Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what meetings he has had and steps he has taken since taking office relating to MOJ support for the Union.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government remains fully committed to the Union of the United Kingdom and the Ministry of Justice works with each Government of the Nations to address shared challenges, learn from and support each other to deliver better outcomes for citizens across the United Kingdom.
The Lord Chancellor and Ministry of Justice ministers place great importance on maintaining those relationships and engage regularly with Ministerial counterparts.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department spent on hotel accommodation for (a) staff and (b) Ministers broken down by (i) UK stays and (ii) overseas stays in the 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Jake Richards - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Details of Minister travel is available online and can be found within this link: Ministry of Justice data: gifts, hospitality, travel and meetings - GOV.UK
The information requested in relation to hotel accommodation could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much HM Prison and Probation Service spent on interpreters and related translation services in (1) 2022, (2) 2023, (3) 2024 and (4) 2025.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Language Services Spoken Language – His Majesty’s Prison Service and the Probation Service
Year | Total |
2022 | £903,265.64 |
2023 | £1,142,286.27 |
2024 | £1,249,088.25 |
2025 | £1,331,246.67 |
Language Services Translation &Transcription – His Majesty’s Prison Service and the Probation Service
Year | Total |
2022 | £1,084,376.59 |
2023 | £1,399,698.16 |
2024 | £1,990,179.02 |
2025 | £1,961,941.58 |
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether HMP Welland Oaks is still on track to open in early 2029.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The new 1,715 place prison in Leicestershire, HMP Welland Oaks, is on track to open by early 2029. These places form part of our aim to deliver an additional 14,000 prison places by 2031.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the Judicial and Legal Diversity Board will next meet.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The next meeting for the Judicial and Legal Diversity Board will take place on 07 December 2026.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many criminal cases in England and Wales are listed for their next substantive hearing in a) 2027, b) 2028, c) 2029 and d) 2030 or later.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
As at 30 September 2026 (the latest available data), the number of criminal cases in England and Wales listed for trial in 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030 are as follows:
Future Trial Date | Number of Trials |
2027 | 26,999 |
2028 | 7,997 |
2029 | 2,736 |
2030 | 702 |
HMCTS Management Information – extracted Crown Operational Dashboard 15 October 2026
The Lord Chancellor has made clear his commitment to reduce the Crown Court backlog and enable victims to have their day in court faster – this is why we are acting on all fronts. We are investing heavily in Crown Court capacity, court infrastructure, uncapped sitting days, technology and legal aid. We are also driving greater efficiency in the courts through measures such as responsible AI innovation, case coordinators for every Crown Court centre, and close collaboration with the judiciary on their reforms to listing practices and virtual hearings guidance. The Government has also brought forward structural reforms through the Courts and Tribunals Bill – based on Lord Leveson’s recommendations in his Independent Review of the Criminal Courts – to ease pressure on the Crown Court, ensure proportionate allocation of resource, and redress the balance between victims and defendants.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many restricted patients were released from hospital into the community in 2025 by (i) index offence group and (ii) index offences of (a) murder, (b) manslaughter, (c) rape and (d) sexual assault; and how many of those were conditionally discharged.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The specific information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many of the prisoners released as part of the early release scheme on 1 October 2026 have since returned to prison.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This Government inherited a prisons system days from collapse. We had no choice but to take decisive action to stop our prisons overflowing and keep the public safe. Our landmark Sentencing Act 2026 will now deliver a more sustainable solution to the prison capacity crisis we inherited, including through the progression model, which will help ensure there are always enough prison places for the courts to be able to send people to custody.
We have interpreted your question as relating to prisoners who have returned to custody through recall following release under the progression model on 1 October 2026.
We regularly publish data on releases and recall to prison via our Accredited Official Statistics publication Offender Management Statistics Quarterly (available at: Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK).
The requested information on returns to custody following releases under the progression model on 1 October cannot be provided because it would form a subset of the data that underpins future versions of these Official Statistics on total releases and recalls.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many privately contracted prison vans logged failures of service to the Ministry of Justice each year in the UK since 2015.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many privately contracted prison vans logged failures of service to the Ministry of Justice each year in London since 2015.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.