Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many staff are employed at each of the prisons in Wales; and how many of those staff are Welsh speakers.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The number of staff and self-reported Welsh language speakers in each Welsh prison can be found in the table below:
| Welsh Speaking | Non-Welsh Speaking | Unknown | Total |
Swansea | 23 | 27 | 274 | 324 |
Berwyn | 28 | 80 | 640 | 748 |
Cardiff | 14 | 42 | 361 | 417 |
Usk/Prescoed | 10 | 53 | 190 | 253 |
Total | 75 | 202 | 1,465 | 1,742 |
Headcount of staff in post on 30 September 2025.
Whether staff can speak Welsh is a self-reported variable, with the vast majority of staff not reporting this information, so the true numbers of Welsh speakers is likely to be higher.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to review the law around class actions to establish a maximum on damages awarded and legal costs claimable.
Answered by Baroness Levitt - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
As a general rule, the appropriate damages to be awarded in individual cases are independently determined by the courts on the basis of the relevant law and evidence, once liability has been established. In England and Wales, costs follow the event.
The Government has no plans to establish a cap on damages or costs in collective actions generally.
The Department for Business and Trade recently issued a Call for Evidence on the opt-out collective actions regime in the Competition Appeal Tribunal.
The Civil Justice Council recently concluded a review of litigation funding which is a common form of funding in collective action claims. The Government is reviewing the Council’s report and will make an announcement in due course.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether every person who has served a prison sentence as a result of a wrongful conviction is eligible for financial compensation.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede
Individuals who have had their conviction quashed in an out of time appeal following a qualifying miscarriage of justice are eligible to apply for compensation through the Miscarriage of Justice Application Service (MOJAS). S.133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 sets out the circumstances in which the Government will provide compensation under this scheme. Under subsection 1ZA, compensation will only be awarded if the conviction has been overturned as a result of a new or newly discovered fact that shows beyond reasonable doubt that the person did not commit the offence.
MOJAS compensation is just one route by which someone whose conviction is quashed can receive compensation, with other options including making a civil claim based on malicious prosecution or misfeasance in a public office, for example.
The Miscarriage of Justice Support Service which is part of Citizens Advice and funded by HM Prison and Probation Service, also provides support to all individuals who have had their conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal. They are able to support with accessing accommodation, benefits and signposting to psychological support.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of the workforce in prisons in England and Wales are employed by private contractors.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
As of 31 March 2025, there were 3,403 prison custody officers in post across the 16 privately managed prisons in England and Wales, employed in roles that are equivalent to Band 3–5 grades used in public sector prisons. This represents approximately 13% of all officer grades in prisons in England and Wales.
A number of non-directly-employed staff – including contractors, volunteers and third-party service providers – also work in HM prisons, in areas, such as education, healthcare and industries. Statistics for these are not collected centrally and could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure that prisoners who do unpaid work do not undertake work for profit-making businesses that would otherwise be remunerated.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
While there is not anything called ‘unpaid work’ in prisons, convicted prisoners are expected to work and there are various jobs across prison workshops, kitchens, laundries and other services like wing cleaning for which prisoners are paid. Prisoners are also paid to work in prison industries, which can be commercial, employer-led spaces or can make products for the internal prison market that we would otherwise have to buy (such as cell furniture and prisoner clothing), saving the taxpayer money.
In addition, Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL) allows prisoners to be released temporarily into the community for specific purposes, including to engage in employment. Prisoners working on ROTL are paid the same as their counterparts in the community and are subject to the same income tax, National Insurance and child support requirements, as well as other court ordered deductions. The Prisoners’ Earnings Act 1996 gives governors the power to deduct up to and including 40% from prisoners’ earnings on ROTL. As per the Prison Rules 1999, all monies raised from the levy are sent to Victim Support.
Certain offenders will carry out unpaid work in the community, when sentenced to do so by the courts. In 2023, around half of those on community-based sentences had such a requirement, with around 5 million hours delivered each year. However, it is a core principle of community payback that unpaid work must not directly replace paid work, should comply with state aid regulations and forced labour conventions, and should avoid creating competitive advantages through the provision of free labour. It serves as a credible punishment that is visible to the public, with rehabilitation serving as an important secondary element.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many inmate deaths have occurred in HMP Parc in the last two years; and what steps they are taking to ensure the safety of inmates in the prison.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Every death in custody is a tragedy and my thoughts are with the families and friends of the prisoners who have died at Parc.
There were 25 prisoner deaths at HMP Parc between January 2023 and December 2024. This includes 14 deaths by natural causes, 3 that were apparently self-inflicted and 8 other deaths (a category which includes those that were apparently drug-related and those that are currently unexplained)[1].
