Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the Solicitors Regulation Authority on their approach to complaints involving alleged Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation activity, including concerns that such complaints are being closed without substantive investigation.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government has not held any discussions with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) regarding its handling of complaints relating to Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation (SLAPPs). The SRA operates independently of Government, and it would therefore not be appropriate for the Government to comment on its decisions.
The SRA has taken a series of regulatory, guidance-based, and enforcement-related actions to address SLAPPs to tackle reports of related misconduct within the legal profession. This includes issuing a warning notice in 2022 setting out expectations on solicitors’ conduct in SLAPP-type cases, which was updated in 2024, and publishing accompanying guidance reminding solicitors and law firms of their wider professional obligations not to bring unmeritorious or abusive claims. However, I will raise this with the SRA to determine what additional action they might be able to take in this area.
The Government implemented the SLAPPs measures in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 in June 2025, which provides protection against SLAPPs relating to economic crime. While this represents a positive first step, we are considering all options for reform to ensure that all types of SLAPPs are addressed comprehensively.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to strengthen protections against non-economic crime Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government has not held any discussions with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) regarding its handling of complaints relating to Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation (SLAPPs). The SRA operates independently of Government, and it would therefore not be appropriate for the Government to comment on its decisions.
The SRA has taken a series of regulatory, guidance-based, and enforcement-related actions to address SLAPPs to tackle reports of related misconduct within the legal profession. This includes issuing a warning notice in 2022 setting out expectations on solicitors’ conduct in SLAPP-type cases, which was updated in 2024, and publishing accompanying guidance reminding solicitors and law firms of their wider professional obligations not to bring unmeritorious or abusive claims. However, I will raise this with the SRA to determine what additional action they might be able to take in this area.
The Government implemented the SLAPPs measures in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 in June 2025, which provides protection against SLAPPs relating to economic crime. While this represents a positive first step, we are considering all options for reform to ensure that all types of SLAPPs are addressed comprehensively.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners who are biologically (a) male and (b) female are housed in prisons designated for the opposite sex.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
As of 1 February 2026, there were seven prisoners on E Wing, the separate unit for transgender women at HMP Downview.
The information requested cannot be provided for the general female or male prison estates without breaching our legal obligations under data protection legislation. Where a request is made for statistical information and the total figure amounts to five or fewer, we must consider whether this would be likely to lead to the identification of individuals, and whether disclosure of this information would be in breach of our statutory obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.
Transgender women with birth genitalia and/or any history of violent or sexual offending cannot be placed in the general women’s estate except in exceptional circumstances, where an exemption has been granted by Ministers. No transgender women have received such an exemption under this Government.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of new prisons places that will result from the building of prisons that received planning approval since 5 July 2024; what his proposed timetable is for these prison places to become available.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
As set out in the December 2024 10-Year Prison Capacity Strategy, we are committed to delivering an additional 14,000 prison places and aim to do so by 2031. Around 4,300 of these places have received planning permission since 5 July 2024. This includes full planning permission for a c.1,500 place prison near the existing HMPs Grendon and Springhill and outline planning permission for a c.1,700 place prison near the existing HMPs Garth and Wymott. We will seek to deliver these new places as quickly as possible and continue to identify opportunities to accelerate delivery of places wherever possible.
There are currently c.5,000 places under construction across the prison estate, including c.1,700 at our next new prison, HMP Welland Oaks, in Leicestershire.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to build new female prisons during this Parliament.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We are committed to delivering an additional 14,000 prison places and aim to do so by 2031; we have already delivered more than 2,900 of these places since taking office.
The 10-Year Prison Capacity Strategy set out our ambition to establish a pipeline of future supply beyond these 14,000 places. Decisions regarding the female estate are kept under continuous review and are balanced against government ambition, demand for places, and the need to protect both prisoner and public safety.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has had with her Polish counterparts on Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
There have been no recent discussions on Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders between the Secretary of State for Justice and Polish Ministers. Regular discussions take place between UK and Polish officials.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) education and (b) training programmes support the rehabilitation of people leaving prison in Surrey.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Ministry of Justice and HMPPS are committed to improving the quality of education, skills and work provision in prisons to support rehabilitation and reduce reoffending. Heads of Education, Skills and Work support Governors to design a prison wide curriculum that provides education and training to meet the varying needs of their prison population.
The five prisons in Surrey have an education offer that includes vocational and employability programmes such as construction and rail‑track safety training, barista qualifications, digital and in‑cell learning, horticulture, peer mentoring, and other industry‑recognised courses such as an Optician’s Assistant accredited qualification that strengthen employment prospects on release. These programmes help prisoners gain the skills, confidence and qualifications they need to move into work on release, an important factor in reducing reoffending and supporting safer communities.
We are also prototyping the ‘Working Week Project’ at HMP Downview, alongside four other sites nationally. The project’s aim is to increase the time prisoners spend in purposeful work-based activity, developing their skills, as well as strengthening links with businesses in the community to improve employment prospects upon release.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled Government action to avert summer prison disaster, published on 29 January 2026, what steps he has taken to help ensure that changes to sentencing do not adversely impact (a) public safety and (b) offender rehabilitation.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The greatest risk to public safely is the risk of not being able to lock up dangerous offenders. Without the Sentencing Act, which received Royal Assent on 22 January, the country would have completely run out of prison places as early as June this year. This Government’s decisive action has safeguarded the police, courts, and wider criminal justice system, and avoided a potentially catastrophic breakdown of law and order.
Public protection is our main priority, and many offenders will still go to prison, some for a very long time. Where offenders are on licence, in the community, we are imposing more intensive supervision, including ramped up tagging. We are also introducing new restriction zones for the most serious offenders, locking them down to a specific area.
We are prioritising rehabilitation of offenders: evidence shows that short prison sentences exacerbate issues with employment, housing, and maintaining family ties, without allowing sufficient time for offenders to access effective rehabilitative services. Whereas suspended sentence orders give offenders a chance to stay in work, keep stable housing, and access support, all of which help reduce repeat offending and support rehabilitation.
To support rehabilitation and managing offenders in the community, this Government is rebuilding the probation service, increasing investment by up to £700 million by 2028/29, a 45% increase.
We are creating a tougher, smarter system that protects the public and supports rehabilitation.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department will bring forward changes to allow independent celebrants to conduct legally binding weddings.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government recognises the contribution that independent celebrants make to the wedding industry and will be seeking their views amongst a range of others to inform the consultation paper.
In the upcoming consultation, we will invite views on the possible introduction of independent officiants and the potential consequences of this. We will encourage everyone to engage with the consultation when published to help to inform our next steps on weddings reform.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on what date the Government intends to launch the public consultation on wedding law reform.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
We will be undertaking the consultation on the reform of weddings law in England and Wales early this year. The exact publication date is yet to be confirmed.