Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she has taken to reduce the commission of crime in English prisons.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
His Majesty’s Prison and Probation service (HMPPS) has a layered approach to tackling criminality that emanates from within prisons. It deploys countermeasures such as X-ray body and baggage scanners, archway metal detectors and Enhanced Search Gates in place to stop smuggling of illicit items, such as mobile phones that are key enablers of crime in prisons.
Criminality in prisons is often orchestrated by Serious Organised Crime (SOC) nominals. HMPPS has a dedicated national SOC team that works collaboratively with law enforcement agencies and partners to identify and disrupt organised criminal activity in prison.
We bear down on crime in prison through adjudications, and prisoners who misbehave can face extra time in custody. The most serious crimes, including those where a mobile phone is being used to coordinate criminal activity, are referred to the police in line with the Crime in Prisons Referral Arrangement (CiPRA). We work closely with law enforcement partners through the Crime in Prisons Taskforce which was established to work closely with the police and the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure serious crimes are addressed through the criminal justice system, rather than solely through internal disciplinary measures.
In parallel, we are tackling the root causes of reoffending by addressing offenders’ underlying needs and supporting their rehabilitation journey. This includes providing a range of rehabilitative interventions, including education, employment and substance misuse support.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been imprisoned for growing cannabis in every year since 2010.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody at criminal courts in England and Wales in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal justice statistics quarterly - GOV.UK.
The offences should be selected by using the HO offence code filter and selecting:
09221 - Production of or being concerned in production of a controlled drug - class B (cannabis, including cannabis resin, cannabinol and cannabinol derivatives)
09226 - Production or being concerned in production of a controlled drug - class C (cannabis, including cannabis resin, cannabinol and cannabinol derivatives) (historic)
09241 - Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug - class B (cannabis, including cannabis resin, cannabinol and cannabinol derivatives)
09246 - Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug - class C (cannabis, including cannabis resin, cannabinol and cannabinol derivatives) (historic)
09230 - Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug - class A (cocaine)
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been imprisoned for supplying cocaine in every year since 2010.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody at criminal courts in England and Wales in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal justice statistics quarterly - GOV.UK.
The offences should be selected by using the HO offence code filter and selecting:
09221 - Production of or being concerned in production of a controlled drug - class B (cannabis, including cannabis resin, cannabinol and cannabinol derivatives)
09226 - Production or being concerned in production of a controlled drug - class C (cannabis, including cannabis resin, cannabinol and cannabinol derivatives) (historic)
09241 - Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug - class B (cannabis, including cannabis resin, cannabinol and cannabinol derivatives)
09246 - Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug - class C (cannabis, including cannabis resin, cannabinol and cannabinol derivatives) (historic)
09230 - Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug - class A (cocaine)
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been imprisoned for supplying cannabis in every year since 2010.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody at criminal courts in England and Wales in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal justice statistics quarterly - GOV.UK.
The offences should be selected by using the HO offence code filter and selecting:
09221 - Production of or being concerned in production of a controlled drug - class B (cannabis, including cannabis resin, cannabinol and cannabinol derivatives)
09226 - Production or being concerned in production of a controlled drug - class C (cannabis, including cannabis resin, cannabinol and cannabinol derivatives) (historic)
09241 - Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug - class B (cannabis, including cannabis resin, cannabinol and cannabinol derivatives)
09246 - Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug - class C (cannabis, including cannabis resin, cannabinol and cannabinol derivatives) (historic)
09230 - Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug - class A (cocaine)
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he has taken work with relevant authorities to reduce instances of violent crime in prisons.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
HMPPS works closely with a range of law enforcement and local authority partners, and the Crown Prosecution Service to tackle the issues of violent crime in prison.
