Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people serving an imprisonment for public protection sentence have taken their own lives while (1) in prison, and (2) out on release.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
There were 92 self-inflicted deaths of people serving an Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence while in prison custody in the period from the introduction of the sentence in 2005 to December 2025. There were 44 such deaths of people serving an IPP on licence in the community between April 2019 and March 2025.
Data on community‑based deaths is only available for this more restricted period because:
Before April 2019 information was collected through manual returns, and identifying individuals serving an IPP sentence would require matching thousands of records, which cannot be done without disproportionate cost; and
Data for the period from April 2025 to March 2026 is scheduled for publication in October 2026.
The category of self-inflicted deaths includes a broader range of deaths than suicide. Definitions for apparent causes of death are provided in the ‘Safety in Custody’ and ‘Deaths of Offenders in the Community’ statistical publications. For breakdowns by year and other accompanying notes, please refer to the tables below. Information on self-inflicted deaths in prison by IPP prisoners are published annually in the detailed deaths tables accompanying the ‘Safety in Custody’ statistics (see Table 1_7 of Deaths in prison custody 1978 to 2025 for the most recent data, as provided here).
Table 1: Self-inflicted deaths in prison custody by Imprisonment for Public Protection sentence type since 2005, England and Wales
Imprisonment for Public Protection | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
0 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 5 | |
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2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
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4 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 2 |
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Data sources and quality
Deaths figures are derived from the HMPPS Deaths in Prison Custody database. As classification of deaths may change following inquests or as new information emerges, numbers may change from time to time.
Notes
(1) Deaths in prison custody figures include all deaths of prisoners arising from incidents during prison custody. They include deaths of prisoners while released on temporary license (ROTL) for medical reasons but exclude other types of ROTL where the state has less direct responsibility.
(2) Due to the number of deaths that remain unclassified (awaiting further information) in recent years, and the latest year particularly, caution should be used when comparing with earlier periods.
(3) Apparent cause is based on the HMPPS classification of deaths in prison custody. The self-inflicted deaths category includes a wider range of deaths than suicides. When comparing figures with other sources it is important to determine whether the narrower suicide or broader self-inflicted deaths approach is in use.
(4) All classifications of deaths remain provisional until confirmed at inquest.
(5) In addition to deaths in prison custody which occur in hospitals, hospices or nursing homes, a small proportion will occur while in an ambulance on the way to hospital, while on escort.
(6) An indeterminate sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) was introduced in 2005. It was intended for high-risk prisoners considered ‘dangerous’ but whose offence did not merit a life sentence. The number of prisoners held on this sentence increased initially and the increase was offset by reductions elsewhere.
(7) Recalled prisoners are those held in custody for breaching the terms of their licence conditions following release into the community. Recalled prisoners are not shown separately within the deaths tables, they are recorded against their initial sentence type.
(8) Caution should be used when comparing the number of deaths from one year to the next due to low numbers which are subject to fluctuation.
Table 2: Self-inflicted deaths of offenders serving an Imprisonment for Public Protection sentence supervised on licence in the community, financial year 2019/20 to 2024/25, England and Wales (1) (2) (3) (4) | ||||||
| 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 (p) |
Community | 6 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 7 |
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p) The 2024/25 figures are provisional and may be updated in future publications to account for any changes or additions to the data since they were originally collected
(1) Apparent causes for years prior to 2023/24 are based on data reported through annual returns (prior to 2020/21 only) or the national Delius case management system and have not been independently verified. From 2023/24 onwards, cause data sourced from Delius have been independently verified by the General Register Office (GRO) and updated accordingly. The latest provisional data for 2024/25 remain based on apparent causes, i.e., they have not been independently verified. For further details about the GRO verification process, refer to the guide to deaths of offenders supervised in the community statistics.
(2) The reporting period for these statistics (financial year 1 April to 31 March) relates to when the death occurred.
(3) A new set of death classifications was implemented on 1 April 2022 and, as such, figures for 2022/23 onwards are not comparable to those presented for previous years. The category of 'self-inflicted death' up to 31 March 2022 includes any death of a person who has apparently taken his or her own life, irrespective of intent. The category of 'self-inflicted death' from 1 April 2022 includes any death of a person at their own hand, including where intent is undetermined. This includes some drug poisonings (e.g., where a suicide note is found or the circumstances are suspicious) but not drug poisonings which appear to have been the accidental result of consumption for another purpose. Refer to the guide to deaths of offenders supervised in the community statistics for further details about the new set of classifications.
(4) In June 2025, a data sharing agreement was established with the General Register Office (GRO) to provide access to official cause of death data following the registration of a death. This information is then used to update the provisional categorisation of deaths on the probation case management system. Official causes of death from the GRO are only available for deaths occurring from 1 April 2023 onwards. Also, the registration of a death can be delayed when a case is referred to the coroner and, as such, the official cause of death from the GRO is not available for deaths that occurred in the most recent period. Comparisons across cause of death categories over time should, therefore, not be made, as periods prior to 1 April 2023 and the most recent reporting period are based on provisional classifications, which are not directly comparable to GRO-verified data.
Data sources and quality
The figures in this table have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
Source: National Delius case management system.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants were employed in each Government department as of 1 January 2026.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Information on the number of civil servants employed in each Government department are published quarterly by Office for National Statistics (ONS) with a one quarter lag as part of their accredited official statistics publication ‘Public Sector Employment’. Latest data as at end September 2025 can be accessed using the web link below.
