Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the answer of 4 March 2026 to question 115637 on Daniel Boakye, what additional management checks are being undertaken in relation to operational staff who may be called upon to undertake escort duty.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We have introduced a period of enhanced management assurance for all external escorts. Under these strengthened measures, a manager of the same grade or a more senior grade is required to check the application of restraints prior to an escort and ensure additional restraint arrangements are utilised where necessary. In addition, all operational staff who may be involved in an escort have been required to complete refreshed competency activity.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will ask HM Prison and Probation Service to respond to the coroner's Prevention of Future Death report following the death of Darren Docherty.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
HMPPS is now preparing a response to the coroner’s Prevention of Future Death report.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department intends to respond to the coroner's Prevention of Future Death report following the death of Christine McDonald.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Director General of Operations for HM Prison and Probation Service responded to the coroner’s Prevention of Future Deaths report following the inquest into the death of Christine McDonald on 26 July 2024. The response is available on the Chief Coroner’s website.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will ask a) HM Prison and Probation Service and b) HMP Wandsworth, to respond to the coroner's Prevention of Future Death report following the death of Daniel Beckford.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Director General of Operations for HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) responded to the coroner’s Prevention of Future Deaths report following the inquest into the death of Daniel Beckford on 8 January 2025. This response addressed the matters of concern raised in the report and a separate response from the prison was not considered necessary. For reasons that are not clear, whilst it is dated 11 June 2024, the report was not received by HMPPS until November 2024, and the response was then provided promptly.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will ask a) HM Prison and Probation Service and b) HMP Wandsworth, to respond to the coroner's Prevention of Future Death report following the death of Yuri Hatton.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Director General of Operations for HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) responded to the coroner’s Prevention of Future Deaths report following the inquest into the death on 20 January 2025. This response addressed the matters of concern raised in the report and a separate response from the prison was not considered necessary. For reasons that are not clear, whilst it is dated 11 June 2024, the report was not received by HMPPS until November 2024, and the response was then provided promptly.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2025 to Question 84672, whether his Department was asked to respond to the Prevention of Future Death report of Stephen Sleaford in its own capacity and separately from the response by HM Prison and Probation Service.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Prevention of Future Deaths report following the death of Stephen Sleaford was addressed to the Lord Chancellor and the Minister of State for Prisons. The Director General of Operations for HM Prison and Probation Service responded on their behalf because the matters of concern raised in the report were of an operational nature.
No separate response from the Ministry of Justice is considered necessary.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, 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 Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
An initial response to the public consultation is due to be published in April, followed by a full report on the consultation in late summer 2026. This report will include all formal responses to the consultation, and the names of the organisations that responded.
Asked by: Gavin Williamson (Conservative - Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to publish a report under section 4 of the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc) Act 2019 on whether, and if so how, the law ought to be changed to enable or require coroners to investigate stillbirths; what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the absence of a published position on (a) accountability, (b) learning and (c) the prevention of future deaths; and if he will make an assessment of the reasons for the timing of the publication of the report.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
I would like to extend my deepest sympathies to all parents bereaved by baby loss. Bereavement is never easy, but the loss of a child is unimaginable, and we recognise the profound and lifelong impact this has on parents and families.
As I have previously set out in correspondence with the Right Honourable Member, the wider landscape of maternity investigations has continued to evolve since the publication of the consultation on the coronial investigation of stillbirths in 2019 and the factual summary of responses published in 2023.
Most recently, this Government commissioned the independent investigation into NHS maternity and neonatal care led by Baroness Amos. As outlined in the investigation’s terms of reference, it will, amongst other issues, look to consider the potential role of coroners in the investigation of late term stillbirths (37 weeks or later).
The Department has not made a formal assessment of the delay in publishing a decision in this area. It is important that the Government’s published position on coronial investigations of stillbirths is informed by any findings and relevant recommendations the independent investigation makes, and more broadly supports the most effective model for maternity investigation, including on vital issues such as learning and accountability. We intend to communicate our position on this issue after the investigation has published its final report in June 2026.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Government has considered establishing periodic review procedures for High Court injunctions granting lifelong anonymity to offenders convicted of serious crimes committed as juveniles.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The High Court has been clear that the making of an injunction to grant lifelong anonymity to protect the identity of a now adult person convicted of a serious offence as a child, should be exceptional. In practice, such injunctions are made very rarely.
The court will consider whether there is a real and immediate risk of serious physical harm or death or if the offender’s rights under the European Convention on Human Rights justify making the injunction as a necessary and proportionate step. In doing so the court will balance these factors against the right of the media and others to freedom of expression.
An application can be made to the High Court to end an injunction. To be successful, it must be demonstrated that the conditions justifying the making of the injunction are no longer in place.
This Government has no current plans to establish periodic review procedures for these injunctions.
Asked by: Connor Rand (Labour - Altrincham and Sale West)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the findings in the China Strategic Risks Institute report entitled The PRC’s Extraterritorial Legal Architecture, published in January 2026, regarding the risks of China's civil judgments being enforced in the UK against the public interest.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Decisions about recognition of foreign judgments are made by the UK’s independent judiciary, with safeguards against recognition and enforcement being available.
There are various grounds on which a judge may refuse to recognise or enforce a foreign judgment, including for example where the foreign court acted without jurisdiction, the proceedings involved a breach of natural justice, or recognition would be contrary to public policy.
The Government engages regularly with the judiciary and stakeholders about the operation of frameworks for recognition and enforcement.