Asked by: Lola McEvoy (Labour - Darlington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the relevance of mental health conditions to the sentencing of people convicted of child sexual abuse.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Sentencing decisions are a matter for our independent courts, following any relevant sentencing guidelines, issued by the Sentencing Council. Sentencing guidelines are designed to increase consistency and transparency in sentencing.
The Council has issued a package of guidelines on sexual offences, as well as an overarching guideline to assist courts when sentencing offenders with any mental disorder, neurological impairment or developmental disorder. These are available on its website at: https://sentencingcouncil.org.uk/guidelines/crown-court/.
As the Deputy Prime Minister mentioned during Justice Oral Questions on 16 December, I will bring your particular concerns to the attention of the Chair of the Council.
Asked by: Seamus Logan (Scottish National Party - Aberdeenshire North and Moray East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of reducing the pension age of prison officers on levels of staff retention.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We have seen an improving picture on retention nationally – with resignation rates at their lowest level for four years for Band 3-5 prison officers.
We recognise that pension age is an important issue for frontline staff and our recognised trade unions. Ministers regularly engage with the POA and the Deputy Prime Minister is due to meet with the POA early in the new year.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) name, (b) job title, (c) annual remuneration, (d) time commitment and (e) expected end date is for each direct ministerial appointment in his Department.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Ministry of Justice makes information on its direct ministerial appointments available in line with Cabinet Office guidance on transparency. This information is available on GOV.UK and kept under review to ensure it is up to date.
Name(s) | Job Title | Press Release |
Kate Green; Dr Tom McNeil; Katy Swaine Williams; Dr Shona Minson; Bernie Bowen-Thomson; Michaela Booth; Anne Fox; Lady Edwina Grosvenor; Dame Vera Baird DBE KC; Pia Sinha | Members of Women’s Justice Board | |
Dame Carol Black; Ed Bathgate; Andi Brierley; Vicki Markiewicz; Dr Sunil Lad; Ranjan Bhattacharyya; Dr Ed Day. | Members of Drug and Alcohol Recovery Expert Panel | Drug and Alcohol Recovery Expert Panel: Terms of Reference - GOV.UK |
Dame Lynne Owens | Lead Independent Reviewer into Releases in Error | Appointment of Dame Lynne Owens as independent reviewer - GOV.UK |
Her Honour Deborah Taylor | Chair of the Criminal Legal Aid Advisory Board | New Chair of the Criminal Legal Aid Advisory Board appointed - GOV.UK Extension of Deborah Taylor's term as Chair of the Criminal Legal Aid Advisory Board - GOV.UK |
Chair of the Nottingham Inquiry | Chair appointed for public inquiry into Nottingham attack - GOV.UK | |
The Rt Hon Sir Brian Leveson | Chair of the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts | |
Shaun McNally, Chris Mayer, Jay Bangle, Katie Atkinson, David Ormerod | Expert Advisers to the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts | |
HHJ Sarah Munro KC | Chair of the Andrew Malkinson Inquiry | Judge appointed to chair independent Malkinson Inquiry - GOV.UK |
Lord Philip Sales, The Right Hon. Sir Colin Birss, The Honourable Justice Joanna Smith, Mark Evans, Kirsty Brimelow KC, Dame Elizabeth Gloster DBE, Richard Bamforth, Jonathan Wood, Kevin Nash, Lucy Greenwood, Clare Ambrose, Christina Blacklaws, Charles Clark, Professor Richard Susskind CBE KC (Hon), Dr Linda Yueh, James Palmer CBE, John Foster, Marcus Peffers, Dame Linda Dobbs DBE, Farzana Baduel | Members of English Law Promotion Panel |
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the employee (a) vacancy and (b) turnover rates were at HMP Hewell in each of the last five years by (i) prison staff and (ii) prison officers.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The latest published workforce statistics for HM Prison & Probation Service cover the period up to 30 September 2025 and contain figures for the last five years for working days lost, average staff and average working days lost for each public sector prison and for different grades, but not by prison and grade combined. The published figures are for the 12 months to 31 March each year and latest figures are for the 12 months to 30 September 2025. These figures for HMP Hewell, split by band 3-5 prison officers and other prison staff, are given in the table below.
Working days lost to sickness absence, for HMP Hewell, by band 3-5 prison officers and other staff – for 12 months to 31 March 2021 to 2025 and for 12 months to 30 September 2025.
