Ministry of Justice

Listing appeals, including the mode of hearing, is a judicial function, and HM Courts & Tribunals Service cannot comment on decisions made by independent tribunal judiciary.

As part of the appeal process, appellants are given the option to select the most suitable hearing types for them. This includes attending a tribunal venue for a face-to-face hearing; a video or telephone hearing; or for the appeal to be determined on the papers. The Department for Work and Pensions, as Respondent to the appeal, is also given the opportunity to express their preference for the type of hearing they would like. Most hearings are currently held in person at a tribunal venue.

The President of the First-Tier Social Entitlement Chamber has published a Guidance Note on the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary Website covering the mode of hearing in Social Security and Child Support Tribunal Appeals here: Chamber President's Guidance Note No. 5 Mode of hearing in Social Security and Child Support Appeals.

This Government inherited prisons days from collapse. We have had no choice but to take decisive action to stop our prisons overflowing and keep the public safe.

The Ministry of Justice does not hold data on arrests and to provide it would result in a disproportionate cost.

We have published SDS40 release data alongside the quarterly Offender Management Statistics, in line with the Lord Chancellor’s commitment to transparency: Standard Determinate Sentence (SDS40) release data - GOV.UK.

The Government is committed to ensuring families bereaved by homicide receive the support they need to help them build resilience to cope with the impact of these devastating crimes.

Families bereaved by homicide have rights under the Victim’s Code, which sets out the minimum level of service that victims should receive. Under the Victims’ Code, they are entitled to be given information about and be referred to victim support services by the police. The Ministry of Justice also commissions a National Homicide Service, delivered by Victim Support, to provide a consistent level of support across England and Wales to families bereaved by homicide.

Addressing reoffending is critical to public safety. We follow the evidence to tackle the root causes of reoffending by investing in a range of interventions. Serious Further Offences (SFOs) committed by offenders subject to probation supervision are rare but have a devastating impact on victims, which is why we conduct thorough investigations into each one. The findings of SFO reviews are shared with victims, as we recognise that it is vital that victims understand any improvement we need to make as a direct result of the SFO.

On 11 December 2024, we published the first annual statement on prison capacity, fulfilling our commitment to increased transparency, holding this government and future governments to account.

The demand projections used in the annual statement are based on population projection Accredited Official Statistics which are published at: Prison Population Projections: 2024 to 2029 - GOV.UK. Further detail on the modelling methodology is contained within the publication, including an overview of the assumptions used.

Information relating to the time spent on custodial remand is not centrally held by the Ministry of Justice. To obtain the data to answer this question would involve a manual interrogation of court records which would incur a disproportionate cost to the Department.

Information on the number of people in prison on custodial sentences is published as part of the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly.

Data from 2002-2015 can be found in Table 1.Leg.1 at the following link: Prison-population-2002-to-2015.ods.

Data from 2015-2024 can be found in Table 1.A.1 at the following link: Prison-population-2015-to-2024.ods.

The requested information for indeterminate prisoners re-released following recall can be found in Table 5_Q_11 of the Department’s Offender Management Statistics Quarterly publication: licence-recalls-Oct-to-Dec-2024.ods.

The corresponding information for determinate sentenced prisoners is only obtainable at disproportionate cost as it requires data matching between different data systems (namely prison recall information from the Public Protection Unit Database, and prisoner release information from prison-NOMIS).

The Probation Service in the North West has developed a Quality Improvement Plan which prioritises and focuses improvement activity across Probation Delivery Units in the region, and at regional level, and includes actions derived from internal audits and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation reports. Progress is routinely monitored, assured and supported by regional and national, Performance, Assurance and Risk functions.

We regularly publish performance ratings for each region of the Probation Service, which can be found at the following link: Community Performance Annual, update to March 2024 - GOV.UK.

We are hiring 1,300 trainee probation officers by March 2026 in addition to the 1,050 already appointed last year. We are also investing in new technology to lift the administrative burden on probation officers so they can focus on what they do best – managing and rehabilitating offenders.

Probation funding will increase by up to £700 million by the final year of the spending review – a 45% increase in the next three years. We will deliver thousands more tags, more staff, and more accommodation to ensure that offenders are tracked and monitored closely in the community.

