Ministry of Justice

In the recently published 10-Year Prison Capacity Strategy the Lord Chancellor has committed to delivering three new prisons, one in Leicestershire (next to HMP Gartree), one in Buckinghamshire (next to HMPs Grendon and Springhill) and one in Lancashire (next to HMPs Garth and Wymott).

We aim to deliver these places by the end of 2031. This is in addition to the three new prisons that have already been delivered as part of the 20,000 prison place programmes to date; HMP Five Wells, HMP Fosse Way and HMP Millsike, which was officially opened on 27 March 2025.

The “Creating inclusive Virtual Teams” course is procured through the Government Learning Framework provided via KPMG.

The criminal records regime seeks to strike a balance between providing employers with the information they need to make safer recruitment decisions and enabling ex-offenders to rebuild their lives.

We are carefully reviewing the evidence in this area before we consider whether adjustments to the regime are necessary or desirable.

In the meantime, we are working hard to support employment of prison leavers. In January, we launched regional Employment Councils, which for the first time bring businesses together with prisons, probation and the Department for Work and Pensions to support offenders into jobs.

This information is not held centrally.

The figures for the number of phones, laptops and other electronic devices lost by the Department since 5 July 2024 are as follows:

Lost devices constitute to devices that are misplaced and cannot be found by the user.

The Government is fully committed to human rights and to upholding the rule of law. We take our international obligations seriously and valued the opportunity for a dialogue with UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Relevant departments are currently considering the Committee’s concluding observations in detail. The Government will give written responses to three priority areas that the Committee has identified for specific follow-up by 2027.

The Government will respond to the rest of the recommendations before the UK’s next reporting cycle starts in 2030.

Operation Safeguard is an important contingency measure used to ensure that the current demand on prison places does not cause undue disruption to Criminal Justice System partners. The first places were activated by the previous Government in February 2023.

Between 20 February 2023 – 4 July 2024, 86,561 Operation Safeguard police cells were made available overnight. Over the same period, there were 2,564 overnight uses of Safeguard.

We have a range of policies in place to ensure that the rights of female prisoners are protected.

With regard to transgender prisoners, the Supreme Court ruling brings clarity and confidence for women and service providers.

We inherited the current policy regarding allocation of transgender prisoners from the previous Government, and have not moved any transgender women into the women’s estate since taking office.

Following the Supreme Court’s ruling, we will be reviewing the transgender prisoner allocation policy we inherited, as well as staff searching policy.

As per the latest published data on the placement of transgender prisoners (which covers transgender prisoners without gender recognition certificates, and is taken from a snapshot of the prison population on 31 March 2024), there were 2 or fewer transgender women housed within the women’s estate.

This government inherited the policy regarding allocation of transgender prisoners from the previous government, and have not moved any transgender women into the women’s estate since taking office.

Following the Supreme Court ruling in the For Women Scotland case, the Lord Chancellor has commissioned a review of transgender prisoner allocation policy.

We do not disaggregate prison run costs by nationality and the cost to hold individuals depends on category of prisons. Our unit costs for holding prisoners are published on GOV.UK alongside the HM Prison and Probation Service Annual Reports and Accounts. Data on the number of Foreign National Offenders in custody is published in Offender Management Statistics quarterly on GOV.UK.

Foreign nationals who commit crime should be in no doubt that the law will be enforced. The Ministry of Justice will work with the Home Office to pursue their deportation. Between 5 July 2024 and 22 March 2025, 3,594 FNOs have been returned – 16% more than the 3,101 in the same period 12 months prior, under the previous government.

In July 2024, the Lord Chancellor announced a change to the automatic release point for those serving eligible Standard Determinate Sentences (SDS) from 50% to 40%. SDS40 is a necessary measure to avoid prison capacity pressures causing gridlock in the Criminal Justice System.

Whilst the SDS change provided the intended medium-term relief to the system, this is not intended to be a long-term solution. To ensure we are never in a position where we run out of prison places again, the Lord Chancellor announced the Independent Review into Sentencing, alongside a series of prison capacity measures. This included reforming our recall practices to target the unsustainable growth in the recall population since the pandemic and an extension of the maximum period offenders can spend on Home Detention Curfew from 6 to12 months.

