Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of prisoners detained beyond their release date in 2024-25.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Release inaccuracy is yet another symptom of the prison system crisis inherited by this Government. While the overwhelming majority of offenders are released correctly, we are clamping down on those errors that do occur, and this includes unlawful detentions. As the Deputy Prime Minister set out to the House, immediate measures have been introduced to strengthen release checks across prisons – making them the strongest release checks to ever be in place and an independent inquiry will report its recommendations to prevent further inaccuracies.
Asked by: Jim Allister (Traditional Unionist Voice - North Antrim)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department holds on the (a) number of convictions for crimes committed against (i) churches and (ii) other Christian places of worship in Northern Ireland since 2010 and (b) proportion of religious premises offences that represents.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Data centrally held by the Ministry of Justice covers convictions in England and Wales and does not contain any information regarding Northern Ireland. Offences committed against places of worship in Northern Ireland is a devolved issue for the Executive in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Robert Jenrick (Conservative - Newark)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether any disciplinary action has been taken against (a) prison staff or (b) senior officials due to the erroneous release of prisoners since 1 April 2025.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Releases in error have been increasing for several years and are another symptom of the prison system crisis inherited by this Government.
While the overwhelming majority of offenders are released correctly, we are clamping down on those releases in error that do occur – including through improved staff training and establishing a new specialist unit. A joint protocol between HMPPS and NPCC is in place, to ensure effective and timely communication between partner agencies when an individual is released in error to rearrest them as quickly as possible.
We have gripped this chaos – by building more prison places, ending the last Government’s early release scheme, being transparent with the public, immediately making changes to sentences to ease pressure on the system and now, taking landmark reforms through our Sentencing Bill to make sure that prisons never run out of places again.
The Ministry of Justice cannot provide the information requested. National conduct and discipline data for prison staff is published as part of the HMPPS Staff Equalities Report Official Statistics release available on gov.uk. The latest available data covers the period up to March 2024. Data for the period up to March 2025 is scheduled for publication in November 2025.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department plans to (a) review and (b) update victim notification procedures.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Victims’ Code is statutory guidance that sets out the minimum level of service that victims of crime should receive from the criminal justice system. Under the Code, victims have the right to information when reporting the crime, during investigation and prosecution, during the trial, and at the outcome of the trial. We will be consulting on a new Code in due course to make sure we get the foundations for victims right.
Through the Victim and Courts Bill, we will be updating the legislative framework that establishes the Victim Contact Scheme to bring victims currently served by different post-conviction communication schemes into the Victim Contact Scheme and provide a new route for other victims to request information via a dedicated helpline. This will give victims confidence about the routes available to receive information about their offender’s release.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has considered establishing a cross-Governmental oversight body to monitor Departmental compliance with the legal aid elements of the Public Office (Accountability) Bill.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Bill expands the scope of legal aid, allowing bereaved families to access legal help and advocacy for inquests whenever a public authority is an Interested Person without means testing. By bringing advocacy into scope, the Bill removes the requirement for families to navigate the Exceptional Case Funding (ECF) process to access representation at these inquests.
The legal aid provisions will be enshrined in law and administered by the Legal Aid Agency. Therefore, a cross-government oversight body to monitor compliance has not been considered during the Bill’s development.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Independent Monitoring Board's report entitled Annual report of the Independent Monitoring Board at HMP/YOI Downview, published on 3 September 2025, what steps he is taking to safeguard biological female prisoners where biological male prisoners are not subject to constant sight and sound supervision by a dedicated prison officer on a one to one basis during shared activities at (a) HMP/YOI Downview and (b) other prisons and (c) other young offenders institutions; and what guidance he intends to issue on this matter.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Prisoners on E Wing are held separately from other prisoners at HMP & YOI Downview. They may only access the regime of the wider prison if risk assessed as being safe to do so, and under the supervision of prison staff.
Transgender prisoners at all prisons are subject to local risk management arrangements. These are determined by the establishment and take into account risks that may be posed by the prisoner and risks they may face from other prisoners. Since policy was strengthened in 2019, there have been no sexual assaults committed by transgender women in women’s prisons.
With regard to the changes to supervision noted in the Independent Monitoring Board’s Annual Report: E wing prisoners continue to be subject to supervision at all times. Following individual risk assessments carried out by the prison, it was determined that additional prison officer supervision was not necessary to manage risk in each case.
In contrast with the adult estate, the Children and Young People Estate includes mixed gender settings. Placement decisions are based on the young person’s identified needs and the risks they may present to themselves and others at the time of placement. Young people who have been identified as transgender will normally be placed in a mixed gender setting, where staff are skilled at safeguarding and supervising boys and girls in the same establishment. If a transgender young person identifying as a girl were assessed as being too high risk for management in a mixed gender setting, that young person would be placed in a male-only part of the estate, where their transgender needs would be supported. A transgender young person identifying as a boy would only be placed in a mixed gender site, not in a male-only establishment.
