Oral Answers to Questions

Jake Richards Excerpts

Tuesday 19th May 2026 Commons Chamber

[Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale) (LD)]

10. What steps he is taking to help reduce levels of reoffending.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Jake Richards)]

The Government are giving offenders the tools to move away from a life of crime. We are led by the evidence when addressing needs such as housing, employment and substance misuse treatment and support in order to develop personal skills and behaviours. We are also investing £700 million in probation and expanding intensive supervision courts for prolific offenders.

[Tony Vaughan]

Reach Out and Recover Kent, a brilliant organisation that I met in Folkestone over the weekend, helps people, including ex-offenders, to recover and stay away from addiction so they can gain skills and work to reintegrate into society. However, Ministry of Justice figures show that at the six-month post-release point, the reoffending rate is twice as high for unemployed adults as for those in employment. What are the Government doing to ensure that more ex-offenders in my constituency get tailored and timely support, particularly for addiction, to get them back into work and enable them to leave offending behind them once and for all?

[Jake Richards]

My hon. and learned Friend is right to raise those issues and the good work that is happening in his constituency. As he knows, Lord Timpson is leading work on what happens when inmates are in custody. That means working with health services to ensure that our prisoners are getting the support they need, as well as with private sector employers to ensure that there are opportunities afterwards. I will ask Lord Timpson to write to him with the specifics about what is happening in his area.

[Tim Farron]

I had the honour of taking part as a volunteer in a restorative justice programme at His Majesty’s Prison Haverigg in Cumbria a few years ago. Restorative justice gives victims the opportunity to share with offenders the real impact of their crimes and gives offenders the opportunity to take serious responsibility. Studies show that restorative justice reduces reoffending rates by up to 28%, so what is the Minister doing to ensure that restorative justice programmes are delivered in every prison?

[Jake Richards]

The hon. Gentleman is right that there is an important role for restorative justice in our criminal justice system. Just yesterday we made an announcement on the use of restorative justice in our youth courts, as well as the appointment of Jacob Dunne as an expert adviser. Jacob Dunne, who will be known to many Members of the House, is a great champion of restorative justice, and someone who has experienced it. There is more to do in the adult estate, and the Government will announce measures on re:hub, which is an essential cog of the restorative justice system, in due course.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Jess Brown-Fuller (Chichester) (LD)]

The Government are talking a good game on reducing the cycle of reoffending, but meaningful prison education plays a key role in that objective. Recent analysis has found a significant decrease in the core education hours in public sector prisons. That has been seen most acutely in female prisons, where there has been a fall of 30%. What is the Minister doing to reverse that decline in education hours across all prisons, end the postcode lottery that we see currently, and ensure that obligations to equality are met?

[Jake Richards]

The hon. Member is right to raise the importance of education in our prisons. The scandal with education in our prisons is that there are classrooms and workshops that are left empty day in, day out, because the prison system remains unstable and capacity is going through the roof. This Government have been rightly focused on getting stability into the prison system. We will make announcements about investment into education, but we will also be using the private sector and the third sector, not just Government contracts. Again, Lord Timpson will be making announcements on that in due course.

[Dave Robertson (Lichfield) (Lab)]

3. How he plans to work with the Prime Minister’s adviser on women and girls to help tackle violence against women and girls through the criminal justice system.

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[Alicia Kearns (Rutland and Stamford) (Con)]

7. Whether his Department has a policy on the housing of convicted paedophiles in open prisons.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Jake Richards)]

Prisoners are moved to an open prison as part of the rehabilitation process, but only after they pass a thorough risk assessment. Every prisoner, including those serving a sentence for a sexual offence, is subject to an individual risk assessment. They will not be allowed to move to an open prison unless they are assessed as presenting a low enough risk. A prisoner can be immediately returned from an open prison to closed conditions if their risk increases.

[Alicia Kearns]

Paedophiles should be behind bars, not roaming our communities. I am afraid that the Minister’s words will ring hollow for my constituent who received a call in January and was told that her abuser, the paedophile, who was only two years into a nine-year sentence, had been moved into an open prison, and now had the right to leave the site freely, and even stay out overnight. Will the Government review these moves? Clearly something is not working. Will the Minister also specifically look into this case, which is utterly unacceptable?

[Jake Richards]

As I said, each case is considered on its own circumstances, and the risk is assessed by the professionals. I am very happy to look into that case and make sure that the appropriate officials look into it too.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Ben Obese-Jecty (Huntingdon) (Con)]

As an MP whose constituency has a category C prison for male sex offenders that is almost at capacity—HMP Littlehey—I welcome the clarity from the Minister regarding paedophiles in the prison estate.

We know that the Minister is on the hook to deliver thousands of new category C and D prison places. I want to ask him about the prison places he has made almost no progress on since the election because the contractor ISG went into administration in September 2024. I first highlighted the failure of that project last year. Can he confirm whether, since then, all those 12 prisons have had new contractors appointed? When will those prison places be delivered?

[Jake Richards]

This Government are undertaking the biggest prison building programme since the Victorian era. We will be building 13,000 new places by 2031. We inherited a prison capacity crisis from the Conservatives, so it takes some chutzpah for them to start asking questions about prison building. We are committed to the prison building programme that we announced in 2024, and we are confident that we will match it. We are fixing the mess that they created.