We also recently published our 10-year capacity strategy which sets out our ambition to build 14,000 prison places by 2031. This includes our new prison of nearly 1,500 prison places at HMP Millsike, which received its first prisoners this week.

The Independent Sentencing Review published its Part 1 report on 18 February. The Review’s final report is expected to be published in the spring of this year and will set out the immediate and longer-term recommendations for reform.

As the Lord Chancellor has previously announced, the SDS40 policy will be reviewed after 18 months.

The Safer Vape Pen Initiative is designed to prevent use of these pens as an ignition source. In addition, the safer pen incorporates features that limit its scope to be used as a delivery mechanism for illicit substances. Pathfinder trials, involving 1,138 prisoners, have commenced at HMP Swaleside and HMP The Mount. Five additional prisons – HMP Belmarsh, HMP East Sutton Park, HMP Five Wells, HMP Swansea, and HMP Wormwood Scrubs – are scheduled to join the trials in June 2025.

The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) is responsible for commissioning legal aid services in England and Wales. The LAA monitors the numbers of providers in each procurement area and across all categories of law. It takes operational action where it can, to respond to market pressures that may arise and works closely with the Ministry of Justice on policy solutions concerning the supply of legal aid.

The LAA is satisfied that there is adequate access to legal aid services in Harpenden and Berkhamsted across all categories of legal aid. Provision includes local services such as duty solicitor schemes and national services such as early legal advice under the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service and advice relating to housing, debt, education and discrimination via the Civil Legal Advice telephone service.

Information about the number of legal aid providers contracted to provide services are published as part of the LAA’s statistics [see tables 9.1-9.9]. These statistics are used by the LAA as management information to monitor the supply of legal aid services over time, in different areas of law and different regions of England and Wales.

For civil contracts, the LAA secures supply across designated larger geographic areas known as procurement areas, as opposed to local authority or constituency areas. The Midlands and East of England, Eastern, and South Herefordshire procurement areas encompass Harpenden and Berkhamsted. All exceed the minimum number of providers with legal aid contracts.

The commissioning of criminal legal aid contracts is undertaken at a national level. However, the LAA takes steps to ensure there is adequate coverage on each of its local duty solicitor schemes. Provision under the local duty solicitor schemes is demand-led and so there may be variations in numbers across each local rota.

Foreign judgments (including those from San Marino) can be enforced in the courts of England and Wales at common law by bringing a fresh action, subject to certain limited grounds of refusal.

The Government has no current plans to pursue a bilateral agreement with San Marino to further facilitate the recognition of judgments. However, the Government welcomes international cooperation in this area of law, for the benefit of UK businesses and citizens who live, work and trade across borders.

The Lady Chief Justice has statutory responsibility for the training of the courts judiciary in England and Wales, which is exercised through the Judicial College. The judiciary and professional staff in the College are responsible for the design, content and delivery of judicial training.

All judicial office holders receive induction training on appointment and before sitting in a new jurisdiction and complete regular continuation training thereafter. Training on child sexual abuse is integral to judicial training in public and private family law, including dealing with allegations of child sexual abuse and how best to receive evidence from children and young people in a way which seeks to minimise distress whilst protecting the integrity of the court process.

Family magistrates and their legal advisers also complete training in child sexual abuse and other forms of domestic abuse.

The table below shows the number of County Courts that were permanently closed between 1 May 2010 and 1 July 2024, broken down by region. The figures do not include integrations, where workload remained in the local area by transferring to a building in close proximity, or courts that are temporarily closed. Some buildings are also multi-jurisdictional, so may also be included in data provided for other jurisdictions in answer to other parliamentary questions.

There are multiple situations that can require a court to be closed to the public for a temporary period of time. Reasons include, but are not limited to, severe weather disruption, building issues and disrepair, loss of utilities, and in response to security concerns.

In order to help reduce the risk of building failures, we have announced a boost in court maintenance and capital project funding from £120 million last year, to up to £148.5m for 2025/26.

HM Courts & Tribunals Service does not hold central data covering all temporary closures.

The table below shows the number of dedicated Youth Courts that were permanently closed between 1 May 2010 and 1 July 2024, broken down by region. Youth Courts are normally sat by magistrates and are routinely located in magistrates’ courts. The figures do not include integrations, where workload remained in the local area by transferring to a building in close proximity, or courts that are temporarily closed. Some buildings are also multi-jurisdictional, so may also be included in data provided for different jurisdictions in answer to other parliamentary questions.