As noted in the Answer of 2 July 2025 to Question 62457, prisoners on E Wing are located separately from all other prisoners at HMP/YOI Downview. Supervised access to activities in the main prison’s regime, including work, is provided only where a local risk assessment has determined this to be appropriate.

Given the small number of prisoners held on E-Wing, it would not be appropriate to provide information about the management of the individuals in question.

We are reviewing the transgender prisoner policy in light of the recent Supreme Court ruling and will set out any changes to our approach in due course.

As at May 2025, 56.1% of food products sourced via the prisoner food contract and served in prisons is of British origin, however we do not hold a figure for farms specifically.

The sourcing of products is managed through commercial food contracts which are based upon value for money and the quality of the product, with British produce being chosen wherever possible. We continue to review options to source from UK suppliers as part of standard procurement processes.

The Government has received a number of representations seeking to broaden the parental responsibility measure in the Victims and Courts Bill, including proposals to restrict the exercise of parental responsibility by individuals convicted of rape in cases where a child has been conceived as a result of that offence. We are carefully considering these suggestions as the Bill progresses through Parliament.

Legal aid for proceedings within England and Wales is subject to the provisions of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) and regulations made under that Act. The legislation places restrictions on the scope of services funded and the eligibility criteria which need to be satisfied before legal aid is granted.

Civil legal aid services relating to an appeal arising from or relating to a decision to release information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 are not within the scope of funded services. Legal aid may be available as exceptional case funding where failure to provide legal aid would breach or risk breaching an individual’s human rights or other enforceable legal rights. There are no plans to review the scope of legal aid in this area.

Applications for legal aid, including that provided as exceptional case funding, are subject to a merits test. This helps ensure that public funding is used responsibly and not spent on cases that are unlikely to succeed or are repeated without new grounds.

Deaths in Approved Premises are rare, accounting for less than 1% of deaths of offenders in the community during 2023/24, and the number of deaths annually has been decreasing. Some of the deaths, while resident in Approved Premises, occurred away from the premises.

Five individuals serving an Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence died whilst housed in Approved Premises between 2019/20 and 2023/24. The number of deaths can be broken down as follows:

2020/21 - 3

2022/23 - 2

The figure is 0 for all other years since 2019/20.

As per previously published data to date, there have been no deaths of IPP-sentenced individuals under this Government.

Data prior to April 2019 would require a manual matching exercise and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Women’s centres provide information, advice and support to women in the community, including those that have an offending history. Women’s centres are run by the voluntary sector and receive funding from a range of sources, such as local authorities, health services, charities, trusts, and central government. There is no agreed figure for the number of women’s centres in the UK.

The Government recognises the vital support that women’s centres provide to vulnerable women in or at risk of contact with the justice system. In 2025/26, the Ministry of Justice is investing £7.2 million in community support, including women’s centres, focused on steering women away from the justice system and custody.

HMPPS also provides funding for women’s Commissioned Rehabilitative Services contracts with women’s community sector organisations, delivering specialist support to women on probation.

All probation regions in England provide women-only arrangements. The impact of partnerships, geography and environmental variables mean that these arrangements comprise of a mixture of dedicated times, trauma informed spaces and co-location with partner agencies to create women-only environments.

The Women’s Policy Framework (2024) sets out our shared HM Prison and Probation Service principles for working with women in the criminal justice system to enable better outcomes, ensuring that staff are supported, and the work is evidence based.

The document includes the options of being supervised by a female probation practitioner; being seen in a women-only environment; and not being placed in what would otherwise be an all-male work environment when undertaking Unpaid Work as part of a community order, or when undertaking any group work.

The Probation Service is working to increase the availability of women-only reporting spaces, either within probation offices or where co-located with partner agencies.

Dartmoor has been temporarily closed since August 2024 after radon monitoring results were higher than expected. We are working with specialist radon experts to investigate whether we can re-open the prison safely.

A decision on re-opening will be made based on the viability of the site, cost and efficiency of works to reduce levels of radon and value for the public purse.

The health and safety of prisoners and staff continues to be our top priority.

The decision to remand any individual in custody or to grant bail for is solely a matter for the courts and independent judiciary acting in accordance with the law.

