Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department has spent on the construction of new Crown Court courtrooms with full jury facilities in the last year.

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

In the last full financial year (2024/25), the Department has spent £3,131,757 on property projects that include creating new jury enabled Crown courtrooms. Some of these courtrooms are flexible use and can be used for multiple purposes. This figure includes all property costs, such as design and development, as well as construction costs.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many murder, manslaughter and rape cases were dealt with in the Crown court in the past 12 months.

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

In the 12 months to June, there were 114,325 cases disposed of at the Crown Court for all offences, 3,615 for rape, 483 for murder and 49 for manslaughter – rape accounts for 3.0%, and murder and manslaughter combined make up less than 0.1% of all disposals at the Crown Court in the period.

This is a further breakdown of Crown Court workload statistics, Table C1, published in Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly here.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of Crown court cases are for murder, manslaughter and rape.

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

In the 12 months to June, there were 114,325 cases disposed of at the Crown Court for all offences, 3,615 for rape, 483 for murder and 49 for manslaughter – rape accounts for 3.0%, and murder and manslaughter combined make up less than 0.1% of all disposals at the Crown Court in the period.

This is a further breakdown of Crown Court workload statistics, Table C1, published in Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly here.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to visit HMP Wandsworth.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

Ministers regularly visit prisons across the country. Any plans to visit specific prisons will be notified to the relevant Members of Parliament in advance.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the proposed removal of the right to trial by jury for offences carrying a maximum sentence of less than three years will apply retrospectively to defendants who have already entered a plea of not guilty and elected for jury trial.

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

Ministers will introduce detailed proposals to Parliament as soon as Parliamentary time allows.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many transgender prisoners with convictions for (a) sexual and (b) violent offences are housed within the general female prison estate; and how many of those prisoners have been granted a Ministerial exemption to remain there in the last 12 months.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

As of 1 December, there were no transgender women, including individuals with Gender Recognition Certificates, in the general women's prison estate with any convictions for sexual offences and five or fewer transgender women with convictions for violent offences. (Where statistics include a total of five or fewer, the exact figure is not given, for data protection reasons.)

The individuals with convictions for violent offences received Ministerial exemptions to be held in the general women's estate under the previous Government. No exemptions have been provided by this Government since it came into power.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether any offenders currently detained in (a) separation and (b) close supervision centres are challenging their detention.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

There are no ongoing judicial review challenges made with regards to separation centres and no ongoing challenges that have reached the courts with regards to close supervision centres.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reasons Jonathan Hall KC’s review into Separation Centres has not yet been published; and when he plans to publish that review.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The Government is carefully considering the recommendations made by Jonathan Hall KC and will publish his report in due course.