Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the additional number of offenders will be entitled to release from prison on each day of the 28 days and then each month of the subsequent 11 months following the day of enactment of the Sentencing Bill alterations to automatic release points, broken down by offence.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Around 17,000 prisoners are entirely excluded from the release point changes being brought forward in the Sentencing Bill. We are working across agencies to prepare and plan for implementation of the changes, and this Government is committed to ensuring that measures impacting sentencing and release are introduced safely, transparently and in a way that protects the public.
Release volumes will depend on the crimes committed, the sentences given by the Court and whether the prisoner is given added days for bad behaviour.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether (a) Wealden District Council and (b) Wealden District Council's (i) leadership and (ii) councillors have made legal challenges to (i) prevent or (ii) delay the use of Crowborough Training Camp as accommodation for asylum seekers.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
All sites progressed for asylum accommodation, including Crowborough Training Camp currently under consideration, will comply with safety, security, health and wellbeing standards. This government will close every asylum hotel. Work is well underway, with more suitable sites being brought forward to ease pressure on communities across the country.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will provide the prison population figures by (a) offence type and (b) sentence length in the most recent period for which data is available.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Detailed statistics on offenders in custody (including offence groups and sentence lengths) are published quarterly at Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK.
Answers to the specific questions asked here can be found on Table 1.A.17 of the “Annual Prison Population: 2025” table on the most recent release.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many in-person meetings the Murder and Manslaughter Team have had with clients in each of the last three years.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The information requested is not held centrally. When families would like to meet with the team in person, they will always do whatever is possible to arrange this.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many (a) people and (b) full-time equivalent staff are employed in the Murder and Manslaughter Team in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As of September 2025, there are six full-time staff in the Murder and Manslaughter team.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether any Ministers in her Department met with Sir Brian Leveson in relation to the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This Government has maintained open dialogue and a constructive relationship with Sir Brian Leveson and Ministers have met with him in his capacity as Chair of the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts (IRCC), as is the usual convention when Governments commission independent reviews. This has included meetings with myself as Minister for Courts and Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede who has held responsibility for Magistrates’ policy and engagement, as well as meetings with the Lord Chancellor.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions she has had with Serco on electronic tagging.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
Lord Timpson, Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending, has met regularly with senior representatives from Serco. The most recent of these meetings took place on Tuesday 22 July 2025. At that meeting, the Minister welcomed the improvements observed in Serco’s recent performance but emphasised the need for continued progress at pace to meet the standards set out in the contract. Serco’s performance continues to be monitored closely and we will not hesitate to apply financial penalties should our high-performance targets not be met.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make it her policy to utilise all court sitting days made available by the Lady Chief Justice in the (a) 2026–27, (b) 2027–28 and (c) 2028–29 financial years.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Lord Chancellor will begin the Concordat process with the judiciary in due course, and this is how sitting days will be allocated. The Lord Chancellor has been clear she is committed to tackling the outstanding caseload, but the number of sitting days allocated is just one factor in achieving this. The Lord Chancellor must be mindful of managing the wider system capacity—the availability not just of judges to sit in the Crown court but of the lawyers, prosecutors, legal aid and defence barristers that underpin the rest of the system.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign nationals received legal aid in (a) 2024-2025 and (b) 2025-2026; and what the cost to the public purse was of the legal aid provided.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of legal aid was spent on foreign nationals appealing deportation decisions in (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26 so far.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This information requested is not held centrally.