Asked by: Chris Murray (Labour - Edinburgh East and Musselburgh)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Strategic Housing Specialists have been employed in women's prisons; and whether he plans to increase that number.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
There is provision for 50 full-time equivalent Strategic Housing Specialists in England and Wales. Nine of these provide intervention within the twelve prisons in the female estate. The provision of Strategic Housing Specialists is regularly reviewed to ensure consistent coverage of the resettlement estate.
Asked by: Chris Murray (Labour - Edinburgh East and Musselburgh)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his target number is of Strategic Housing Specialists in women's prisons.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
There is provision for 50 full-time equivalent Strategic Housing Specialists in England and Wales. Nine of these provide intervention within the twelve prisons in the female estate. The provision of Strategic Housing Specialists is regularly reviewed to ensure consistent coverage of the resettlement estate.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of mandatory disclosure of unspent criminal convictions on rates of reoffending.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We are committed to helping people with convictions overcome barriers to employment and turn away from reoffending. The criminal records regime is designed to play a role in this process, balancing the need to safeguard the public, with enabling ex-offenders to rebuild their lives.
We recognise, however, that disclosure requirements can impact on an individual’s chances to reintegrate into society. That is why the Deputy Prime Minister confirmed that we are considering the recommendation made by Sir Brian Leveson in his independent review of the Criminal Courts, including opportunities to simplify the regime to ensure it is clear and proportionate, particularly in relation to childhood offences.
We are also committed to reducing barriers to employment in other ways, as we know that employment reduces the chance of reoffending significantly, by up to nine percentage points in the year following release. For example, last year we launched regional Employment Councils, which for the first time bring businesses together with prisons, probation and the Department of Work and Pensions to support offenders leaving prison back into work.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the press release entitled Battlefield tactics to inspire UK fight against prison drones, published on 16 January 2026, what progress has he made in launching high-stakes competitions to develop technologies to help counter the scourge of illegal drones and drugs in prisons.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We are working closely with international partners across our priorities, including lessons learnt from the battlefield to counter the threat of malicious drones. Officials are in further discussion with counterparts in Ukraine and other international allies to understand best practice and what lessons could be applied to the security of our prison estate.
International companies are also encouraged to take part in ongoing challenges to industry, for example the challenge launched on behalf of the Ministry of Justice by UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) on 3 March. The challenge is looking for practical, low-collateral technologies that can safely stop hostile drones once they breach secure prison airspace. Up to £1.85 million combined funding is available across the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Defence, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and other partners.
As announced by the Deputy Prime Minister on his visit to Ukraine in January 2026, UKRI has committed an additional £6.5 million to help accelerate counter-drone research and development (R&D). This funding is owned and will be delivered by UKRI as part of the R&D Mission Accelerator Programme. Decisions for how this funding will be allocated are still being finalised and will be announced in due course.
As well as the £1.85 million challenge led by UKDI, the Ministry of Justice has also delivered counter-drone R&D through His Majesty’s Government Communications Centre. The Counter-Drone Challenge, launched in November 2025, invited industry to find cutting-edge solutions to detect drones. Successful applicants will receive up to £60,000 funding to develop proof-of-concept systems over a 12-week period. The Ministry of Justice will continue to work with UKRI, UKDI and the wider counter-drones ecosystem to develop innovative solutions to keep our prisons secure and protect the public.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the press release entitled Battlefield tactics to inspire UK fight against prison drones, published on 16 January 2026, how will his Department benefit from the £6.5 million UKRI funding available to accelerate anti-drone research and development.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We are working closely with international partners across our priorities, including lessons learnt from the battlefield to counter the threat of malicious drones. Officials are in further discussion with counterparts in Ukraine and other international allies to understand best practice and what lessons could be applied to the security of our prison estate.
International companies are also encouraged to take part in ongoing challenges to industry, for example the challenge launched on behalf of the Ministry of Justice by UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) on 3 March. The challenge is looking for practical, low-collateral technologies that can safely stop hostile drones once they breach secure prison airspace. Up to £1.85 million combined funding is available across the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Defence, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and other partners.
As announced by the Deputy Prime Minister on his visit to Ukraine in January 2026, UKRI has committed an additional £6.5 million to help accelerate counter-drone research and development (R&D). This funding is owned and will be delivered by UKRI as part of the R&D Mission Accelerator Programme. Decisions for how this funding will be allocated are still being finalised and will be announced in due course.