We are working with partners across the system to ensure that the recent growth in the remand population is effectively managed.

The Home Office has trialled starting deportation casework earlier in the foreign national offender (FNO) journey, focusing on FNOs awaiting sentencing.

So far, this process has proved effective in increasing the time available to effect departures and has now been expanded to all prisons.

Since 5 July 2024, we have returned over 4,000 FNOs which is more than in the same period 12 months prior.

An Extended Sentence for Public Protection (EPP) was a determinate sentence in use from 2005 until its abolition in 2012.

The sentence was handed down to individuals convicted of specified offences where Section 227 or Section 228 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 applied, and where the courts believed there was a significant risk of serious harm to members of the public on commission of further specified offences.

The table below sets out how many EPP sentences were given in each year between 2005 and 2012.

The Government recognises the critical role third-party litigation funding plays in access to justice and is committed to ensuring it works fairly for all.

The Government welcomes the Civil Justice Council review of litigation funding, which will help inform the approach to potential reforms. We will outline next steps in due course.

This Government was elected with a landmark mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, and we have already taken steps to support victims through the criminal justice system, including in the Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.

The Ministry of Justice provides funding for support services for victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence, both nationally and locally. Most of this funding is delivered through the Police and Crime Commissioners, such as the one in Hertfordshire, who commission services based on local need. This includes ringfenced funding for domestic and sexual violence services, including Independent Sexual and Domestic Violence Survivors, and domestic abuse and sexual violence services such as Refuge.

Nationally, we also fund over 60 specialist organisations through the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund and operate a 24/7 support line for victims of sexual violence. The MoJ-funded National Witness Service also provides emotional and practical support on the day of trial, helping victims navigate the court process. All Crown Prosecution Service areas, including Thames and Chiltern, now have a dedicated Victim Liaison Officer to support victims of rape and serious sexual offences in the criminal justice system. We are also committing to establish specialist rape and sexual offences teams within every police force, enhancing the support network for victims across the country.

Furthermore, in line with the Independent Sentencing Review’s recommendations, we are looking to expand specialist domestic abuse courts and are continuing the provision for free sentencing transcripts for victims of rape and sexual offences whose cases are heard in the Crown Courts.

The Law Commission’s 2022 report on weddings raises a number of issues around weddings law, including giving greater choice in how and where individuals can get married.

Given marriage will always be one of our most important institutions, it is right that we take the time to carefully consider this report. An update on our position on weddings reform will come soon.

Details of ministers' meetings with external stakeholders and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK. Data for the period of July to September 2025 will be published in due course.

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012 (the 2012 Scheme) does not prescribe a time limit for applications to be decided.

The majority of applications are decided within 12 months. Each application must be considered on its own facts and assessed based on the information available. In almost all cases, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) needs to get information from third parties such as the police and medical authorities to assess applications.

Some applications will by necessity take longer to decide. This could be where information is not available due to ongoing criminal proceedings, where CICA needs time to assess the long-term impacts of complex injuries (e.g. brain injuries), or where there is an application for loss of earnings which requires at least 28 weeks of loss. CICA has continued to uplift staff numbers in line with funding and identify operational efficiencies to ensure applications are decided as quickly as possible.

The Government recognises the distress felt by those who are victims of theft, and such matters should be reported, investigated and, where appropriate, taken through the courts to provide justice. Theft of goods, regardless of value, is a criminal offence under the Theft Act 1968 and the maximum penalty is seven years’ imprisonment. The sentencing guidelines for theft acknowledge that, where the items stolen were of substantial value to the victim, then regardless of their monetary worth and consequential financial harm to victims and others, this will indicate a higher level of harm, and the offender should be sentenced accordingly.

The government does not intend to introduce a specific offence of theft involving high value goods from haulage or freight vehicles.

Whether or not an individual is in receipt of legal aid constitutes their personal data. Having regard to data protection legislation, it is not possible to disclose whether the Claimant in this matter received legal aid.

Legal representatives only receive legal aid funding to the extent that they represent a client in whose favour legal aid has been granted.

