Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to address the increase in the remand population across the prison estate.

We are committed to working with partners across the criminal justice system to effectively manage the growth in the prison remand population, which currently sits at a record high.

On 17 October 2024, we announced plans to allow magistrates’ courts to hand down custodial sentences of up to 12 months for a single triable either way offence – doubling their current powers.

The change will help us bear down on the remand population by ensuring those on remand are tried and sentenced quicker.

This change will help us to better manage the pressure on reception jails and maximise the space across the prison estate, created by SDS40. The Statutory Instrument to increase magistrates’ courts sentencing powers was laid on 28 October 2024 and these changes will come into force on 18 November 2024.