Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been imprisoned for supplying cannabis in every year since 2010.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody at criminal courts in England and Wales in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal justice statistics quarterly - GOV.UK.
The offences should be selected by using the HO offence code filter and selecting:
09221 - Production of or being concerned in production of a controlled drug - class B (cannabis, including cannabis resin, cannabinol and cannabinol derivatives)
09226 - Production or being concerned in production of a controlled drug - class C (cannabis, including cannabis resin, cannabinol and cannabinol derivatives) (historic)
09241 - Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug - class B (cannabis, including cannabis resin, cannabinol and cannabinol derivatives)
09246 - Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug - class C (cannabis, including cannabis resin, cannabinol and cannabinol derivatives) (historic)
09230 - Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug - class A (cocaine)
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been imprisoned for growing cannabis in every year since 2010.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody at criminal courts in England and Wales in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal justice statistics quarterly - GOV.UK.
The offences should be selected by using the HO offence code filter and selecting:
09221 - Production of or being concerned in production of a controlled drug - class B (cannabis, including cannabis resin, cannabinol and cannabinol derivatives)
09226 - Production or being concerned in production of a controlled drug - class C (cannabis, including cannabis resin, cannabinol and cannabinol derivatives) (historic)
09241 - Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug - class B (cannabis, including cannabis resin, cannabinol and cannabinol derivatives)
09246 - Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug - class C (cannabis, including cannabis resin, cannabinol and cannabinol derivatives) (historic)
09230 - Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug - class A (cocaine)
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has (a) implemented a domestic abuse policy for staff and (b) trained line managers to effectively respond to staff who are experiencing domestic abuse.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
This Department is committed to supporting employees experiencing domestic abuse.
We provide comprehensive advice to these employees and their managers including how to identify abuse, actions which colleagues and managers can take, and links to organisations providing advice and support. Our guidance also covers the actions of perpetrators and how disciplinary action would be implemented.
In August 2025, the Ministry of Justice People and Capability Group launched refreshed pan-Ministry of Justice domestic abuse guidance and support for employees and their managers. This guidance recognises the employer’s duty of care to their employees, making clear what support is available with a clear commitment from the organisation and senior leaders to take the issue seriously.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will list the titles of all the events organised by Civil Service networks in his Department since 2017.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The information requested is not held centrally.
The Department only holds details of events organised by Ministry of Justice staff networks.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Statement in the House on 11 November 2025, how many personnel from his Department will form the digital rapid response unit.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We plan to allocate up to 15 members of staff to the digital rapid response unit. We will keep this resource allocation under review.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the potential number of historical child sexual abuse cases likely to be brought following the removal of the limitation period for such claims.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Measuring the scale and nature of child sexual abuse is difficult because it is usually hidden from view. Victims often feel unable to report their experiences and adults are not always able to recognise that abuse is taking place. As a result, there is no data available to represent the full scale of the issue. We therefore do not know how many people are currently experiencing, or have experienced, child sexual abuse or how many potential victims and survivors may be impacted by these changes.
However, the Government recognises, as was reinforced by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, that it might take years and in many cases decades for the victims and survivors of child sexual abuse to come forward and feel ready to disclose their trauma. That is why we accepted the critical issue the Inquiry sought to remedy in calling for reform of limitation law to overcome some of the barriers to justice that are faced by victims and survivors.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussion his Department has had with relevant stakeholders in Hexham constituency on legislative changes to recognise that under 16s can be victims of domestic abuse.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This Government was elected with a landmark mission to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in a decade. I regularly meet with my counterparts on this and we will publish our cross-government strategy as soon as possible.
Responsibility for the definition of domestic abuse as set out in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 sits with the Home Secretary. Responsibility for reported incidents of violence against women and girls also sits with the Home Office.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many new prisons have been (a) planned and (b) approved since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
As set out in the December 2024 10-Year Prison Capacity Strategy, we are committed to delivering an additional 14,000 prison places and aim to do so by 2031; we have already delivered c.2,600 of these since taking office.
No new prisons have been (a) planned or (b) approved since 5 July 2024.
However, since 5 July 2024, the delivery of c.1,080 places have been approved through the Small Secure Houseblocks programme at the following sites:
HMP Northumberland
HMP Lancaster Farms
HMP Humber
HMP Ranby
HMP Onley
HMP Erlestoke
We have also uplifted the Accelerated Houseblock Delivery Programme by c.125 places at HMP Wayland.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department holds on the number of reported incidents of violence against women and girls against under 16 year- olds in (a) Hexham constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) Newcastle, (d) the North East, and (e) England.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This Government was elected with a landmark mission to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in a decade. I regularly meet with my counterparts on this and we will publish our cross-government strategy as soon as possible.
Responsibility for the definition of domestic abuse as set out in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 sits with the Home Secretary. Responsibility for reported incidents of violence against women and girls also sits with the Home Office.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions his Department has had with relevant stakeholders in Northumberland on legislative changes to recognise that under 16s can be victims of domestic abuse.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This Government was elected with a landmark mission to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in a decade. I regularly meet with my counterparts on this and we will publish our cross-government strategy as soon as possible.
Responsibility for the definition of domestic abuse as set out in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 sits with the Home Secretary. Responsibility for reported incidents of violence against women and girls also sits with the Home Office.