His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) co-commissioned, and subsequently published, an independent report to help inform our understanding of the prevalence of gambling harms among those in prison and on probation in the community. The report was undertaken from 2023-2024 and published in May 2025.

We are committed to rehabilitating those impacted by gambling and its harms, driven by good rehabilitative culture, positive relationships and pro-social staff. Alongside this, HMPPS delivers a broad range of interventions to address individuals’ criminogenic risks and needs, including accredited offending behaviour programmes.

The NHS also provides support for prisoners who are experiencing gambling addiction, and HMPPS is working in partnership with health and social care partners so that people in prison can access the equivalent standard and range of services to those they would receive in the community.

This Government inherited prisons days from collapse. We have had no choice but to take decisive action to stop our prisons overflowing and keep the public safe.

Reoffending rates are published regularly on an annual and quarterly basis. The most recent rates are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/proven-reoffending-statistics.

We have also published SDS40 release data alongside the quarterly Offender Management Statistics, in line with the Lord Chancellor’s commitment to transparency: Standard Determinate Sentence (SDS40) release data - GOV.UK.

The information requested is not currently able to be shared. Accredited Official Statistics on assaults on staff from January 2025 onwards are subject to future publication through our Safety in Custody quarterly publication. The data from January - March 2025 will be published on 31 July 2025.

The latest available assaults data covers up to December 2024 and can be found via: Safety in custody statistics - GOV.UK.

There is no mechanism for identifying former Armed Forces personnel or any other category of individuals through National Insurance numbers. Those eligible are issued a National Insurance number for the administration of Social Security Benefits, National Insurance and tax only.

However, all newly received prisoners are asked if they have previously served in the Armed Forces as part of the screening process at reception. The Probation Service also uses a self-declaration form to identify former Armed Forces personnel.

Those who choose to report as former members of the Armed Forces are given access to specialist support that is available to them via the armed forces and military charities that work in prisons and in the community.

Healthcare in Wales is devolved to the Welsh Government, with seven Local Health Boards responsible for the planning and delivery of health services (including mental health therapy, such as PTSD) in prisons across Wales.

A strong partnership exists between HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) in Wales, the Welsh Government and Public Health Wales, underpinned by a 2019 agreement. Regular strategic meetings and local partnership boards ensure that prisoners can access appropriate interventions, including mental health support, through coordinated efforts between prison services and healthcare providers.

HMPPS delivers a range of initiatives to support veterans including via third sector organisations, who provide a prison in-reach service to veterans whilst in custody.

Performance ratings for prisons in the West Midlands are published by the Ministry of Justice as part of the Annual Prison Performance Ratings. The 2023-24 ratings can be found at: Prison Performance Ratings: 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK.

The performance of the Probation Service in the West Midlands is published as part of the Community Performance Annual publication. The 2023-24 edition can be found at: Community Performance Annual, update to March 2024 - GOV.UK.

The ratings for 2024-25 for both prisons and probation will be published on 31 July 2025.

Performance ratings for prisons in the West Midlands are published by the Ministry of Justice as part of the Annual Prison Performance Ratings. The 2023-24 ratings can be found at: Prison Performance Ratings: 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK.

The performance of the Probation Service in the West Midlands is published as part of the Community Performance Annual publication. The 2023-24 edition can be found at: Community Performance Annual, update to March 2024 - GOV.UK.

The ratings for 2024-25 for both prisons and probation will be published on 31 July 2025.

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on convictions for manslaughter by Police Force Area in England and Wales in the Outcomes by Offences data tool. The latest data is available up to December 2024. This can be downloaded at the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page: Criminal justice statistics quarterly - GOV.UK.

However, it is not possible to provide the number of convictions for manslaughter involving suicide where domestic abuse was a contributing factor, as this information is not held centrally in the Court Proceedings Database.

The latest data available (April 2023-March 2024) shows that 13.0% of females and 21.8% of males in the West Midlands region were employed six months after release from custody, a gap of 8.8 percentage points. This represents 30 females and 715 males from sample sizes of 230 and 3,280 respectively.

We know that women face additional barriers to employment, including greater prevalence of trauma, substance misuse issues and being more likely to be a primary carer for children. In recognition of these additional challenges, New Futures Network, the prison service’s specialist employment team, has a dedicated employment broker for the women’s prison estate.

