Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department holds on the total cost of (a) translation and (b) interpretation services in the prison system for each of the last five years.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The requested information has been provided in the tables below.
Translation:
FY | Translation |
FY21-22 | £ 83,462.46 |
FY22-23 | £ 137,213.31 |
FY23-24 | £ 280,071.34 |
FY24-25 | £ 328,526.54 |
FY25-26 | £ 142,303.32 |
Total | £ 971,576.97 |
Interpreting:
FY | Interpreting |
FY21/22 | £ 133,776.35 |
FY22/23 | £ 125,495.41 |
FY23/24 | £ 163,546.08 |
FY24/25 | £ 161,212.42 |
FY25/26 | £ 105,987.79 |
Total | £ 690,018.05 |
The Ministry of Justice has a statutory duty to provide Language Services to enable access to justice for users whom English is not their first language. Language Service needs and spend are assessed to ensure these services offer good value for money for taxpayers whilst maintaining high standards of service delivery.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department holds on the number of prison officers who do not have English as a first language.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department holds on the total cost of (a) translation and (b) interpretation services in the court system for each of the last five years.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested can be found in the tables below.
Translation:
FY | Translation |
FY21-22 | £ 51,231.54 |
FY22-23 | £ 113,487.07 |
FY23-24 | £ 140,829.23 |
FY24-25 | £ 126,433.75 |
FY25-26 | £ 78,995.19 |
Total | £ 510,976.78 |
Interpreting:
FY | Interpreting |
FY21/22 | £ 22,225,742.45 |
FY22/23 | £ 27,362,968.49 |
FY23/24 | £ 31,022,423.14 |
FY24/25 | £ 32,390,150.55 |
FY25/26 | £ 20,517,115.66 |
Total | £ 133,518,400.29 |
The Ministry of Justice has a statutory duty to provide Language Services to enable access to justice for users whom English is not their first language. Language Service needs and spend are assessed to ensure these services offer good value for money for taxpayers whilst maintaining high standards of service delivery.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been imprisoned for growing cannabis in every year since 2010.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody at criminal courts in England and Wales in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal justice statistics quarterly - GOV.UK.
The offences should be selected by using the HO offence code filter and selecting:
09221 - Production of or being concerned in production of a controlled drug - class B (cannabis, including cannabis resin, cannabinol and cannabinol derivatives)
09226 - Production or being concerned in production of a controlled drug - class C (cannabis, including cannabis resin, cannabinol and cannabinol derivatives) (historic)
09241 - Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug - class B (cannabis, including cannabis resin, cannabinol and cannabinol derivatives)
09246 - Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug - class C (cannabis, including cannabis resin, cannabinol and cannabinol derivatives) (historic)
09230 - Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug - class A (cocaine)
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has (a) implemented a domestic abuse policy for staff and (b) trained line managers to effectively respond to staff who are experiencing domestic abuse.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
This Department is committed to supporting employees experiencing domestic abuse.
We provide comprehensive advice to these employees and their managers including how to identify abuse, actions which colleagues and managers can take, and links to organisations providing advice and support. Our guidance also covers the actions of perpetrators and how disciplinary action would be implemented.
In August 2025, the Ministry of Justice People and Capability Group launched refreshed pan-Ministry of Justice domestic abuse guidance and support for employees and their managers. This guidance recognises the employer’s duty of care to their employees, making clear what support is available with a clear commitment from the organisation and senior leaders to take the issue seriously.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will list the titles of all the events organised by Civil Service networks in his Department since 2017.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The information requested is not held centrally.
The Department only holds details of events organised by Ministry of Justice staff networks.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Statement in the House on 11 November 2025, how many personnel from his Department will form the digital rapid response unit.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We plan to allocate up to 15 members of staff to the digital rapid response unit. We will keep this resource allocation under review.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent estimate he has made of the number of foreign nationals in prison.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The number of foreign national offenders in prison is published as part of the Offender Management Quarterly statistics series. The series can be accessed with the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly.
Foreign nationals who commit crime should be in no doubt that the law will be enforced. Where appropriate, the Ministry of Justice will work with the Home Office to pursue their deportation.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department currently has an English proficiency requirement for prison officers.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The prison officer recruitment process assesses English language proficiency at multiple stages, without requiring a separate English test or formal qualifications such as GCSEs at the point of application. The process for recruiting prison officers across all Public Sector Prisons is the same for all applicants, both UK and non-UK nationals, with candidates appointed based on merit, in line with the fair and open Civil Service recruitment principles.
Once candidates have passed the application and online test stages, they are assessed via His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service’s centralised Online Assessment Centre (OAC), which is conducted by trained human assessors who evaluate candidates in real time. Candidates undertake a written assessment, role-play exercises and a structured interview, all designed to assess whether they possess the written and spoken communication skills required for the prison officer role.
The centralised OAC process upholds consistent standards across all applicants and cannot be bypassed through automated or multiple-choice responses alone. This approach ensures that any difficulties in understanding instructions or in expressing responses clearly are identified and reflected in the assessment outcome. The assessment process also includes fitness and medical checks, which are applied to the same standard for all candidates, regardless of nationality.
We continuously evaluate our assessment process for all stages of prison officer recruitment to ensure best practice and integrate improvements appropriately as new tools and methodologies become available. Future changes to the assessment process will continue to assess a candidate’s English proficiency against the communication skills required for the prison officer role and will remain aligned with professional attainment levels used across comparable professions.
Asked by: Richard Tice (Reform UK - Boston and Skegness)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reason HMP Dartmoor remains closed in the context of the shortage of prison spaces.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Following the temporary closure of HMP Dartmoor in August 2024, after detection of elevated levels of radon gas, we have been working with specialist radon experts to investigate and assess options to allow us to reopen the prison safely.
The decision on reopening will be made based on the viability of the site, the effectiveness of works to reduce levels of radon, and value for money. We need to be satisfied that reopening the prison is justified in the light of a range of considerations, including compliance with legislative requirements, operational viability, and the cost of mitigation measures.