The Ministry of Justice, in close collaboration with His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), work jointly to address and reduce violent crime within custodial settings. These steps are aligned with the Crime in Prison Referral Agreement (CiPRA), which establishes clear protocols for the referral of onward investigation, and prosecution of serious offences committed in prison environments. Under this agreement, all serious assaults, sexual offences, and incidents involving conveyance or escapes are referred to the police within strict timelines (immediately for life-threatening incidents and within seven days for other serious offences). This ensures that serious criminal acts are addressed through the justice system rather than solely through internal disciplinary measures.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners have been released from prison in error in (a) England and (b) Essex in every year since 2010.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Releases in error have been increasing for several years and are another symptom of the prison system crisis inherited by this Government.
While the overwhelming majority of offenders are released correctly, we’re clamping down on those releases in error that do occur – including through improved staff training and establishing a new specialist unit. A joint protocol between HMPPS and NPCC is in place, to ensure effective and timely communication between partner agencies when an individual is released in error to rearrest them as quickly as possible.
We have gripped this chaos – by building more prison places, ending the last Government’s early release scheme, being transparent with the public, immediately making changes to sentences to ease pressure on the system and now, taking landmark reforms through our Sentencing Bill to make sure that prisons never run out of places again.
The Ministry of Justice publishes annual data on prisoners released in error in England and Wales in the HMPPS Annual Digest available via HMPPS Annual Digest, April 2024 to March 2025 - GOV.UK.
These figures can be found under Chapter 1 Tables – Escape data tool; showing data up to March 2025.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to increase the number of prison officers recruited from overseas.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
His Majesty’s Prisons and Probation Service (HMPPS) does not actively recruit foreign nationals from overseas.
HMPPS publishes vacancies across formal UK advertising boards and welcomes applications from people wishing to work in prisons in England and Wales. The hiring process is the same for both UK and non-UK nationals. Selection is on the basis of fair and open competition, in accordance with the legal requirement set out in the Civil Service Recruitment Principles.
The Civil Service Nationality Rules (CSNRs) govern eligibility for employment in the Civil Service on the grounds of nationality. All applicants applying to work in the Department must meet the CSNRs and other eligibility criterion published in job adverts.
The Department will continue to comply with UK Immigration Rules applied in the UK and Civil Service.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to help increase the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of prison officers.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We know that sufficient and skilled frontline staffing is fundamental to delivering safe, secure, and rehabilitative prisons. We remain committed to ensuring prisons are sufficiently resourced and that we retain and build levels of experience.
Substantive recruitment efforts will continue at all prisons where vacancies exist or are projected, with targeted interventions applied to those prisons with the most need. We closely monitor staffing levels across the estate and look to provide short-term support where needed. All prison expansion projects, whether new prisons or smaller builds, are factored into our staffing forecasts to ensure we recruit on time and build up the experience needed to continue to deliver safe and secure regimes.
To help increase retention, HMPPS has a retention strategy in place which is linked to wider activities around employee experience, employee lifecycle and staff engagement at work. Alongside the strategy a retention toolkit has been introduced which identifies local, regional and national interventions against the drivers of attrition, which are utilised by establishments to ensure that they are embedding individual Retention Plans.
As part of our efforts to grow our new generation of leaders, and transform HMPPS into a world class organisation, we launched the Future Prison Leaders Programme on 4 April 2025. This competitive programme is recruiting around 30 talented individuals from diverse backgrounds, including successful graduates, and offers a clear career pathway to a senior leadership position in prisons.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to ensure that dynamic alignment with EU law does not undermine UK judicial independence.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
As outlined in the Common Understanding from the UK-EU Summit, the UK will have a joint role in shaping any new rules governing our relationship with the EU. In specific areas this will mean aligning our shared obligations to facilitate better trade and increased security. However, no rules will apply in the UK without Parliament’s agreement and any disputes will be done by international arbitration.
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) will only have a role with regards the interpretation of EU law, in the same way that UK judges remain the independent interpreters of UK law. The Government remains unequivocally committed to the independence of the judiciary. We will continually work to ensure that any cooperation with the EU, including alignment where appropriate, respects the UK’s constitutional framework and preserves the independence of our judiciary.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will consider a mutual recognition of judgements agreement with San Marino.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
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.