In addition, an expert in education and employment for women with convictions has been appointed to the cross-government Partnership Delivery Group, which supports our recently established Women’s Justice Board. The Board will set the vision for and deliver on our ambition to have fewer women in custody.

Data about the number of Foreign National Offenders (FNO) on post-release supervision is published regularly as part of the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly bulletin, with figures included under table 6.9 of the Probation chapter. The series, which includes data from the 31 March 2024, can be accessed via https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly

We have made no assessment of the effectiveness of the provisions in the Data Protection Act 2018 in respect of people acquitted of crimes. The ‘right to be forgotten’ is not an absolute right and whether there is a need for an organisation to retain data about a person’s acquittal is likely to be context specific.

Organisations in the UK that process personal data must comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA). Oversight and enforcement of these data protection laws, including the ‘right to be forgotten’, is carried out independently of the government by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO, as the UK’s independent data protection regulator, provides comprehensive guidance on its website.

The Ministry of Justice uses the term international remote working (IRW) to describe working remotely outside the UK. IRW is defined as when an employee wants to undertake the full responsibilities of their role remotely from abroad, for a short-term and fixed period. Employees may request to work their full responsibilities from abroad in exceptional circumstances e.g. supporting a family member overseas who needs urgent and immediate help, for a maximum of 30 calendar days in a rolling 12-month period.

On 3 July 2025, the Ministry of Justice had 11 employees who had permission to work remotely outside the UK. These are for the following countries:

1. British Virgin Islands
2. Germany
3. Greece
4. Hungary
5. Italy
6. Lithuania
7. Netherlands
8. Poland
9. Republic of Ireland
10. United States of America

The Probation Service will receive up to £700 million more by 2028/29, a 45 percent increase on current spending. It will see tens of thousands more offenders tagged, monitored and rehabilitated. We are currently in the process of re-procuring our commissioned rehabilitative services contracts. Our new contracts will improve on our current offering with expanded and improved consistency of service availability in both custody and community. However, decisions on the future scale of accessibility to these services will be determined by departmental funding allocation decisions following the Spending Review.

This Government was left an unconscionable inheritance with the prison system days from collapse. To prevent the risk of gridlock across the Criminal Justice System, we had no choice but to take decisive actions to stop our prisons overflowing and keep the public safe.

We changed the release point for certain standard determinate sentences from 50% to 40% (‘SDS40’) and increased the maximum Home Detention Curfew period from 6 months to 12 months. Both of these policies have extensive exclusion criteria, including sexual offences irrespective of sentence length and certain serious violent offences.

Harm caused is one of the two core factors always taken into account when sentencing. The Crown Prosecution Service is responsible for bringing the right charge in all serious cases and there are established mechanisms for appealing unduly lenient sentences.

This information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has specialist contractors to tackle any rodent activity, when it occurs.

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on trials, convictions and sentencing outcomes at criminal courts in England and Wales (latest data to December 2024), available from the Criminal Justice Statistics page.

However, it is not possible to provide the number of people sentenced in their absence, as this is not held. Nor is it possible to provide data on the nationality of convicted defendants who were sentenced in their absence, as this information is not collected. This information may be held in court records, but to examine individual court records would be of disproportionate costs.

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on trials, convictions and sentencing outcomes at criminal courts in England and Wales (latest data to December 2024), available from the Criminal Justice Statistics page.

However, it is not possible to provide the number of people sentenced in their absence, as this is not held. Nor is it possible to provide data on the nationality of convicted defendants who were sentenced in their absence, as this information is not collected. This information may be held in court records, but to examine individual court records would be of disproportionate costs.

Obtaining this data would require manually reviewing and reclassifying purchases made across multiple systems and procurement channels. Given the broad range of equipment types and purposes — particularly across a large and complex estate such as the Ministry of Justice — this process would be highly resource-intensive and result in a disproportionate cost to the Department.

The Ministry of Justice does not centrally hold information on the numbers of people who abscond abroad before trial and sentencing or absconding abroad by dual/foreign nationals. To obtain the data to answer this question would involve a manual interrogation of court records which would result in a disproportionate cost to the department.