Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners have absconded from or failed to return to open prisons in the past 12 months.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

Open prisons play an important role in preparing individuals for safe resettlement into the community, and Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL) is a key part of that process. We have robust risk assessments and monitoring in place to minimise absconds and failures to return. When a prisoner absconds, police are immediately notified, with the majority of absconders being recaptured and returned to custody.

Those who abscond face serious consequences, including being returned to closed prison conditions where they may serve up to two additional years on conviction. Prisoners subject to parole decisions will likely face longer before they are released.

Data on absconds and failures to return from release on temporary licence are published each July in the HMPPS Annual Digest, available via HMPPS Annual Digest, April 2024 to March 2025 - GOV.UK. Information on these for open prisons specifically can be generated through the ‘Escapes Data Tool’. Data for April 2025 onwards will form part of a future publication.

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.