There are multiple situations that can require a court to be closed to the public for a temporary period of time. Reasons include, but are not limited to, severe weather disruption, building issues and disrepair, loss of utilities, and in response to security concerns.

HM Courts & Tribunals Service does not hold central data covering all temporary closures.

The table below shows the number of Tribunals that were permanently closed between 1 May 2010 and 1 July 2024, broken down by region. The figures do not include integrations, where workload remained in the local area by transferring to a building in close proximity, or courts that are temporarily closed. Some buildings are also multi-jurisdictional, so may also be included in data provided for different jurisdictions in answer to other parliamentary questions.

There are multiple situations that can require a court to be closed to the public for a temporary period of time. Reasons include, but are not limited to, severe weather disruption, building issues and disrepair, loss of utilities, and in response to security concerns.

In order to help reduce the risk of building failures, we have announced a boost in court maintenance and capital project funding from £120 million last year, to up to £148.5m for 2025/26.

HM Courts & Tribunals Service does not hold central data covering all temporary closures.

The table below shows the number of Nightingale Courts that were permanently closed between 1 May 2020 and 1 July 2024, broken down by region. The data is limited to Nightingale Courts that have closed and does not include instances of jury trial rooms enabled by small venue hire or rooms enabled via Portacabins.

There are multiple situations that can require a court to be closed to the public for a temporary period of time. Reasons include, but are not limited to, severe weather disruption, building issues and disrepair, loss of utilities, and in response to security concerns.

HM Courts & Tribunals Service does not hold central data covering all temporary closures.

While we collate details of religious affiliation recorded when prisoners enter custody, in order to establish the number of conversions, we would need to undertake a search of individual records, and this could not be done without incurring disproportionate cost.

The information requested is not held.

The Ministry of Justice publishes data about possession proceedings at Mortgage and landlord possession statistics: October to December 2024 - GOV.UK.

The Government is committed to making sure that all prison and probation staff have a safe place in which to work, the time and capacity to do their job well, and the right support, training and equipment to help them.

It is important that we have enough people to enable this vital work to be undertaken effectively. We are committed to recruiting and training the prison and probation staff we need, particularly in areas with the most significant staffing challenges, and we are constantly monitoring staffing levels and retention. We have implemented measures to attract and retain staff, including pay increases, extra funding for probation staff, and mentorship programmes. We are also working to improve staff safety and to address wellbeing concerns arising from the pressurised nature of the work. In addition, we are actively seeking ways in which technological innovation can ease the burden on our hard-working staff.

Prison and probation staff play a vital role in protecting the public and reducing re-offending. To help them to cope with the challenges this work involves, we provide extensive mental health support, including a 24-hour helpline, confidential counselling, and online wellbeing services. A new wellbeing support model has been established across HM Prison & Probation Service, with staff support and wellbeing champions for both prison and probation.

I refer the honourable Member to the answer I gave on 10 April 2025 to Question 44186.

As part of implementation considerations, we have included a provision in the Data (Use and Access) Bill to ensure that section 31 extends UK-wide, given the nature of the UK’s data protection framework. This Bill has finished Commons committee stage and will be entering report stage. Subject to passage of the Bill, we will update on implementation in due course.

The Lord Chancellor regularly reviews the discharge of her statutory obligations to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of the system to support the carrying on of business in both the criminal courts and the family courts. This includes ongoing assessments on the sufficiency of court capacity, including funded sitting days, to meet incoming demand.

This Government is highly aware of the rising frequency of freight crime and the significant and damaging impact it can have on businesses and drivers. We are determined to crack down on it.

We are committed to tackling crime and restoring public confidence in policing through our Safer Streets Mission and Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, which will deliver thousands of officers across England and Wales. We are continuing to work closely with the police, wider automative industry and the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (NaVCIS) to strengthen our response to vehicle crime. We are also continuing to work closely with Opal, the police’s national intelligence unit focused on serious organised acquisitive crime, including freight crime. The Department for Transport (DfT) hosts the Freight Council, which discusses crime against freight companies, and the Home Office works closely with DfT to engage with the sector on this issue through the Freight Council.

