Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the proven reoffending rate is for the adult cohort convicted of shoplifting offences who had been given a suspended sentence or any other non-custodial sentence within the last five years.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The proven reoffending rate for adult offenders with an index offence of shoplifting between 2019/20 and 2023/24 are provided in the attached Excel spreadsheet. This includes the overall adult cohort, as well as breakdowns for adults released from custody, and adults given non-custodial sentences or cautions between 2019/20 and 2023/24.
The proven reoffending rate is calculated using a 12-month follow-up period, allowing an additional 6 months for offences to be proven in court.
Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the proven reoffending rate is for the adult cohort convicted of shoplifting offences who had been sentenced to immediate custody within the last five years.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The proven reoffending rate for adult offenders with an index offence of shoplifting between 2019/20 and 2023/24 are provided in the attached Excel spreadsheet. This includes the overall adult cohort, as well as breakdowns for adults released from custody, and adults given non-custodial sentences or cautions between 2019/20 and 2023/24.
The proven reoffending rate is calculated using a 12-month follow-up period, allowing an additional 6 months for offences to be proven in court.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Restore Britain - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, to publish a list of all external organisations, including women’s, men’s, and specialist advocacy groups, that received funding, consultancy fees, or formal engagement contracts during the development of revised domestic‑abuse guidance and safeguarding processes in private‑law children cases; and to set out the total expenditure associated with this work.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Under this Government the Ministry of Justice has not provided funding, paid consultancy fees, or entered into formal engagement contracts with external organisations in developing revised domestic abuse guidance or safeguarding processes in private law children cases.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners with at least one life sentence have been transferred to open prison conditions in each year since 2020, broken down by offence.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
To answer the question would incur disproportionate cost as it would require a search of individual prisoner records. Centrally-collated data on prisoner transfers cover transfers between a predominant function closed prison and a predominant function open prison but does not distinguish instances of prisoner movements between a ‘closed’ wing and an ‘open’ wing where a prison has both types of function. Therefore, this would require a search of individual prisoner records.
Public protection remains the priority and prisoners will only be transferred to open conditions if it is assessed that it is safe to do so.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many officers in each prison are a) currently trained in Operation Tornado control and restraint procedures and b) what percentage of operational staff in each prison does this represent.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The number of officers trained in Operation Tornado control and restraint procedures, as of 31 March 2026, and the percentage of operational staff that these staff represent, are set out in the attached table.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners with at least one life sentence have been granted (a) supervised, and (b) unsupervised Release on Temporary Licence in each year since 2020, broken down by offence.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL) for prisoners serving life sentences is subject to particularly stringent risk assessment and senior decision making, and is granted only in limited circumstances, with public protection as the paramount consideration.
Data on prisoners serving life sentences who are released on ROTL are published regularly in the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly, which include information on the number of individuals serving life sentences released on ROTL, by year: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly.
Data on supervised ROTL is not included within centrally collated statistical data or published ROTL figures. As a result, a breakdown of life sentence prisoners released on ROTL by supervised / unsupervised ROTL and offence would only be possible to obtain at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether local police forces will be given additional (a) officers, (b) funding, and (c) logistical support when (i) a new prison opens and (ii) a new prison expansion is completed in their area.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Ministry of Justice works closely with other government departments and local services, including emergency services, throughout all phases of new prison builds and expansions.
Decisions regarding the allocation of police resources is a matter for Chief Constables and directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners, or their equivalents. They are best placed to make these decisions based on their knowledge of local need, experience, and in line with their existing budget.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to support the provision of the installation of additional (a) CCTV and (b) speed cameras in areas where (i) new prisons open and (ii) new prison expansions are completed.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
New prisons are designed with robust security measures, including full CCTV coverage. Expansion teams work with existing prisons to ensure full CCTV coverage of new buildings and associated spaces.
There are no plans for the Ministry of Justice to expand the provision of speed cameras near new prison or expansion sites; the installation and management of speed cameras is a matter for the relevant local authorities and the police.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 1 April 2026 to Question 123532, when his Department expects to equip up to 10,000 staff with protective body armour.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
HM Prison & Probation Service is committed to equipping up to 10,000 staff with protective body armour by March 2027. Work is continuing to support delivery against this commitment, ensuring it is implemented in a controlled and proportionate manner, with appropriate governance and oversight in place.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions his Department has had with local police forces for areas where new prison spaces are being planned.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Ministry of Justice works closely with emergency services throughout the planning, construction and mobilisation phases of all new prison builds and expansions.