Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the speech given by the Secretary of State for Justice at Prisons Hearing Alliance on 17 July 2015, whether he plans for participation in chaplaincy-led programmes with a proven effect on rehabilitation rates to count towards earned release in the same manner as does classroom-based educational activities.

Reoffending rates for offenders sentenced to custody are too high and the Ministry of Justice is looking at ways to make sure that offenders are properly rehabilitated and better equipped to lead a crime free life. As the Secretary of State indicated in his speech of 17 July, earned release is being explored as an option to help achieve this. We are still at the very early stages of exploring how any earned release scheme might work.