Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the press release entitled UK and Albania agree groundbreaking new arrangement on prisoner transfers, published on 24 May 2023, how many prisoners have been transferred under the agreement with Albania in the last 12 months.

Between 17 July and 31 December 2024 (the latest period for which validated figures are available), four Albanian national offenders were transferred to Albania under the bi-lateral Prison Transfer Agreement. Prisoner transfer is just one scheme where foreign national offenders can be removed early from prison and it is more suited to those serving longer sentences. The Government pursues removal through all available mechanisms and during 2024, 1,610 Albanian foreign national offenders were removed from England and Wales, up 7% from the previous year.