Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which influencers and content creators his Department has paid to support its campaigns.
Answered by Jake Richards - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice works with a range of influencers and content creators to help us reach audiences who are less likely to engage with traditional government channels. Wherever possible we do this on a low / no cost basis to secure maximum value to the taxpayer.
On occasion and in line with Government Communications Service best practice, we use paid influencers to help deliver campaigns covering key departmental priorities and operationally critical campaigns – for example in the recruitment of frontline staff. This can often provide a more effective and cost-efficient way of reaching audiences than traditional advertising.
The Department considers that disclosing the identities of individual influencers and content creators engaged to support campaigns would be likely to prejudice its commercial interests. The Department works with content creators on a campaign-by-campaign basis, with arrangements varying depending on campaign objectives, audience, content requirements and commercial terms. Disclosure of the identities of paid creators could undermine the Department's ability to negotiate favourable terms, including securing pro bono or reduced-cost support where appropriate, thereby reducing its ability to achieve value for money for the taxpayer in future campaigns.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how working hours were spent by civil servants in the Ministry of Justice undertaking agreed staff network leadership roles or carrying out agreed activity requested by the Department in the past six months, and what is the average agreed allocation in hours per civil servant.
Answered by Jake Richards - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested is not held centrally. Under the Ministry of Justice Staff Groups and Networks Policy 2026, staff network leaders may agree a time allocation, which should not generally exceed 10% of contracted hours (pro-rated).
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will provide a breakdown of the religion of the prison population by ethnicity for each of the past four years.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The requested information is provided in the accompanying table. |
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish a list of the events held to celebrate Black History Month and Pride Month in prisons in the past year.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service does not hold this information centrally. Individual prisons may choose to mark occasions such as Black History Month and Pride Month through local activities or events, but there is no central requirement for establishments to report these or to maintain a national record.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many victims have the Ministry of Justice identified as being affected by the legislative changes of the Sentencing Act 2026 regarding the early release of prisoners, and how many victims have been contacted advising them of this.
Answered by Jake Richards - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This Government inherited a prison system on the brink of collapse, and we are fixing this crisis. Through the introduction of the landmark Sentencing Act 2026, we are ensuring that courts retain the ability to impose custodial sentences on serious and dangerous offenders. Without these measures, the Prison Estate would have faced the risk of exhausting available capacity and police forces being unable to make arrests.
The Sentencing Act 2026 contains provisions will which change the proportion of a standard determinate sentence which must be served in prison before the offender serving such a sentence is released automatically on licence. More than 18,000 offenders serving more serious sentences are excluded from these changes and will stay in prison for as long as they do now.
The provisions will come into force on 2 September 2026 and may affect the scheduled release dates of those currently serving a standard determinate sentence. Eligible victims who have opted into the Probation Service Victim Contact Scheme, where the offender is serving a standard determinate sentence, have been informed of the commencement of the legislation. As of 1 July 2026, 8,203 victims had been contacted and informed of the legislative changes. This figure should not be interpreted as the number of offenders affected, as not all offenders will necessarily receive an earlier release date. Additionally, not all victims choose to participate in the Victim Contact Scheme, and some offenders have multiple victims.
Sentences are now being recalculated, and, at this stage, we cannot provide figures on the number of offenders whose release dates will change and, therefore, the number of victims impacted. This will continue to evolve whilst the calculations take place. Victim Liaison Officers will write to victims again to confirm whether the offender’s release date has changed as a result of the new arrangements
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many eligible victims who have opted into the Probation Service Victim Contact Scheme have not been contacted to advise them that their perpetrator may be released from prison early.
Answered by Jake Richards - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This Government inherited a prison system on the brink of collapse, and we are fixing this crisis. Through the introduction of the landmark Sentencing Act 2026, we are ensuring that courts retain the ability to impose custodial sentences on serious and dangerous offenders. Without these measures, the Prison Estate would have faced the risk of exhausting available capacity and police forces being unable to make arrests.
The Sentencing Act 2026 contains provisions will which change the proportion of a standard determinate sentence which must be served in prison before the offender serving such a sentence is released automatically on licence. More than 18,000 offenders serving more serious sentences are excluded from these changes and will stay in prison for as long as they do now.
The provisions will come into force on 2 September 2026 and may affect the scheduled release dates of those currently serving a standard determinate sentence. Eligible victims who have opted into the Probation Service Victim Contact Scheme, where the offender is serving a standard determinate sentence, have been informed of the commencement of the legislation. As of 1 July 2026, 8,203 victims had been contacted and informed of the legislative changes. This figure should not be interpreted as the number of offenders affected, as not all offenders will necessarily receive an earlier release date. Additionally, not all victims choose to participate in the Victim Contact Scheme, and some offenders have multiple victims.
Sentences are now being recalculated, and, at this stage, we cannot provide figures on the number of offenders whose release dates will change and, therefore, the number of victims impacted. This will continue to evolve whilst the calculations take place. Victim Liaison Officers will write to victims again to confirm whether the offender’s release date has changed as a result of the new arrangements
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how he plans to reduce his capital budget in order to fund the Defence Investment Plan; and whether these reductions will impact prison expansion or construction.
Answered by Jake Richards - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Departments have been asked to contribute 1p in every £1 of their capital budgets to fund this Government’s Defence Investment Plan, helping keep the country safe in an increasingly volatile world. The Ministry of Justice will set out further impacts on specific policies and programmes in due course.
As set out in the December 2024 10-Year Prison Capacity Strategy, we are committed to delivering an additional 14,000 prison places and aim to do so by 2031; we have already delivered c.3,200 of these since taking office. We have committed £4.7bn over the spending review period (26/27 to 29/30) towards the delivery of these places.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether Ministers in the Ministry of Justice have met with the Honourable Member for Makerfield since 22 June 2026.
Answered by Jake Richards - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
No Ministry of Justice Ministers have had meetings in an official capacity with the Rt Hon Member for Makerfield, since 22 June 2026.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Ozempic injections intended for use by prisoners have been found in prisons in the past year.
Answered by Jake Richards - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested relating to Ozempic injections cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
The latest published statistics for all drug finds in prisons can be found via this link: HMPPS Annual Digest, April 2024 to March 2025 - GOV.UK
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has made an assessment of the security risks of building the Sunnica Energy Farm on local communities.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We cannot comment on individual investment cases including what assessments were made, but investment into the energy sector is subject to the highest levels of national security scrutiny.
We will continue to work closely with industry to ensure the UK remains one of the most attractive investment destinations in the world.