Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what comparative assessment she has made of the effectiveness of (a) public and (b) private prisons in reducing recidivism.

Robust assessments of the reoffending rate broken down by prison are not currently available, however the adult reoffending rate following a custodial sentence has fallen from 49.3% in 2011/12 to 37.0% in 2021/22. Both public and privately-run prisons play an important role in reducing reoffending across England and Wales.

All prisons in England and Wales work to reduce an individual's risk of reoffending and promote successful resettlement. In a mixture of 93 public and private prisons, for example, there are Prison Employment Leads who play a key role in getting prisoners work ready and matching them to jobs on release.