As well as the £1.85 million challenge led by UKDI, the Ministry of Justice has also delivered counter-drone R&D through His Majesty’s Government Communications Centre. The Counter-Drone Challenge, launched in November 2025, invited industry to find cutting-edge solutions to detect drones. Successful applicants will receive up to £60,000 funding to develop proof-of-concept systems over a 12-week period. The Ministry of Justice will continue to work with UKRI, UKDI and the wider counter-drones ecosystem to develop innovative solutions to keep our prisons secure and protect the public.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the press release entitled Battlefield tactics to inspire UK fight against prison drones, published on 16 January 2026, how has he tasked prisons with learning from Ukraine's drone expertise.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We are working closely with international partners across our priorities, including lessons learnt from the battlefield to counter the threat of malicious drones. Officials are in further discussion with counterparts in Ukraine and other international allies to understand best practice and what lessons could be applied to the security of our prison estate.
International companies are also encouraged to take part in ongoing challenges to industry, for example the challenge launched on behalf of the Ministry of Justice by UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) on 3 March. The challenge is looking for practical, low-collateral technologies that can safely stop hostile drones once they breach secure prison airspace. Up to £1.85 million combined funding is available across the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Defence, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and other partners.
As announced by the Deputy Prime Minister on his visit to Ukraine in January 2026, UKRI has committed an additional £6.5 million to help accelerate counter-drone research and development (R&D). This funding is owned and will be delivered by UKRI as part of the R&D Mission Accelerator Programme. Decisions for how this funding will be allocated are still being finalised and will be announced in due course.
As well as the £1.85 million challenge led by UKDI, the Ministry of Justice has also delivered counter-drone R&D through His Majesty’s Government Communications Centre. The Counter-Drone Challenge, launched in November 2025, invited industry to find cutting-edge solutions to detect drones. Successful applicants will receive up to £60,000 funding to develop proof-of-concept systems over a 12-week period. The Ministry of Justice will continue to work with UKRI, UKDI and the wider counter-drones ecosystem to develop innovative solutions to keep our prisons secure and protect the public.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans his Department has to promote literacy enrichment in the criminal justice system as part of the National Year of Reading.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The National Year of Reading is a welcome opportunity to promote a wide range of activity to improve literacy and engagement with reading for people in custody and on probation.
As part of this work we have appointed the first ever Prison Reading Laureate, the author Lee Child. He will champion the transformative power of reading across the criminal justice system, continue expansion of his successful literacy pilot programme which has been running in a number of prisons since 2025 and will bring in more authors to work with prisons across the country, promoting the benefits of reading to rehabilitation.
Reading is a priority for HMPPS who work with many voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations such as the Reading Agency and National Literacy Trust. A programme of work is planned throughout this year to improve national access to books and facilitate workshops with authors. The Youth Custody Service is also launching its first ever Literacy Festival to inspire reading amongst some of the most complex children in our society.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people who were a) convicted for theft and b) did not receive an immediate custodial sentence were foreign nationals, by year of conviction.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on convictions and sentences for a wide range of offences, including theft in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal justice statistics - GOV.UK
However, data held centrally does not include if the defendant is a foreign national. This information may be held in the court records but to examine individual court records would be of disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the role of Legal Aid in enabling consumers to hold water companies to account for overcharging and environmental damage.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The scope of legal aid is set out under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, and applicants are subject to relevant means and merits tests. Legal aid is available in relation to injunctions for nuisance arising from prescribed types of pollution of the environment, and for public law challenges, such as judicial reviews of decisions concerning water regulation. This would cover challenges that would benefit the environment. Proceedings related to private consumer law are generally not in scope.
Where an issue falls outside the scope of legal aid, individuals can apply for Exceptional Case Funding (ECF), which will be granted where they can show that without legal aid, there is a risk that their human rights may be breached. ECF applications are considered by the Legal Aid Agency on an individual basis.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to reform the family court system to ensure children's best interests are prioritised.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Children Act 1989 states that the welfare of the child is the court’s paramount consideration when making decisions in relation to a child's upbringing.
This Government is committed to reform of the family court to improve the experience and outcomes for children and families. Central to this is the expansion of the private law Pathfinder model, which amplifies the voice of the child through a Child Impact Report and ensures a higher proportion of children are directly engaged by social workers during proceedings. The model is supporting the court in making safe decisions which prioritise the best interests of the child, without delay.
The Pathfinder pilot was launched in Dorset and North Wales in February 2022 and is now operating across 10 court in England and Wales, which accounts for around a quarter of relevant private law proceedings. Plans for further expansion will be announced in due course.