We are working hard to make prisons as safe as possible. At HMP Parc, we have taken a number of measures to improve safety, including:
Increased intelligence gathering.
Additional lock down searches and staff training.
Making changes to leadership and senior staffing structures.
Collaborating with colleagues in the Local Health Board, to provide additional mental health and substance misuse support.
HMP Parc remains focused on improving safety, and this is reflected in the action plan developed in response to the recent report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons which will be published in the coming months.
[1] These figures are derived from the HMPPS Deaths in Prison Custody database. Deaths in prison custody figures include all deaths of prisoners arising from incidents during prison custody. They include deaths of prisoners while released on temporary license (ROTL) for medical reasons, but exclude other types of ROTL where the state has less direct responsibility.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to repeal section 2(4) of the Law Reform (Personal Injuries) Act 1948.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede
The Government does not currently plan to review or repeal section 2(4) of the Law Reform (Personal Injuries) Act 1948. The Department of Health and Social Care recognise that this is an important issue, and the Department is looking at the drivers of cost in clinical negligence cases.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the total number of people serving Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences at the latest available date; how many of these have been (1) released and recalled, or (2) never released; and how many remain in prison beyond their tariff.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice routinely publishes statistics on the Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) population in Offender Management Statistics Quarterly (OMSQ). The latest published figures can be accessed using the links below.
As at 31 December 2024, there were a total 2,614 prisoners serving IPP sentences in custody, of which 1,045 were unreleased and 1,569 were recalled. The figures can be found in Table 1.Q.14: prison-population-31-Dec-2024.ods.
As at 30 September 2024, there were 2,885 offenders serving IPP sentences in the community. Of these, 1,742 had their IPP licences automatically terminated on 1 November 2024. The figures can be found in Table 6.13: Probation-Jul-to-Sep-2024.ods.
Between January and September 2024, there were 128 IPP first releases. The figures can be found in Table 3.Q.2: prison-releases-July-to-Sept-2024.ods.
Between 1 January and 30 September 2024, there were 471 IPP recalls. The figures can be found in Table 5.Q.2: licence-recalls-July-to-Sept-2024.ods.
Between 1 January and 30 September 2024, there were 451 IPP recall re-releases. The figures can be found in Table 5.Q.11: licence-recalls-July-to-Sept-2024.ods.
As at 31 December 2024, there were a total 1,035 unreleased IPP prisoners beyond their tariff. The figures can be found in Table 1.Q.18: prison-population-31-Dec-2024.ods.
It is right that the IPP sentence was abolished, and this Government is determined that those serving the sentence get all the support and opportunities they need to make further progress towards a safe and sustainable release.
On 15 November 2024, the Government published the updated IPP Action Plan, which puts a stronger emphasis on effective frontline delivery in our prisons. It will ensure that prisoners serving IPP sentences have robust and effective sentence plans, which they can actively engaging with, and that they are in the correct prison to access the right interventions and rehabilitative services.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what further consideration they have given since July 2024 to the report of the Commission on Justice in Wales, published in 2019, and in particular those recommendations directed at His Majesty's Government.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede
Since July, the Government has focused on addressing the significant challenges facing the justice system.
The Commission on Justice in Wales, which was established by the Welsh Government, made many recommendations, principal among them the recommendation that justice should be devolved to Wales. Whilst that is not something we agree with, we are committed to working with the Welsh Government to ensure that we deliver justice in a way that best serves the people of Wales. We have, for example, been working with the Welsh Government on data collection and disaggregation, which was an area of interest for the Commission.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what advice they are giving to prosecuting authorities, and via court sentencing guidelines, to minimise the number of women sentenced to imprisonment for any reason other than the protection of the public.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Charging decisions, and guidance are made by the Crown Prosecution Service, and sentencing is determined by independent courts. The Sentencing Council for England and Wales issues guidelines for sentencing that apply to all offenders and operates independently from Government.
It is right that we have a gender-neutral sentencing framework that recognises the specific circumstances of individual offenders.
Whilst there will always be women who do need to be in custody, we must ensure they are given the best chance possible to tackle the drivers of their offending and to contribute meaningfully to society.
This Government has delivered on a manifesto commitment by launching an Independent Review of Sentencing, chaired by former Lord Chancellor, David Gauke. The Review will assess whether the sentencing framework appropriately considers the specific needs or vulnerabilities of women. Additionally, we will establish a Women’s Justice Board with a clear ambition to reduce the number of women in prison and address their distinct needs within the Criminal Justice System.