With regards to guidelines, guidelines for sentencing are developed and reviewed by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales, in fulfilment of its statutory duty to do so. The guidelines produced provide the Court with guidance on factors that should be considered, which may affect the sentence given. They set out different levels of sentence based on the harm caused and how culpable the offender is.

It is open to individuals to approach the Council to ask that they review their guidelines. As an independent body, it is at the Council’s discretion whether to review particular guidelines, in line with its published criteria for developing or revising guidelines. This is available on its website at: https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/sentencing-and-the-council/about-the-sentencing-council/our-criteria-for-developing-or-revising-guidelines/.

The information requested is not held centrally. Data on the arrival status of people who go on to appeal Home Office decisions is recorded by the Home Office not the First tier Tribunal.

General information on the average clearance time for an immigration appeal in the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) (IAC) is published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2024/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2024.

Determinations of eligibility for legal aid are made in accordance with the provisions of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 and regulations made under that Act, passed under the previous government.

Under the current regime, the UK has specific obligations under the UN Refugee Convention to provide access to justice for those seeking asylum. In addition, provision of legal aid for those seeking protection is important to maintain an effective asylum system, helping the Government to deliver commitments on reducing the asylum backlog and ending hotel use. In light of that, there are no current plans to abolish legal aid for those who may have entered the country illegally. In all cases, the application for legal aid would be subject to a means and, crucially, a merits test.

The percentage of open appeals pending before the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) for more than 12 months, as at 31 December 2024 can be found in the table below:

This government inherited a broken justice system with record and rising court backlogs. The Lord Chancellor recently announced that for 2025-26, the Ministry of Justice will provide a total budget of £2,538 million. For the Immigration and Asylum Chamber this will mean funding to support 14,400 sitting days. We expect to be able to increase this substantially with additional funding from the Home Office, taking it to near maximum capacity and helping to speed up asylum claims. This builds on the Government’s work to restore order to the immigration system so that every part – border security, case processing, appeals and returns – operates efficiently.

According to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), the number of solicitors on the roll was 209,200 in February 2025, an increase from 202,524 at the end of July 2024. More information can be found via the SRA’s website: https://www.sra.org.uk/sra/research-publications/regulated-community-statistics/data/population_solicitors.

The most recent figures from the Bar Standards Board from 2024 suggest that there were 18,141 practising barristers in England and Wales. More information on the number of practicing barristers in the UK can be accessed via their website: https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/for-the-public/search-a-barristers-record/the-barristers-register.html.

The requested information is not centrally held.

The number of appeals in the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) that have not been determined and remain outstanding, as at December 2024, is 75,000.

Published statistics can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2024/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2024.

This Government inherited a broken justice system with record and rising court backlogs. The Lord Chancellor recently announced that for 2025-26, the Ministry of Justice will provide a total budget of £2,538 million. For the Immigration and Asylum Chamber this will mean funding to support 14,400 sitting days. We expect to be able to increase this substantially with additional funding from the Home Office, taking it to near maximum capacity and helping to speed up asylum claims. This builds on the Government’s work to restore order to the immigration system so that every part – border security, case processing, appeals and returns – operates efficiently.

The First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber hears all appeals made against refusal decisions made by the Home Office on the basis of the application made to them. An asylum seeker or human rights claimant who has already appealed cannot appeal again unless they make further submissions which have not previously been considered and amount to a ‘fresh claim’.

The Tribunal does not collate data on historic failed claims that do not form the basis of the appeal before it. Accordingly, the information requested is not centrally held.

The final budgets relating to the work of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber (IAC) tribunals in the 2024/25 financial year were:

• £54.2 million for legal aid;
• £53.5 million for the costs of the judiciary;
• £31.4 million for staffing and other administrative costs.

The information requested can be found in the below table:

The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) is responsible for commissioning legal aid services in England and Wales. The LAA monitors the numbers of providers in each procurement area and across all categories of law. It takes operational action to respond to market pressures that may arise and works closely with the Ministry of Justice on policy solutions concerning the supply of legal aid.

For civil contracts, the LAA aims to ensure supply across designated procurement areas, as opposed to specific towns or counties. The LAA aims to ensure each procurement area in each category of law has at least the minimum amount of contracts to ensure adequate provision. The commissioning standard for the Southwest, which encompasses Cornwall, is currently met across all categories.