Information on Civil Service employment as at end December 2025 is scheduled for publication by ONS as part of these statistics on 19 March 2025.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what evidence his Department submitted to the Office for National Statistics' review of the ethnicity harmonised standard, including in relation to the recording of Sikhs and Jewish people as ethnic groups.
Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
A review of the harmonised standard for ethnicity data collection is underway by the Government Statistical Service Harmonisation team.
A public consultation between October 2025 and February 2026 sought views from a wide range of users, including Government Departments and public bodies, to understand user needs for ethnic group data. This was supplemented by a programme of engagement activity, including with representatives of all government departments.
ONS have committed to providing an initial response to the public consultation in April, and a full report on the consultation in late summer 2026 will include more detailed information on the departments that responded to the consultation.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance has the (a) Cabinet Office and (b) Civil Service People Group given to the Civil Service and Whitehall Departments on the potential implications of the Employment Tribunal decision of Renowden v Office for National Statistics of February 2019 on the use of temporary promotions without open and fair competition.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government is committed to ensuring we attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds to help deliver on our priorities.
Neither the Cabinet Office or Government People Group has given additional guidance to Departments in relation to the use of temporary appointments. Decisions on the use of temporary recruitment are delegated to departments.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many illegal crossings were made over the Northern Ireland border in the last 5 years.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
It is not possible to state how many illegal crossings were made over the Northern Ireland border in the last 5 years as not all people arriving via illegal entry routes will be detected.
Operation Gull is an ongoing Home Office Immigration Enforcement intelligence led initiative that tackles Common Travel Area (CTA) immigration abuse in air and sea ports in Northern Ireland. Through Operation Gull Immigration Enforcement will be aware of those individuals who they encounter abusing the CTA.
To maintain the highest standards of accuracy, the Home Office prefers to refer to published data, as this has been subject to rigorous quality assurance under National Statistics protocols prior to publication.
Our published data is available at the following link and includes data on illegal entry to the UK : Immigration system statistics, year ending December 2025 - GOV.UK
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what evidence his Department submitted to the Office for National Statistics' review of the ethnicity harmonised standard, including in relation to the recording of Sikhs and Jewish people as ethnic groups.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
I refer my hon Friend to the answer I gave to Question 117376. The ONS report on the consultation in late summer 2026 will include more detailed information on the departments that responded to the consultation.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what evidence his Department submitted to the Office for National Statistics' review of the ethnicity harmonised standard, including in relation to the recording of Sikhs and Jewish people as ethnic groups.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
A review of the harmonised standard for ethnicity data collection is underway by the Government Statistical Service Harmonisation team.
A public consultation between October 2025 and February 2026 sought views from a wide range of users, including Government Departments and public bodies, to understand user needs for ethnic group data. This was supplemented by a programme of engagement activity, including with representatives of all Government Departments.
The Office for National Statistics have committed to providing an initial response to the public consultation in April, and a full report on the consultation in late summer 2026 will include more detailed information on the departments that responded to the consultation.
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of UK hospitality businesses that have ceased trading since November 2024.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the Permanent Secretary for the Office of National Statistics.
The Rt Hon. the Lord Mott OBE
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
02 March 2026
Dear Lord Mott,
As Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what assessment has been made of the number of UK hospitality businesses that have ceased trading since November 2024 (HL14742).
Information on the number of businesses which have ceased trading is best obtained from the ONS’s annual business demography release, which has the Inter-Departmental Business Register as its data source. However, the latest year for which figures are available from this data source is 2024.
The ONS publishes more up-to-date estimates of business closures via our quarterly business demography release. The figures in this release are regarded as ‘official statistics in development’. It is not possible to separately identify the hospitality industry in the quarterly data, but figures are available for accommodation and food as a whole. Table 1 shows the number of business closures in the United Kingdom (UK), from the fourth quarter of 2024 to the fourth quarter of 2025.
Table 1: Number of business closures for accommodation and food businesses
Period | UK | Accommodation & Food Business Closures |
Q4 2024 | 68210 | 6145 |
Q1 2025 | 83050 | 7895 |
Q2 2025 | 73525 | 6680 |
Q3 2025 | 62920 | 5800 |
Q4 2025 | 65750 | 6485 |
Source: Official for National Statistics
Yours sincerely,
Darren Tierney
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, if she will publish the number of cases and the relevant offences for cases prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service's Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division in each year between 2015 and 2025.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not publish official statistics. Official statistics relating to crime and policing are maintained by the Home Office and Office for National Statistics. Official statistics relating to criminal courts including caseload, timeliness, convictions, and sentencing outcomes are maintained by the Ministry of Justice. However, since January 2020, the CPS has published quarterly bulletins of data tables and summaries of main trends as part of the CPS’s ongoing commitment to transparency on prosecution performance – available here: CPS quarterly data summaries | The Crown Prosecution Service.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, if she will publish the number of cases and the relevant offences for cases referred to the Crown Prosecution Service's Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division in each year between 2015 and 2025.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not publish official statistics. Official statistics relating to crime and policing are maintained by the Home Office and Office for National Statistics. Official statistics relating to criminal courts including caseload, timeliness, convictions, and sentencing outcomes are maintained by the Ministry of Justice. However, since January 2020, the CPS has published quarterly bulletins of data tables and summaries of main trends as part of the CPS’s ongoing commitment to transparency on prosecution performance – available here: CPS quarterly data summaries | The Crown Prosecution Service.