(Full Time Equivalent)
12 months to given date | Band 3-5 prison officers1 | Other prison staff | All staff at HMP Hewell |
31-Mar-21 | 4,344 | 2,189 | 6,532 |
31-Mar-22 | 4,392 | 2,677 | 7,069 |
31-Mar-23 | 3,706 | 2,158 | 5,864 |
31-Mar-24 | 3,801 | 2,266 | 6,067 |
31-Mar-25 | 4,701 | 2,103 | 6,803 |
30-Sep-252 | 5,073 | 2,736 | 7,809 |
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Notes
A comparison between target staffing levels and staff in post can be found in the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/691da96221ef5aaa6543ef83/annex-prison-and-probation-officer-recruitment-Sep-2025_final.ods.
Internal management information has long been used for workforce planning to monitor vacancies and other resource monitoring purposes. However, target staffing and parallel staff in post data has only been produced for the purpose of official statistics for the last few years. As a result, the full historic time series is not available in a consistent format for the grade breakdowns requested.
Turnover rates1 at HMP Hewell for (i) band 3-5 officers2 and (ii) all other prison staff, in the 12 months to 31 March 2021-2025 and in the 12 months to 30 September 2025
12 months to given date | Band 3-5 prison officers (%) | Other prison staff (%) | All staff at HMP Hewell (%) |
31-Mar-21 | 13.6 | 11.9 | 12.9 |
31-Mar-22 | 14.4 | 9.8 | 12.6 |
31-Mar-23 | 15.0 | 11.7 | 14.0 |
31-Mar-24 | 14.2 | 8.0 | 11.6 |
31-Mar-25 | 13.8 | 10.4 | 12.4 |
30-Sep-25 | 14.6 | 8.9 | 12.2 |
Notes:
1. Turnover rates include all reasons for leaving and include both permanent and temporary staff.
2. Band 3-5 officers include: Bands 3-4 / Prison Officer (incl. specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officer and Band 5 / Custodial Managers
3. As with all HR databases, extracts are taken at a fixed point in time and is dependent on staff completing the details correctly. The database itself is dynamic and where updates to the database are made late, subsequent to the taking of the extract, or are incorrect then these updates will not be reflected in figures produced by the extract. For this reason, HR data are unlikely to be precisely accurate and may not match local data.
Figures relating to the most recent 12 months are provisional, and may be subject to change in the future.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many full-time equivalent days were lost to sickness absence at HMP Hewell in each of the last five years by (a) prison officers and (b) other prison staff.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The latest published workforce statistics for HM Prison & Probation Service cover the period up to 30 September 2025 and contain figures for the last five years for working days lost, average staff and average working days lost for each public sector prison and for different grades, but not by prison and grade combined. The published figures are for the 12 months to 31 March each year and latest figures are for the 12 months to 30 September 2025. These figures for HMP Hewell, split by band 3-5 prison officers and other prison staff, are given in the table below.
Working days lost to sickness absence, for HMP Hewell, by band 3-5 prison officers and other staff – for 12 months to 31 March 2021 to 2025 and for 12 months to 30 September 2025.
(Full Time Equivalent)
12 months to given date | Band 3-5 prison officers1 | Other prison staff | All staff at HMP Hewell |
31-Mar-21 | 4,344 | 2,189 | 6,532 |
31-Mar-22 | 4,392 | 2,677 | 7,069 |
31-Mar-23 | 3,706 | 2,158 | 5,864 |
31-Mar-24 | 3,801 | 2,266 | 6,067 |
31-Mar-25 | 4,701 | 2,103 | 6,803 |
30-Sep-252 | 5,073 | 2,736 | 7,809 |
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|
|
|
Notes
A comparison between target staffing levels and staff in post can be found in the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/691da96221ef5aaa6543ef83/annex-prison-and-probation-officer-recruitment-Sep-2025_final.ods.
Internal management information has long been used for workforce planning to monitor vacancies and other resource monitoring purposes. However, target staffing and parallel staff in post data has only been produced for the purpose of official statistics for the last few years. As a result, the full historic time series is not available in a consistent format for the grade breakdowns requested.
Turnover rates1 at HMP Hewell for (i) band 3-5 officers2 and (ii) all other prison staff, in the 12 months to 31 March 2021-2025 and in the 12 months to 30 September 2025
12 months to given date | Band 3-5 prison officers (%) | Other prison staff (%) | All staff at HMP Hewell (%) |
31-Mar-21 | 13.6 | 11.9 | 12.9 |
31-Mar-22 | 14.4 | 9.8 | 12.6 |
31-Mar-23 | 15.0 | 11.7 | 14.0 |
31-Mar-24 | 14.2 | 8.0 | 11.6 |
31-Mar-25 | 13.8 | 10.4 | 12.4 |
30-Sep-25 | 14.6 | 8.9 | 12.2 |
Notes:
1. Turnover rates include all reasons for leaving and include both permanent and temporary staff.
2. Band 3-5 officers include: Bands 3-4 / Prison Officer (incl. specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officer and Band 5 / Custodial Managers
3. As with all HR databases, extracts are taken at a fixed point in time and is dependent on staff completing the details correctly. The database itself is dynamic and where updates to the database are made late, subsequent to the taking of the extract, or are incorrect then these updates will not be reflected in figures produced by the extract. For this reason, HR data are unlikely to be precisely accurate and may not match local data.