The information requested is not held centrally by HMCTS. The Home Office collect and categorise data on the numbers of people with no legal right to remain in the UK.

The offence of rape under section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 is committed whenever there is penile penetration without consent or reasonable belief in consent. Non-penile penetration without consent or reasonable belief in consent is criminalised by the offence of assault by penetration under Section 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

The law in this area is rightly robust, well-understood and working effectively. We therefore have no plans to amend the legal definition of rape.

This Government was elected on a landmark pledge to halve violence against women and girls over the next decade, and tackling domestic abuse is a core part of this mission. We will use every lever within our power and work with key partners across Government to deliver against this ambition.

As discussed during the Adjournment Debate on Domestic Abuse Offences on 17 March 2025, the Government is actively considering how we can better identify domestic abuse offenders. I have been working closely with my counterparts across Government on this.

We recognise the importance of ensuring that the harm caused by offences typically committed against women and girls is appropriately and proportionally reflected in the sentencing framework. The Sentencing Review, chaired by former Lord Chancellor David Gauke, is currently examining the sentencing of offences primarily committed against women and girls. We are committed to engaging with the review to ensure the best outcomes for survivors of domestic abuse.

It is already an offence to do an act capable of encouraging or assisting suicide under section 2(1) of the Suicide Act 1961 where that act is intended to encourage or assist suicide or attempted suicide.

The Government has no plans to review that offence. There are also a number of criminal offences relating to the supply of regulated poisons to the public under the Poisons Act 1972. In addition, the Online Safety Act 2023 requires in-scope services to have proportionate systems and processes in place to prevent users from encountering illegal content via their service. This includes the online sale and promotion of lethal substances and illegal suicide and self-harm content.

The latest information on the number of young people held on remand is provided at Table 3.3 at the following link: Youth_Custody_Population_Report_-_Feb_-_25.ods.

It is not possible, without incurring disproportionate cost, to disaggregate these data to show how many of the young people were awaiting trial.

Data on the number of family law cases involving cross-examination by litigants in person where there were allegations of abuse is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Data is not held on the number of qualified legal representatives required by individual court.

The Legal Aid Agency publishes data on the number of Qualified Legal Representatives who submit a claim for payment under the QLR Scheme. This information is published on a quarterly basis and can be accessed via the following link. The relevant data can be found in Table 10.1 at column M. Claims for payment are submitted and paid in arrears so the claim may not necessarily be reflective of the period in which work was undertaken.

Data is not held on the number of family law cases which were (a) adjourned and (b) delayed due to no qualified legal representative being available in the most recent 12 month period.

Data on the number of family law cases involving cross-examination by litigants in person where there were allegations of abuse is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Data is not held on the number of qualified legal representatives required by individual court.

The Legal Aid Agency publishes data on the number of Qualified Legal Representatives who submit a claim for payment under the QLR Scheme. This information is published on a quarterly basis and can be accessed via the following link. The relevant data can be found in Table 10.1 at column M. Claims for payment are submitted and paid in arrears so the claim may not necessarily be reflective of the period in which work was undertaken.

Data is not held on the number of family law cases which were (a) adjourned and (b) delayed due to no qualified legal representative being available in the most recent 12 month period.

Data on the number of family law cases involving cross-examination by litigants in person where there were allegations of abuse is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Data is not held on the number of qualified legal representatives required by individual court.

The Legal Aid Agency publishes data on the number of Qualified Legal Representatives who submit a claim for payment under the QLR Scheme. This information is published on a quarterly basis and can be accessed via the following link. The relevant data can be found in Table 10.1 at column M. Claims for payment are submitted and paid in arrears so the claim may not necessarily be reflective of the period in which work was undertaken.

Data is not held on the number of family law cases which were (a) adjourned and (b) delayed due to no qualified legal representative being available in the most recent 12 month period.

The number of prisoners released on Home Detention Curfew (HDC) where a tag had not been fitted for the entirety of their monitoring period can be found in the attached at Annex A.

All prisoners released on HDC are subject to a statutory electronically monitored curfew. The requested information is routinely published as part of the department’s Offender Management Statistics Quarterly publication. The most recent published data (covering the period October to December 2024) can be found in Table 3_Q_10 here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6807c23692d50839757a61b7/prison-releases-Oct-to-Dec-2024.ods

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