Oral Answers to Questions

Danny Chambers Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sir Nicholas Dakin]

My hon. Friend will be well aware that a lot of the information is commercially confidential, but we are investing up to £300 million in 2025-26 to keep our prisons are safe and secure, and we have a prison estate conditions survey programme in place to better understand our estate.

[Dr Danny Chambers (Winchester) (LD)]

13. What assessment she has made of the adequacy of rehabilitative programmes in prisons.

[Susan Murray (Mid Dunbartonshire) (LD)]

15. What assessment she has made of the adequacy of rehabilitative programmes in prisons.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Sir Nicholas Dakin)]

A key priority of this Government is that our prisons rehabilitate offenders, making them better citizens rather than better criminals. I take this opportunity to pay tribute to the fantastic prison staff, who mentor and support prisoners in custody every day. I saw at first hand the benefit of the creating future opportunities programme when I visited HMP Humber in April.

[Dr Chambers]

Prisons have an important role in protecting the public and punishing criminals, but they are also vital to rehabilitation. Given that around half of prisoners reoffend within a year of being released, what steps are the Government taking to ensure that programmes to address mental health, addiction and education are not only available, but effective and consistently delivered across the prison estate, including in our prison in Winchester?