Figures relating to the most recent 12 months are provisional, and may be subject to change in the future.
Asked by: Michelle Scrogham (Labour - Barrow and Furness)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to improve prisoner rehabilitation.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We provide a range of rehabilitative interventions for prisoners, including education, employment and substance misuse support.
In 93 prisons, we have established dedicated in-prison roles to strengthen educational opportunities and prepare prisoners for work on release.
We have Incentivised Substance Free Living units in 85 prisons, supporting engagement with treatment in custody.
Asked by: Gagan Mohindra (Conservative - South West Hertfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to prevent mistaken prisoner releases.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Releases in error are never acceptable, and we are bearing down on those errors that do occur.
On 11 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a five-point action plan. This includes strengthening prison release checks, investment in new technology, and an independent review, which will report its recommendations in spring next year.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in the past twelve months, how many disciplinary cases were concluded against civil servants in (a) his Department and (b) its agencies broken down by (i) outcome and (ii) whether the primary allegation related to (A) performance and (B) conduct.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Ministry of Justice holds all staff to high standards of professional conduct. Where behaviour falls short of those standards, appropriate action is taken in line with established policies and procedures.
Number of Conduct and Discipline cases in the Ministry of Justice broken down by agency and outcome (1st April 2024 to 31st March 2025)
| Not a penalty | Any other penalty | Dismissal |
MOJ HQ | 0 | 10 | ~ |
HMPPS | 250 | 939 | 405 |
HMCTS | ~ | 55 | 29 |
Office of the Public Guardian | ~ | 10 | ~ |
Legal Aid Agency | 0 | ~ | 0 |
CICA | 0 | ~ | 0 |
MoJ Overall | 266 | 1017 | 442 |
The central ePM case management system cannot identify the main allegation in a case or distinguish whether each allegation concerns performance or conduct. Its categorisation structure does not allow disciplinary data to be separated into conduct versus performance cases. Additionally, poor performance issues are handled through a separate policy and system, which is not included in the disciplinary case data.
Caveats
1. The above table is created from Conduct and Discipline records held in the ePM case management system. This only includes formal disciplinary actions and will exclude any local disciplinary actions taken.
2. Due to differences in the data matching processes, very slightly different methodologies have been used to calculate the figures for HMPPS compared to the non-HMPPS agencies.
3. This information only includes cases that concluded between 1st April 2024 and 31st March 2025 where the case had a known and recorded outcome and where the agency of the individual could be determined.
4. Cases can have multiple outcomes, and therefore the highest level penalty has been used to determine the outcome in the table. If the outcome was appealed, the outcome of the appeal has been taken as the final outcome of the case. The 'Dismissal' category includes summary dismissals and 'Any other penalty' includes both disciplinary action and financial penalties.
5. Within the centrally held ePM case management system, it is not possible to determine the primary allegation made against the individual or whether each allegation is specifically related to performance or conduct.
6. This data is based on the latest information available as at the end of June 2025. Further data regarding the 2024 - 2025 financial year may be received in future data provisions and therefore these figures may be subject to change.
7. For some cases, information is incomplete and we have conducted data cleaning to improve data quality where possible. We are in the process of improving the ePM data pipeline. Figures may change slightly in the future as data quality improves.
~ denotes values of 2 or fewer, suppressed for reasons of data protection, or values suppressed for reasons of secondary suppression to prevent disclosure in cases where totals would reveal suppressed values
8. The case categorisations on the system does not allow the breakdown of figures into conduct and performance groups. There is a separate poor performance policy and case management system which is separate to the disciplinary cases presented in the table
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect the second part of Lord Leveson's Independent Review of the Criminal Courts to be published.
Answered by Baroness Levitt - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Part two of the Independent Review into Criminal Courts is considering how the criminal courts can operate as efficiently as possible, specifically looking at the efficiency and timeliness of processes. We expect to receive Sir Brian's report on court efficiency early next year.
We will consider his recommendations in full and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of staff in each grade in his Department were rated in the top performance category in the last year.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Ministry of Justice operates a continuous performance management approach based on a rolling cycle of regular performance conversations between line managers and staff members. As such, the Department does not hold the data requested.