Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the daily regime of prison in reducing reoffending.

The prison regime dictates the daily timetable of activity and enables all elements of rehabilitation work in prisons. The regime components (including the delivery of education, work and skills) are key, and the impact of these is what reduces reoffending.

As set out in the Prisons Strategy White Paper, we have committed to Future Regime Design that is focused on ensuring that time is well spent for all in prisons. This Government will invest £200 million a year by 2024/25 to improve prison leavers’ access to accommodation, employment support and substance misuse treatment, and introduce further measures for early intervention to tackle youth offending.

Overall reoffending has been reduced from 31% in 2009/10 to 26% in 2019/20, and these measures will allow us to make further progress.