Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on the effectiveness of introducing a statutory duty of candour on the military.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Bill will apply to all public authorities, including the military.
Appropriate safeguards for sensitive information will be in place and we are clear that nothing should undermine our national security.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to Answer of 22 December 2025 to Question 100065 on Legal Aid Scheme, how many legal aid providers have left the market in total since 23 April 2025.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Since April 2025 there has been a net increase to the number of providers contracted to deliver legal aid services. The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) publishes data about provider numbers as part of its official statistics (table 9.6). Data for the period April to December 2025 is scheduled for release on 26 March 2026.
The LAA also routinely publishes data about the volume and value of legal aid cases across all legal aid schemes as part of its official statistics. As above, data for the period April to December 2025 is scheduled for release on 26 March 2026.
As set out in my response to PQ 98862, since the serious criminal attack on the LAA’s digital services was identified we have worked closely with relevant law enforcement agencies and Police. As sensitive investigations remain ongoing it would not be appropriate to comment on the nature or detail of this engagement.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of requiring organisations to contribute to legal fees when (a) an unfair dismissal and (b) a discriminatory employment practice has occurred.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Organisations can already be asked to contribute to the cost of legal fees where vexatious or unreasonable behaviour has occurred. The Employment Tribunals (ET) can issue cost orders where one side is ordered to pay the other’s legal costs. For unfair dismissal cases, if the tribunal decides a claimant has been unfairly dismissed, they can receive compensation. Compensation awards can be ‘basic’ (based on age, length of service and average weekly wage) and ‘compensatory’ (based on loss of earnings).
The Ministry of Justice has not carried out an assessment of the merits of introducing more widespread use of cost orders. This is because the Tribunal Procedure Committee (TPC) is responsible for making procedure rules in the ET that includes the rules regarding cost orders. The Lord Chancellor can consider impacts of the changes the TPC recommend before deciding whether to implement them.
Asked by: Gurinder Singh Josan (Labour - Smethwick)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what demographic data in relation to ethnicity, gender and age his Department holds on convictions and cautions over the last 30 years.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice holds an extract of the Police National Computer (PNC) which holds data on ethnicity, gender and age for convictions and cautions since 2000. A breakdown of this information is published annually in the First Time Entrants and Offenders History publication here: First Time Entrants and Offenders History publication
In addition, the Ministry of Justice holds data on convictions in the Court Proceedings database which includes details of gender and age from 1984. Ethnicity data is included from 2005 onwards. This information, along with a technical guide for each report containing further details around demographic information, is routinely published in Criminal justice statistics quarterly - GOV.UK Information on cautions from the PNC extract is also published within the reports.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of current notification procedures for County Court Judgments; and whether he will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring that all notifications of impending County Court Judgments be sent by recorded and tracked delivery to ensure defendants receive proper notice of court proceedings.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Civil Procedure Rule Committee is responsible for the rules that govern the procedure for notifying people of court proceedings, known as the rules of service. In July 2025 it consulted on changes to the service rules including to permit electronic service on parties with whom there has already been electronic communication pre-action. The work to review responses to the consultation and any subsequent Civil Procedure Rules amendments is ongoing. The consultation can be found at - Civil Procedure Rule Committee - service consultation
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many charges were laid under Prison rule 51 relating specifically to aggravation towards a protected characteristic of (a) race, (b) religion and (c) belief in the last year where data exists; and how many of those charges were proven.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Prison Rule 51 sets out the offences of which an adult prisoner can be found guilty, including those which relate to aggravation towards a protected characteristic. The information on the breakdown of which protected characteristics these offences against discipline relate to can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Data on Adjudication outcomes related to these offences can be found in the Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK, which are published quarterly.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which faith-based (a) charities and (b) organisations are permitted to visit prisons.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Ministry of Justice recognises the vital contribution that charities and wider third sector organisations make to supporting prisoner rehabilitation.
Decisions as to which individuals or organisations may enter, or work in, a prison are taken by the prison governor. These decisions take account of the proposed role, security requirements, and other operational factors.
The Ministry of Justice does not maintain a central database of every organisation contributing to the work of prisons in England and Wales, as there is no operational need to do so.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many illegal marriages have been recorded in each year since 2010, broken down by local authority area.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice does not hold this data.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which (a) professional bodies and (b) legal organisations his Department consulted prior to the publication of proposals to restrict jury trials; and what alternative measures his Department has considered to reduce the Crown Court backlog.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
In developing his recommendations, Sir Brian Leveson and his expert advisers, including Professor David Ormerod, engaged with many external bodies and organisations with invaluable expertise of our Criminal Justice System including criminal legal organisations, charities, academics, and members of the judiciary. A full list is at Annex C of Part 1 of his report.
When considering Sir Brian’s recommendations and developing our proposals, I have engaged regularly with stakeholders and relevant sectors including but not limited to representatives from the legal sector (Law Society, Bar Council, Criminal Bar Association), victims and victims representatives (the Victims Commissioner, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, Rape Crisis), judiciary (Circuit leaders, Judicial leadership), magistracy (Magistrates’ Association, Magistrates’ Leadership Executive), non-governmental organisations (Appeal, JUSTICE, Transform Justice), court staff in criminal courts around the country (Wood Green, Snaresbrook, Kingston, Southwark, Telford, Birmingham etc) and similar international jurisdictions. For example, I met judges and visited courts in Canada, which uses types of judge-only trial.
We welcome the recommendations made in Part 1 of Sir Brian’s Review, which provided the blueprint for reform. Sir Brian’s recommendations were ambitious, but he also recognised that the Government might need to take his recommendations further to address the scale of the challenge we are facing. We have three levers for restoring stability and confidence in the criminal courts system – investment, modernisation, and structural reform. Pursuing any one of these levers in isolation would not be enough to meet projected demand into the courts, let alone address the rising caseload. The Government has already invested heavily in the system – in record sitting days, court buildings and technology, and in legal professionals. On 4 February 2026, Sir Brian published Part 2 of his Independent Review of the Criminal Courts, which makes recommendations to improve the efficiency of the criminal courts. We will urgently consider the proposals set out, alongside Sir Brian’s remaining recommendations from Part 1, and respond to them in due course.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress has been made by law enforcement on apprehending those responsible for the Legal Aid Agency cyber attack.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Since April 2025 there has been a net increase to the number of providers contracted to deliver legal aid services. The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) publishes data about provider numbers as part of its official statistics (table 9.6). Data for the period April to December 2025 is scheduled for release on 26 March 2026.
The LAA also routinely publishes data about the volume and value of legal aid cases across all legal aid schemes as part of its official statistics. As above, data for the period April to December 2025 is scheduled for release on 26 March 2026.
As set out in my response to PQ 98862, since the serious criminal attack on the LAA’s digital services was identified we have worked closely with relevant law enforcement agencies and Police. As sensitive investigations remain ongoing it would not be appropriate to comment on the nature or detail of this engagement.