Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of effectiveness of her Department's programmes for supporting offenders in returning to employment in Sutton Coldfield constituency.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

We know that finding employment after release reduces the chance of reoffending significantly, by up to nine percentage points. That is why the Government’s manifesto commits to break the cycle of reoffending by better supporting prisons to link up with employers to get more people with convictions into work.

We have launched regional Employment Councils, including for the region East, North & West Midlands. For the first time, they bring businesses together with probation and the Department of Work and Pensions to support offenders leaving prison.

In addition, Prison Employment Leads, Employment Hubs, ID and Banking Administrators and Employment Advisory Boards are in every resettlement prison, including at HMP’s Birmingham, Oakwood and Featherstone in the West Midlands region. They play a key role in getting offenders work-ready, matching them to jobs on release and linking prisons with local businesses.

The proportion of ex-offenders in employment within six months of release in the West Midlands was 25.7% in the year to March 2024, an increase of 5.7 percentage points from the previous reporting year to March 2023.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of Foreign Direct Investment projects in the West Midlands.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Office for Investment (OfI) collaborates with stakeholders across the West Midlands to promote strategic foreign investment opportunities and to drive high-quality jobs growth in the region. Through a strategic initiative, the OfI provides funding to enable stakeholders to offer direct support to foreign investors looking to establish and expand their operations in the West Midlands.

The Regional Investment Summit 2025, will be held in the Autumn in the West Midlands, reinforcing the government’s priorities to drive sustainable economic growth, unlocking opportunity, creating high-quality jobs, and supporting innovation, across the West Midlands and all regions of the UK.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to support the decision of the Government of Zimbabwe to secure a service level agreement with the IMF.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

A Staff-Monitored Programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an important step for Zimbabwe to take in order to make progress towards a Staff-Level Agreement and clearing its foreign debt arrears. The UK is an active participant in the Structured Dialogue on Arrears Clearance, a multilateral platform for Zimbabwe to discuss arrears with its creditors and other development partners. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) officials participated in a roundtable side event on Zimbabwe's arrears at both the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings in April and the African Development Bank Annual Meetings in May. The FCDO is also regularly in contact with the IMF to discuss Zimbabwe's economic reforms, both at headquarters and in-country.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department supports the return of Zimbabwe to full membership of the Commonwealth.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Government has always been clear that we want to see Zimbabwe return to the Commonwealth when the time is right. We recognise there has been progress, but further steps are needed on democracy, governance and human rights. Decisions on Commonwealth membership are for all member states. The UK has expressed support for a further Commonwealth assessment mission.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help support (a) free and (b) fair presidential elections in the Ivory Coast in October 2025.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK is committed to promoting good governance and democracy in Côte d'Ivoire, including transparent and inclusive elections.

On 25-28 May, the Minister for Africa visited Côte d'Ivoire, and discussed with the President and his government the importance of open civic space, democratic debate, and strong electoral institutions.

Our Embassy in Abidjan is engaging with relevant state institutions and all political parties, emphasising the importance of peaceful and fair elections, whilst coordinating their efforts with international partners.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the recent decision by the Zimbabwean government to pay compensation to farmers whose land was confiscated.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

We welcome Zimbabwe's recent payments to farmers whose land was confiscated. We understand that 379 farmers covered by the 2020 Global Compensation Deed, which includes some British nationals, have been compensated. There have also been initial payments to farmers covered by Bilateral Investment Protection & Promotion Agreements, such as Germany, Dutch and Swiss nationals. This is in line with commitments made by the Government of Zimbabwe in the Structured Dialogue on Arrears Clearance.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to help support a wide selection of candidates being available to eligible voters in the Ivory Coast for elections in October 2025.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Matters of electoral practices are a matter for the Government of Côte d'Ivoire. Candidates for the presidential election are selected by political parties and must comply with provisions set out in Côte d'Ivoire's constitution and related laws.

The UK, along with likeminded partners, is monitoring the electoral developments in Côte d'Ivoire closely, through regular engagement with government officials, civil society actors and opposition figures. Beyond this, the UK has, through diplomatic engagements, consistently emphasised the importance of elections being free and fair as well as the need for voters to be presented with meaningful choice.

These issues were raised by the Minister for Africa, during his recent visit to Côte d'Ivoire on 25-28 May, where he discussed with the President and his government the importance of open civic space, democratic debate, and strong electoral institutions.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to reduce the backlog of crown court cases in the West Midlands.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

This Government inherited a record and rising courts backlog. For this financial year (2025/26), this Government is funding a record allocation of Crown Court sitting days to deliver swifter justice for victims – 110,000 sitting days this year, 4,000 higher than the last Government funded. However, the scale of the challenge is beyond what increasing sitting days can achieve. That is why we have commissioned Sir Brian Leveson to conduct a review of efficiency that will propose once-in-a-generation reform to deliver swifter justice for victims.

In the West Midlands:

• Over the past three years, the West Midlands Crown Court centres have experienced a significant increase in receipts, rising by 40%, a figure that surpasses the national average of 30%. This growth reflects the increasing demand on the judicial system in the region.
• In response to this rising caseload, the Crown Court centres in the West Midlands (Birmingham Crown Court and Wolverhampton Crown Court) have proactively increased their operational capacity, sitting a total of 5655 days in 2024/25 (an increase of 3.8% from 5450 days in 2023/24).
• Wolverhampton Crown Court has expanded its capacity from seven to eight courtrooms, with the addition of an extra courtroom at Telford Annex. Furthermore, in 2023 Wolverhampton welcomed an increase in circuit judges, and Birmingham saw an extra circuit judge last year, thus strengthening the judiciary to manage the rising volume of cases. Efforts are also underway to bolster judicial resources further, with plans for additional judicial recruitment in an upcoming campaign.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of (a) male and (b) female ex-offenders found employment within six months of release in the West Midlands in the latest period for which data is available.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The latest data available (April 2023-March 2024) shows that 13.0% of females and 21.8% of males in the West Midlands region were employed six months after release from custody, a gap of 8.8 percentage points. This represents 30 females and 715 males from sample sizes of 230 and 3,280 respectively.

We know that women face additional barriers to employment, including greater prevalence of trauma, substance misuse issues and being more likely to be a primary carer for children. In recognition of these additional challenges, New Futures Network, the prison service’s specialist employment team, has a dedicated employment broker for the women’s prison estate.

In addition, an expert in education and employment for women with convictions has been appointed to the cross-government Partnership Delivery Group, which supports our recently established Women’s Justice Board. The Board will set the vision for and deliver on our ambition to have fewer women in custody.

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