[Laura Kyrke-Smith (Aylesbury) (Lab)]

8. What progress he has made with Cabinet colleagues on the Government's knife crime strategy.

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[John Whitby (Derbyshire Dales) (Lab)]

11. What steps his Department is taking to help prevent the criminalisation of children while in care.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Jake Richards)]

Far too many care-experienced people end up in the criminal justice system. Last November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a review of the national protocol for reducing the criminalisation of that cohort. Officials are actively working on that, and we will publish a strengthened protocol later this year.

[John Whitby]

I refer to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. Children in care have often faced significant trauma, instability, neglect or abuse. As a result, many of them end up in the criminal justice system, and care leavers are 10 times more likely to end up in prison. Counselling has been shown to help keep children in care out of prison, which is obviously better for the young people, and saves the state money in the long term. Will the Minister consider changing national protocol guidelines to ensure that trauma counselling is provided to children in care who are identified as being at risk of engaging in criminality?

[Jake Richards]

My hon. Friend is right to raise that important issue. The disproportionate number of care leavers and children who have been in our criminal justice system is a national disgrace. Just yesterday, the Deputy Prime Minister met the Under-Secretary of State for Education, my hon. Friend the Member for Whitehaven and Workington (Josh MacAlister)—the Minister responsible for children’s social care—to look at the issues in the round. As I said, we are looking at strengthening the protocol, and we will publish that in due course.

[Mark Pritchard (The Wrekin) (Con)]

Of course, the youngest children in care are babies. It might shock the House to learn that there are 36 babies residing, through no fault of their own, in mother and baby units around the country. Given that babies are taken away from their mothers on a case-by-case basis after 18 months, I wonder whether part of the sentencing review should be about whether it is appropriate at all for mothers and babies—particularly the babies—to be imprisoned, apart from in the most serious criminal cases.

[Jake Richards]

I thank the hon. Member for that important question; he is right to raise the matter. Indeed, he raised a similar theme in the Commons just yesterday. Lord Timpson has a particular focus on female offenders and women inmates in prison, and he will make an announcement in due course.

[Alistair Strathern (Hitchin) (Lab)]

12. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support men and boys through the criminal justice system.

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[James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

19. What estimate he has made of the number of prisoners released in error since July 2024.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Jake Richards)]

The Government are committed to transparency on this issue. We publish data on releases in error each July in the HM Prison and Probation Service annual digest. On 15 April we also published ad hoc data for April 2025 to March 2026, alongside Dame Lynne Owens’ independent review and the Government’s response, accepting, in principle, all the recommendations.

[Joe Robertson]

Oh dear. My question was about how many prisoners have been released in error under this Government, and the Minister does not seem to know the answer. That is okay, as I can tell him. It is 441, which over a two-year period is the worst on record. Will he now apologise, or will he provide a convoluted excuse about why it is not his Government’s fault?

[Jake Richards]

That question is a very good example of someone not listening to my answer but assuming that he had. We will release the data for this very serious and important issue, as we should, in due course. We released the data earlier this year on an ad hoc basis. By the way, in 14 years the Conservative Government never released data on prisoner releases in error, so we will take no lectures from the Opposition Benches on that issue. Fundamentally, Dame Lynne Owens has conducted a review of this important issue and set out a series of recommendations on how to solve it, which we have accepted and will begin to implement, so I will take no lessons from the Opposition Benches on this issue.

[James Wild]

Despite implementing what the Justice Secretary said were the strongest ever checks, every week criminals are being given a “Get out of jail free” card. How many of those 441 prisoners, wrongly let out of prison on Labour’s watch, remain at large, and why is it still taking days for the Prison Service to let the police know when it has wrongly released people?

[Jake Richards]

The truth is that this is a long-standing issue in our criminal justice system, and it is a disgrace—any release in error is a disgrace. How do we solve the issue? We solve it by investing in our prison system. That is why we are building more prisons than we have done since the Victorian era. We are investing in stabilising the prison population. That is why we introduced the Sentencing Act 2026, so finally we have some sustainability in our prison system, after the Conservatives did absolutely nothing. We are taking action, as recommended by Dame Lynne Owens, and that action will be undertaken rapidly.

[Ben Maguire (North Cornwall) (LD)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

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[Luke Taylor (Sutton and Cheam) (LD)]

T4. I have heard from victims of domestic abuse and stalking about the harrowing journey they face in rebuilding their lives. For many, the one thing that gives them comfort is the knowledge that their abuser cannot reach them from behind bars, but Government changes to category D prisons can now allow these offenders to be moved to open conditions much earlier than before, despite their crimes being exempt from standard determinate sentence 40—SDS 40—because of their recognised higher risk. Will the Minister meet me to discuss excluding domestic abusers and stalkers from early transfer to open prisons, so that the victims’ peace of mind can be retained?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Jake Richards)]

As I said earlier, all prisoners, including those convicted of domestic violence and stalking offences, will be allowed to move to an open prison only when they have been assessed and risk assessed. I am very happy to organise a meeting between the hon. Gentleman and the relevant Minister to discuss this case.

