Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the levels of the use of drones in importing contraband into prisons; and what was number of drone incidents recorded in each year since 2015.

Drone incidents around prisons in England and Wales pose a major threat to prison security. We are working hard to deter, detect and disrupt the illegal use of drones. This includes working across government and international partners on this global issue.

We publish the number of drone incidents in England and Wales in the HMPPS Annual Digest, please see table 6_1 in the Finds tables. The latest issue covers the 12-month period to March 2025, with a time series of drone incidents starting from the 12-months to March 2021. We published Official Statistics on drone incidents for the first time in July 2025, with data back to April 2020. Drone statistics back to 2015 cannot be provided, having not been equivalently recorded or assured.

Any increase in reported drone incidents should not be interpreted as an increase in incursions; it may reflect more focused reporting. Drone incidents should not be interpreted as definitive evidence of the delivery of contraband into prisons, as they include all incidents where a drone is sighted. Data specific to deliveries of illicit items cannot be disclosed for security reasons.