A review of transgender prisoner policy in the light of the Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland Ltd vs. The Scottish Ministers is in progress.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on whether any female prisoners held at HMP Downview have been sexually assaulted by biological male prisoners.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Prisoners on E Wing are held separately from other prisoners at HMP & YOI Downview. They may only access the regime of the wider prison if risk assessed as being safe to do so, and under the supervision of prison staff.
Transgender prisoners at all prisons are subject to local risk management arrangements. These are determined by the establishment and take into account risks that may be posed by the prisoner and risks they may face from other prisoners. Since policy was strengthened in 2019, there have been no sexual assaults committed by transgender women in women’s prisons.
With regard to the changes to supervision noted in the Independent Monitoring Board’s Annual Report: E wing prisoners continue to be subject to supervision at all times. Following individual risk assessments carried out by the prison, it was determined that additional prison officer supervision was not necessary to manage risk in each case.
In contrast with the adult estate, the Children and Young People Estate includes mixed gender settings. Placement decisions are based on the young person’s identified needs and the risks they may present to themselves and others at the time of placement. Young people who have been identified as transgender will normally be placed in a mixed gender setting, where staff are skilled at safeguarding and supervising boys and girls in the same establishment. If a transgender young person identifying as a girl were assessed as being too high risk for management in a mixed gender setting, that young person would be placed in a male-only part of the estate, where their transgender needs would be supported. A transgender young person identifying as a boy would only be placed in a mixed gender site, not in a male-only establishment.
A review of transgender prisoner policy in the light of the Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland Ltd vs. The Scottish Ministers is in progress.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many sexual assaults of female prisoners by biological male prisoners have taken place in HMP Downview in (a) 2023, (b) 2024 and (c) 2025.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Prisoners on E Wing are held separately from other prisoners at HMP & YOI Downview. They may only access the regime of the wider prison if risk assessed as being safe to do so, and under the supervision of prison staff.
Transgender prisoners at all prisons are subject to local risk management arrangements. These are determined by the establishment and take into account risks that may be posed by the prisoner and risks they may face from other prisoners. Since policy was strengthened in 2019, there have been no sexual assaults committed by transgender women in women’s prisons.
With regard to the changes to supervision noted in the Independent Monitoring Board’s Annual Report: E wing prisoners continue to be subject to supervision at all times. Following individual risk assessments carried out by the prison, it was determined that additional prison officer supervision was not necessary to manage risk in each case.
In contrast with the adult estate, the Children and Young People Estate includes mixed gender settings. Placement decisions are based on the young person’s identified needs and the risks they may present to themselves and others at the time of placement. Young people who have been identified as transgender will normally be placed in a mixed gender setting, where staff are skilled at safeguarding and supervising boys and girls in the same establishment. If a transgender young person identifying as a girl were assessed as being too high risk for management in a mixed gender setting, that young person would be placed in a male-only part of the estate, where their transgender needs would be supported. A transgender young person identifying as a boy would only be placed in a mixed gender site, not in a male-only establishment.
A review of transgender prisoner policy in the light of the Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland Ltd vs. The Scottish Ministers is in progress.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reasons prisoners can become eligible for parole before their earliest potential release date.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We have interpreted “eligible for parole” to mean that a prisoner must lawfully be referred to the Parole Board of England & Wales to assess whether they can be safely released into the community on licence.
The statutory framework on parole for both indeterminate and relevant determinate sentence cases is set out in the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997 and the Criminal Justice Act 2003.
Prisoners are not eligible to be considered for parole until the end of the minimum custodial term which is their earliest possible release date. That date is known as the parole eligibility date (PED) or tariff expiry date (TED) depending on the type of sentence. The minimum custodial term is set by the courts when the sentence is imposed and cannot be changed by the Secretary of State.
There is no data on the number of prisoners who have successfully applied for parole before their minimum sentence has been served, because such releases are not permitted under legislation.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of making prisoners ineligible for parole until after they have served their minimum term in prison.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Prisoners may only be considered for release by the Parole Board once their minimum term has been served; this is known as the parole eligibility date (or tariff expiry date for indeterminate sentences). This statutory safeguard guarantees that no prisoner will be released prior to serving the minimum period of custody established by the court. Release before this point is not permitted under legislation other than the Secretary of State’s overriding power to release any prisoner early on compassionate grounds, which is rarely used.
The recent Independent Sentencing Review proposed a progression model that would allow certain offenders, namely those serving extended determinate sentences, to earn earlier consideration for release based on behaviour and rehabilitation. However, this recommendation was rejected because we do not think it would be right to allow prisoners who have been deemed dangerous by the courts to have their parole eligibility date brought forward.