Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) standard delivery, (b) fast delivery, and (c) oral pre-sentence reports were produced in (i) Wales and (ii) England in 2024.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Probation Service is responsible for producing pre-sentence reports (PSRs) where they have been requested by the Court. The PSR assesses the offender’s behaviour, the risk they pose, and recommend sentencing options tailored to the individual. The report can suggest community sentences and specific requirements like treatment programmes. Ultimately, the PSR provides recommendations to the Court, but the final decision rests with the judge.
The following table shows the number of PSRs prepared by the Probation Service and presented to the criminal courts in England and Wales between January 2024 and December 2024.
Magistrates' and Crown Courts | England | Wales | Total |
Total pre-sentence court reports (PSR) | 91,857 | 7,149 | 99,006 |
Standard PSR | 4,838 | 748 | 5,586 |
Fast Delivery PSR written | 71,157 | 4,376 | 75,533 |
Fast Delivery PSR oral | 15,862 | 2,025 | 17,887 |
Note, PSR figures by region are published every April as part of the Offender Management Statistics quarterly bulletin. Please also note that the data pipeline used to compile the figures has been updated. This change was introduced for the 2024 figures. More details can be found in the 'Probation data process transition' section of Chapter 6 of the publication, available here: Offender management statistics quarterly: October to December 2024 - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Tim Roca (Labour - Macclesfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on whether people claim to be from Eritrea to improve their chances of asylum being granted.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office is committed to ensuring that the asylum system is not open to abuse. All asylum claimants are subject to mandatory security checks to confirm their identity and to link it to their biometric details for the purpose of immigration, security and criminality checks. These checks are critical to the delivery of a safe and secure immigration system.
The Home Office uses several processes and tools to identify a claimant’s nationality and other identity features including fingerprint and other systems, identity documents, language analysis, and asylum interviews.
For further information regarding security checks during the asylum screening process, please see https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-screening-and-routing/asylum-screening-and-routing-accessible.
The guidance for doubtful or disputed nationality can be found here: Doubtful and disputed nationality cases: caseworker guidance - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the cost to the public purse of providing hotel accommodation to migrants in Reigate constituency over the last (a) five years, (b) 18 months and (c) nine months.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
Quarterly data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, including hotels, can be found within the Asy_D11 tab for our most recent statistics release. The data can also be broken down by local authority. Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab).
The Home Office publishes information on asylum expenditure in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts at Home Office annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK(opens in a new tab).
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many immigrants are housed in asylum hotels in Reigate constituency.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
Quarterly data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, including hotels, can be found within the Asy_D11 tab for our most recent statistics release. The data can also be broken down by local authority. Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab).
The Home Office publishes information on asylum expenditure in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts at Home Office annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK(opens in a new tab).
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with the Football Association on increasing funding for Futsal to pre-pandemic levels.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Football Association is the recognised National Governing Body for futsal. As they are independent of Government, it is ultimately their responsibility to address issues related to the funding and profile of the game.
To date, this Government has not had any discussions with the FA relating to futsal or its funding.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the potential provision of military support in relation to waste collection in Birmingham.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Following a Military Aid to the Civil Authorities (MACA) request from the Ministry of Housing, Community, and Local Government, a small number of military personnel deployed to support Birmingham City Council. This support, which was focused on operational planning only has now concluded.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Chief of Defence Staff discussed the Chagos Islands base during his recent visit to China.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Chief of the Defence Staff met with Gen Liu Zhenli Chief of Staff of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Liberation Army. They discussed a range of security issues and agreed that in an unstable world we must play our part as responsible nations with global interests.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any military personnel have been deployed to Birmingham to support the response to the ongoing disruption to waste collection.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Following a Military Aid to the Civil Authorities (MACA) request from the Ministry of Housing, Community, and Local Government, a small number of military personnel deployed to support Birmingham City Council. This support, which was focused on operational planning only has now concluded.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department (a) authorised and (b) requested the Chief of Defence staff's recent meeting with representatives of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Chief of the Defence Staff’s meeting was arranged between the UK’s Ministry of Defence and China’s Office for International Military Cooperation of the Central Military Commission. It was authorised by His Majesty’s Government.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Justice on increasing awareness of legal services for people entering into the asylum process.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
It is a routine part of the asylum process to inform asylum seekers of their legal rights, and of the support available to them.