[Michelle Scrogham (Barrow and Furness) (Lab)]

T6. I welcome the youth justice White Paper and its focus on tackling the root causes of offending. Like many of my colleagues, I have seen tragic cases of vulnerable young people being clearly exploited by adults and drawn into crime. May I urge the Minister to ensure that the new offence of child criminal exploitation is brought forward swiftly and that it is robust enough to go after those responsible?

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[John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (Con)]

T7. We know how grooming gangs regularly trafficked young, vulnerable girls across borders, but survivors of these appalling crimes are deeply concerned that the UK and Scottish Governments’ separate inquiries will not investigate cross-border grooming gangs. What is the Minister doing to ensure that both the perpetrators of these horrific crimes and the institutions that failed the victims are properly held to account?

[Jake Richards]

The hon. Member is right to raise this and has done so consistently. I meet justice counterparts from the devolved Governments regularly, and I will ensure that this issue is high on the agenda for our next meeting, because it is very important. There is a lot of good work happening in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England. We need to ensure that it is joined up, to address that particular mischief, which is incredibly serious.

[Adam Jogee (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Lab)]

Can the Minister assure me and my constituents back home that the changes to the unduly lenient sentence scheme will ensure that victims of crime in Newcastle-under-Lyme and across the kingdom are better supported at every stage of the criminal justice system?

[Jake Richards]

My hon. Friend is right to raise this. I am very proud that this Government have listened to victims. I have met with the Victims’ Commissioner and an array of victims who have been complaining about the unduly lenient sentence scheme. We have been able to modernise it by allowing an out-of-time route for victims and bereaved family members to refer sentences outside the 28-day limit. Clearly, 28 days is sometimes not appropriate for families who are deeply distressed, so we have been able to make that change, working on a cross-party basis. I am proud that this Government are putting victims at the heart of the criminal justice system.

[Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst (Solihull West and Shirley) (Con)]

T8. I think it is fair to say that the Government and I do not see eye to eye when it comes to the policy of curtailing trial by jury. However, if the Government are determined to go down that route, their own impact assessment sets out that a significant number of magistrates need to be recruited—the MOJ has put it at 7,000 over three years. In order for the Government’s own plan to work, will they commit not to change any of the rules around trial by jury until they have recruited those magistrates?

[Warinder Juss (Wolverhampton West) (Lab)]

Half of all prisoners lack the basic literacy skills needed to navigate everyday life, only one in three secure employment within six months of release, and a third reoffend within a year. Rehabilitation, reducing reoffending, and improving public safety must be at the heart of our criminal justice system. Will the Secretary of State please commit to increasing funding for prison education, so that offenders can access the basic skills and support they need to rebuild their lives, reintegrate, and contribute positively to society when they leave prison?

[Jake Richards]

My hon. Friend has been consistent in raising that important issue, and we are committed to ensuring sufficient education provision for prisoners. I would gently stress, however, that we can only provide that education if we are able to get prisoners into the classroom. We need to stabilise and get order back into the prison system after the chaos that we inherited, but this Government are absolutely committed to ensuring that prisoners have education and work opportunities on leaving prison.

[Tessa Munt (Wells and Mendip Hills) (LD)]

I represent a very rural area, and people have to drive many miles to get to a court. With fuel prices currently so high, why are ordinary citizens reimbursed for jury service at the rate of only 31.4p per mile for travel by car, yet the standard HMRC approved rate is 45p per mile? It does not cover the cost of travel, and penalises those who live in rural areas.

[Jake Richards]

The hon. Member is a member of the Justice Committee, and she raises an important and practical point. The Government recognise the hugely important civic duty role that jurors play day in, day out across the country, and we will always keep remuneration and travel costs under review. We have heard the question.

[Samantha Niblett (South Derbyshire) (Lab)]

I am sure it has not missed anybody’s radar that I recently launched a campaign for lifelong sex education, and last week I met some parish councillors, one of whom works in the Probation Service. She thanked me for the campaign because of the amount of re-education they have to do, particularly for young men, on what is acceptable within sexual relationships. Will the Secretary of State, or a relevant Minister, meet me to talk about the importance of lifelong sex education in re-educating potential reoffenders?

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[Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)]

What assessment has the Minister made of the report concerning communication between the former Foreign Secretary, Lord Cameron, and the International Criminal Court prosecutor, Karim Khan, regarding the court investigation into war crimes in Gaza? What steps is he taking to uphold the independence of the international judicial institutions that we set up?

[Jake Richards]

Some of the matters that the hon. Member has raised are perhaps matters for the Foreign Secretary, rather than the Justice Secretary. As he said, we clearly always respect international law and the principle of the rule of law more generally.

[Baggy Shanker (Derby South) (Lab/Co-op)]

Sexual assaults and harassment on trains have risen by more than a third over the past 10 years, yet too many trains and stations still lack adequate CCTV. That evidence gap lets criminals evade justice and fails victims. What steps are the Secretary of State and his colleagues taking to improve CCTV coverage across the whole rail network, so that perpetrators of violence against women and girls can be brought to justice?