Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of rehabilitation practices used at HMP Latchmere House on reducing reoffending.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
I refer the hon. Member to my answer on 31 March 2025 to Question 42652.
Asked by: Robert Jenrick (Conservative - Newark)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate she has made of the proportion of magistrates’ court trials listed that did not go ahead on the scheduled day since July 2024; and what the primary recorded reasons were for such delays.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of ineffective trials at the magistrates’ courts across England and Wales in the “Trial effective in the courts” data tool (latest to December 2024). This can be downloaded from the Criminal Court Statistics landing page here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-court-statistics.
Asked by: Robert Jenrick (Conservative - Newark)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many criminal trials in magistrates’ courts were delayed or adjourned due to (a) the late arrival of prison vans, (b) administrative errors and (c) the absence of an interpreter since July 2024.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of ineffective trials at the magistrates’ courts across England and Wales in the “Trial effective in the courts” data tool (latest to December 2024). This can be downloaded from the Criminal Court Statistics landing page here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-court-statistics.
Asked by: Robert Jenrick (Conservative - Newark)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times an interpreter was requested in criminal cases in magistrates’ courts since July 2024; and in how many of those cases the interpreter did not attend.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Family Court Quarterly Statistics, published on 27 March 2025, for what reason 8,150 bereaved families waited over six months for the Probate Registry to issue grants of (a) probate and (b) administration in 2024.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) retains complaint data concerning lost documentation for a period of five years. HMCTS conducts regular meetings with our bulk scanning provider to review occurrences of lost documents and is committed to continually enhancing our systems to minimize these incidents.
The open probate caseload includes individual cases that may experience delays due to various factors such as family disputes or insufficient information being provided by the applicants. HMCTS actively contacts users to facilitate the progression of cases requiring additional information. Official statistics on the open caseload are regularly published via the following link: Family Court Statistics Quarterly - GOV.UK.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information her Department holds on the number of documents lost by the Probate Registry in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) retains complaint data concerning lost documentation for a period of five years. HMCTS conducts regular meetings with our bulk scanning provider to review occurrences of lost documents and is committed to continually enhancing our systems to minimize these incidents.
The open probate caseload includes individual cases that may experience delays due to various factors such as family disputes or insufficient information being provided by the applicants. HMCTS actively contacts users to facilitate the progression of cases requiring additional information. Official statistics on the open caseload are regularly published via the following link: Family Court Statistics Quarterly - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she plans to review the threshold at which miscarriage of justice claimants can claim for compensation.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Individuals who have had their convictions quashed following an out of time appeal are eligible to apply for compensation through the statutory Miscarriages of Justice Application Service (MOJAS). The Law Commission is currently undertaking a review of the criminal appeals process, including the MOJAS scheme and the test for compensation. I will be considering their findings once their review is complete.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to support employment opportunities for ex-offenders.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We know that finding employment after release reduces the chance of reoffending significantly, by up to nine percentage points. That is why the Government’s manifesto commits to break the cycle of reoffending by better supporting prisons to link up with employers and the voluntary sector to get more people with convictions into work.
Key employment roles are in place across all 93 resettlement prisons to prepare prisoners for work on release, match them to jobs and provide critical ID documents to secure work and a home.
We have launched regional Employment Councils which, for the first time, brings businesses together with prisons, probation and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to support offenders leaving prison. This builds on the work of Employment Advisory Boards linking prisons with business leaders to ensure prisoners have the skills and training employers need to meet labour market demand.
In addition, HM Prison and Probation Service’s Creating Future Opportunities programme offers tailored support for ex-offenders - particularly those who are furthest from the labour market - to secure employment, training and education opportunities for release.
Supporting further, the criminal records regime is designed to strike a balance providing employers with the information they need to make safer recruitment decisions and enabling ex-offenders to rebuild their lives. We also work closely with DWP to ensure support is in place for ex-offenders in the community, for example through co-location of services.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to reduce rates of reoffending for antisocial behaviour.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
As part of the Safer Streets Mission, the Government is committed to improving confidence in policing and the local response to crime, including anti-social behaviour. Anti-social behaviour can be characterised by a range of different offence types, and we are responding in ways that are tough on crime whilst also supporting offenders to turn their backs on their offending behaviour.
We are tackling the root causes of reoffending by investing in a range of interventions which address offenders’ underlying criminogenic needs and support their rehabilitation journey. This includes accommodation, employment and substance misuse treatment services. Depending on the specific risks and needs of the offender, a range of accredited programmes, designed to address offending behaviour, are also available.
We are also making sure that punishment is tough. To do this, we will impose new unpaid work orders to ensure offenders pay back to society. For the most problematic and persistent community offenders, Integrated Offender Management reduces reoffending through intensive joint police-probation supervision and access to pathways and services that address underlying criminogenic needs. We will also expand the availability of Intensive Supervision Courts to address the causes of their offending behaviour.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reason it is her policy to no longer allow the Prison Fellowship Sycamore Tree Programme to operate in prisons.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
All interventions that aim to change attitudes, thinking, emotions or behaviour are governed by the National Framework for Interventions Policy Framework issued by HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS): National Framework for Interventions Policy Framework - GOV.UK.
The minimum standards set out in the National Framework are based on evidence of effectiveness gathered from a range of countries. A review of the Sycamore Tree programme found that it did not meet the required standards, and HMPPS therefore decided that it should no longer be delivered in prisons.
HMPPS is grateful to the provider of the programme, the Prison Fellowship, for the work it has undertaken over many years. HMPPS continues to work with the Prison Fellowship on other services it provides in prisons in England and Wales.