Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what visits he has conducted to (a) HMP Pentonville and (b) HMP Manchester since he became Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

Since his appointment in September, HMP Pentonville and HMP Manchester are not prisons the Secretary of State for Justice has visited although he has been to HMP Belmarsh and HMP Gartree. Ministers visit prisons regularly and in recent months this has included both HMP Manchester and HMP Pentonville.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of instances of prisoners bring transferred from prison to court late in the last 12 months.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

In the 12 months to 30 September, 134,536 prisoners were escorted to court from prison, 99.8% of whom were delivered on time by the Prisoner Escort and Custody Service (PECS) contractors. There were 2151 reported instances of delayed arrival in court. Of these, 832 (39%) were attributable to delays at the prison, and 1119 to the PECS contractor (in 814 of the PECS cases, no resulting trial delay was reported). The remaining 200 reported instances are attributable to wider system issues.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of subjecting prison officers to security checks upon entering prisons.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The vast majority of prison staff are hardworking and dedicated; however, HMPPS recognises the risk of corruption and is committed to tackling it at all levels. We have a range of physical security measures in place to reduce the conveyance of illicit items into prisons.

Airport-style Enhanced Gate Security, comprising of metal detectors and X-ray baggage scanners, is used in 54 high-risk prison sites (both private and public sector), enabling routine searching of prison officers.

In addition, local security strategies allow for routine and random rub-down searches of prison officers and other staff and visitors upon entry to, or within, prisons.

Prison security must be dynamic and be able to respond to shifting risks as they manifest. We regularly review our security countermeasures capabilities and use all the tools at our disposal. We will not hesitate to adjust our approach as needed.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish an update on plans to trial chemical castration for sexual offenders.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

As the Deputy Prime Minister announced on 16 September, the innovative pilot of Medication to Manage Problematic Sexual Arousal for sex offenders will continue in the South West and will be expanded to two new regions – the North West and North East of England. This will extend the service across to twenty prisons in three regions, up from the current four, as the first step towards a national rollout.

We are continuing to work closely with our partners across health and justice agencies to inform our plans for implementation of the new pilot regions in 2026. We are also continuing to explore whether we might mandate this treatment in future.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the press release entitled Major safety boost for frontline prison staff, published on 21 September 2025, how many stab vests have been issued to frontline prison staff since that announcement.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

I refer the Rt. Hon Member to the reply I gave to the hon Member for Fylde on 20 October 2025 to PQ 79110.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases awaiting trial are related to non-payment of the BBC license fee by (a) age and (b) sex.

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

The Ministry of Justice holds data on cases awaiting trial related to non-payment of the BBC licence fee. As of 6 November 2025, there were 76 such cases.

By age:

By sex:

Source: HMCTS management information Common Platform: extracted 6 November 2025

Data Caveats:

1) The count is based upon cases in which a hearing is scheduled for 6 November 2025 or the future and contains the following offence codes CT0310 - Use a television set without a licence; CA03010B - Aid / abet / counsel / procure the use of a television receiver without a licence; CA03011 - Possess a television set with intent to install / use without a licence; CA03501 - Use a television set without a licence - other address (manual entry).

2) Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale case management system and is the best data that is available.

3) Data are management information and are not subject to the same level of checks as official statistics.

4) Data are taken from a live management information system and can change over time and for that reason might differ slightly from any previously published information.

5) Data has not been cross referenced with case files.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases awaiting trial are related to non-payment of the BBC license fee.

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

The Ministry of Justice holds data on cases awaiting trial related to non-payment of the BBC licence fee. As of 6 November 2025, there were 76 such cases.

By age:

By sex:

Source: HMCTS management information Common Platform: extracted 6 November 2025

Data Caveats:

1) The count is based upon cases in which a hearing is scheduled for 6 November 2025 or the future and contains the following offence codes CT0310 - Use a television set without a licence; CA03010B - Aid / abet / counsel / procure the use of a television receiver without a licence; CA03011 - Possess a television set with intent to install / use without a licence; CA03501 - Use a television set without a licence - other address (manual entry).

2) Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale case management system and is the best data that is available.

3) Data are management information and are not subject to the same level of checks as official statistics.

4) Data are taken from a live management information system and can change over time and for that reason might differ slightly from any previously published information.

5) Data has not been cross referenced with case files.

Tackling van and tool theft