GOV.UK: Visa decision waiting times: applications outside the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab)