Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to support victims of (a) rape and (b) sexual abuse in Yeovil constituency (i) through the criminal justice process and (ii) beyond.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Department has committed £550 million to victim support services over the next three years – the biggest investment in victim support services to date.
The 42 Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) in England and Wales, including the Avon and Somerset PCC, receive annual grant funding from the Department’s victim and witness budget. Funds are used to commission local practical, emotional, and therapeutic support services for victims of all crime types. This includes ‘core’ funding, allocated at the PCC’s discretion, based on their assessment of local need, and ring-fenced funding for sexual violence and domestic abuse services.
The Department also provides grant funding directly to over 60 specialist organisations through the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund (RASASF). Activities support victims to cope with their experiences and move forward with their lives, regardless of whether they report the crime to the police. Three organisations in Avon and Somerset receive RASASF funds, offering tailored support to victims of rape and sexual abuse, including Independent Sexual Violence Advisers (ISVA), counselling, therapy, and groupwork.
The 24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Line, also commissioned by the Department, provides victims access to vital help and information whenever they need it.
On 1 December 2025, all PCCs and RASASF recipients received confirmation that their grants will be extended for two years until March 2028, with a 2% year-on-year uplift in recognition of the increasing cost of service delivery.
During the criminal justice process, special measures, such as screening the witness from the defendant or giving evidence via live link, are available to victims of rape and sexual offences, who may otherwise feel unable to give evidence.
We are introducing legislation to make access to special measures easier, so eligible victims and witnesses can give their best evidence to the court.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps are being taken to ensure prison leavers have housing and health plans in place before release.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We are committed to ensuring that robust pre-release plans are created for those leaving custody, so that accommodation and health needs are identified early and the right support is put in place. Dedicated Pre-Release Teams in prisons work closely with individuals to identify immediate needs, coordinate referrals to relevant services, and support continuity between custody and the community.
To support continuity of care and swift access to treatment on release, we have recruited over 67 Health and Justice Partnership Coordinators who strengthen drug and alcohol recovery pathways by building partnerships between prison, probation and treatment providers and we are enabling virtual pre-release appointments with community treatment providers via secure laptops. The Probation Notification Actioning Project, now in place across all prisons, standardises how probation staff are informed of ongoing drug and alcohol treatment needs. NHS England’s RECONNECT service also supports prison leavers with identified health needs, to engage with the right health services in the community. Services work with people up to 12 weeks before release, and 6 months post-release.
In the National Plan to End Homelessness, the Government has committed to reduce the proportion of people released from prison homeless by 50% by the end of this parliament. 50 prison-based Strategic Housing Specialists across England and Wales work with probation teams and Local Authorities to enable a multi-agency approach to securing housing before release. We are also investing in integrating digital community accommodation services to make it easier to identify and match individuals to the right housing-related support at the right time.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times sentencing courts have departed from sentencing guidelines on the basis of the interests of justice in each of the last three years.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The data necessary to answer these questions is not held centrally by the Ministry of Justice.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether departures from sentencing guidelines on the grounds of the interests of justice are recorded in sentencing data.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The data necessary to answer these questions is not held centrally by the Ministry of Justice.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of departures from sentencing guidelines on the effectiveness of a) sentencing and b) public confidence in the criminal justice system.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
I refer the honourable Member to the answer I gave on 23 December to PQ 100766
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for which offence types departures from sentencing guidelines on the grounds of the interests of justice occur most frequently.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The data necessary to answer these questions is not held centrally by the Ministry of Justice.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many emergency visa extensions has his department applied for HMPPS staff since 1 November 2025.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The requested data is not held centrally in a reportable format.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of a) rehabilitation and b) reoffending reduction policies for individuals convicted of immigration-related offences.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The rehabilitation pathway an individual takes, including for individuals convicted of immigration-related offences, is determined by their assessed risk and needs, ensuring interventions are targeted and proportionate.
The Ministry of Justice’s Reducing Reoffending Evidence Synthesis (2025) provides a comprehensive overview of what works to reduce reoffending. The report highlights key factors influencing the likelihood of reoffending, and we are investing in a range of interventions to address these needs and support rehabilitation. This includes accommodation, employment and substance misuse treatment services, including key employment roles in 93 prisons (such as Prison Employment Leads) and Incentivised Substance-Free Living units (ISFLs) in 85 prisons. Depending on the specific risks and needs of the offender, a range of accredited programmes, designed to address offending behaviour, are also available.
The proportion of adults released with an ongoing substance misuse need who engage in treatment within 3 weeks of release increased from 38% in April 2021 to 53% in November 2025. Similarly, employment rates six months after release from prison for those sentenced to 12 months or more have increased from 15% in 20/21 to 38% in 24/25.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prison officers hold work visas.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The requested data is not held centrally in a reportable format.
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 news story entitled The evolving response to ethnic disproportionality in youth justice, published on 19 December 2025, what steps he is taking to ensure that data on ethnic disproportionality in youth justice is collected consistently across local authorities; and what assessment he has made of current data quality.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Youth Justice Board (YJB) is funding a ‘pathfinder’ pilot project in the West Midlands to better understand why interventions are achieving better outcomes for White children than for Black and Mixed heritage children. It was established in 2024 and its total cost is estimated at £750,000 over four years. The YJB has not yet provided the Ministry of Justice with evidence about the project’s early impact – the project is due to run until spring 2027 and be evaluated subsequently.
The factors contributing to custodial remand outcomes are complex and multi-layered. Outcomes for children of different ethnic backgrounds show disparities. The YJB’s 2021 report ‘Ethnic Disproportionality Remand and Sentencing in the Youth Justice System’ outlines these in more detail. The report found that even after controlling for demographic and offence-related factors, children of Mixed ethnicity and Black children remained more likely to receive a custodial remand than White children. The Ministry of Justice recognises that remand outcomes reflect a combination of factors across the system, including assessments provided to the court and judicial discretion.
All local authorities are required by the YJB’s Data Recording Requirements to submit data that includes consistent and accurate recording of ethnicity data, with quality regularly monitored. The YJB Data Recording Requirements require all YOTs to submit mandatory case level and summary level data to the YJB. This includes the requirements that: