Asked by: Robert Jenrick (Conservative - Newark)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on what dates he has officially visited HMP Wandsworth since his appointment; and whether he has met with the Governor to discuss the recent mistaken release.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending is planning to visit HMP Wandsworth in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that victims of domestic abuse are not required to bear additional financial or procedural burdens in order to progress divorce proceedings when the other party fails to engage.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
It is a matter of concern that perpetrators of domestic abuse may fail to engage with divorce proceedings. The courts have powers to deal with parties who fail to engage, including to make orders confirming a perpetrator has received a divorce application when they have refused to acknowledge it. In September this year, the process of asking the court to make orders about sending applications became easier, when His Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service extended the online application system for litigants-in-person.
Asked by: Ben Spencer (Conservative - Runnymede and Weybridge)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to improve timescales for cases in the Court of Protection.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
HMCTS is working to increase overall system capacity to reduce processing times. Measures taken include a targeted action plan to allocate additional administrative resources in response to higher demand, as well as training and upskilling new staff. Additional judicial sitting days have been added to support performance improvement. HMCTS is also working on improvements to the new case management system, to help reduce overall end-to-end processing times.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of measures to improve the timeliness of probate claims.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
HM Courts & Tribunals Service have invested in more staff, alongside system and process improvements to reduce and maintain lower processing times during the last year.
The Ministry of Justice publishes regular data on probate timeliness in our regular quarterly family court statistics bulletin: Family Court Statistics Quarterly - GOV.UK
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
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 Department's policies on the handling of domestic abuse cases in the family courts of the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s October 2025 report entitled Everyday Business; and whether he plans to expand the roll-out of the Pathfinder court model in the South West.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government welcomes the publication of the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s report “Everyday Business: Addressing domestic abuse and continuing harm through a family court review and reporting mechanism”. We are carefully considering the recommendations made in the report and will publish a full response shortly.
This Government recognises the impact that family court proceedings can have on children and adult survivors of domestic abuse, which is why we are prioritising the protection of domestic abuse survivors going through the family court. The includes the expansion of the Pathfinder programme, which promotes safeguarding and supports victims of domestic abuse through multi-agency collaboration and expert domestic abuse support.
Launched in Dorset and North Wales in February 2022, the Pathfinder model has since expanded to nine court areas, the most recent areas being the Black Country and Shropshire, Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent and Herefordshire and Worcestershire in November 2025. In January it will be rolled out to Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, the largest court area in the South West. This will mean around a quarter of relevant cases across England and Wales follow the model.
Further expansion of the model is being considered as part of the departmental allocations process which follows the latest Spending Review, and we are unable to pre-empt the outcome of this.
Asked by: Baroness Chakrabarti (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many individuals are currently remanded in custody for their own protection or welfare under the Bail Act 1976; how many individuals have been remanded in custody for their own protection or welfare in the past year; and what source they use for that data.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
There is no centrally collated statistical data available on the number of individuals currently remanded in custody for their own protection or welfare under the Bail Act 1976, or how many individuals have been remanded in custody for their own protection or welfare in the past year. To obtain this information would exceed permitted costs.
The court’s decision to remand an individual in custody for their own protection or welfare is used as a last resort and out of concern for the defendant, where circumstances are such that a defendant would come to harm if released into the community and there is no other suitable option available to the courts.
The Mental Health Bill was introduced to Parliament in November 2024 and has now completed Third Reading in the House of Commons. It includes a reform to end the use of remand for own protection under the Bail Act where the court’s sole concern is the defendant’s mental health. To support implementation of the reform, we are working with partners to collect data on cases where concerns around mental health are the only reason this power is used.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce the supply of illegal drugs into prisons, including through improved searching, staff screening and security technology.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Prisons in England and Wales have a range of specialist staff and equipment to tackle the smuggling of contraband into prisons, including drugs. This includes X-ray body scanners, airport-style Enhanced Gate Security, X-ray baggage scanners, detection dogs, and other specialist equipment. In addition, local security strategies allow for routine and random rub-down searches of prison officers and other staff upon entry to, or within, prisons.
This year we are investing over £40 million in physical security measures across 34 prisons, including £10 million on anti-drone measures, such as window replacements, external window grilles and specialist netting across 15 priority prisons.
All HMPPS prison staff are subject to rigorous pre-employment security vetting checks. These checks enable the organisation to assess whether candidates pose a risk to the safety and security of HMPPS information, assets, staff, and offenders, and whether they demonstrate the standards and core values expected of everyone working within HMPPS.
While the vast majority of prison staff act with integrity, HMPPS recognises the risk of corruption and is committed to tackling it at all levels. HMPPS’s Counter Corruption Unit works proactively with prisons and police to deter and disrupt staff wrongdoing.
Prison security must be dynamic and be able to respond to shifting risks as they manifest. We regularly review our security countermeasures capabilities and will not hesitate to adjust our approach as needed and use all the tools at our disposal.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of prisoners tested positive for illegal drugs on arrival and during their time in custody in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We recognise that the availability and use of drugs in prisons is too high. Tackling this is a priority in order to reduce reoffending, and improve the safety of our prisons. To drive down supply of drugs, we are investing over £40 million in physical security measures this financial year. This builds on the range of specialist equipment prisons already use to intercept contraband, including X-ray body scanners, airport-style Enhanced Gate Security, and baggage scanners.
We must also address the demand for drugs which drives this illicit market. We work closely with health partners to identify prisoners with a drug problem and support them into treatment. To create the environment and incentives for prisoners to make the right choices, we have funded Incentivised Substance Free Living Units in 85 prisons. Prisoners on these units sign a behaviour compact, agree to be regularly drug tested and can access enhanced opportunities compared to a standard wing. Alongside this, we are working to increase access to mutual aid fellowships in prison, which can provide vital ongoing support for people in recovery.
The information requested regarding the proportion of prisoners testing positive on arrival and during their time in custody can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to early release schemes on the accuracy of release date calculations.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
On 11 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a five-point action plan setting out initial steps to address issues including release in error and unlawful detention.
This includes the establishment of an Urgent Warrant Query Unit supported by court experts so prisons can escalate queries to reduce the risk of release in error. We have also stood up a digital rapid response unit to reduce human error with cutting-edge technology. We will provide up to £10 million over the next 6 months to deliver AI and technology-based solutions to support frontline staff, helping to avoid mistakes and calculate sentence accurately.
We are also simplifying release policy; one of the aims of the Sentencing Bill is to standardise how cases are treated.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to improve the (a) accuracy and (b) oversight of prison release date calculations.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
On 11 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a five-point action plan setting out initial steps to address issues including release in error and unlawful detention.
This includes the establishment of an Urgent Warrant Query Unit supported by court experts so prisons can escalate queries to reduce the risk of release in error. We have also stood up a digital rapid response unit to reduce human error with cutting-edge technology. We will provide up to £10 million over the next 6 months to deliver AI and technology-based solutions to support frontline staff, helping to avoid mistakes and calculate sentence accurately.
We are also simplifying release policy; one of the aims of the Sentencing Bill is to standardise how cases are treated.