Written Question
Monday 5th January 2026
Asked by:
Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question
to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his department is taking steps to deliver the recommendation from the Independent Sentencing Review of increased funding for the voluntary sector to support the Probation Service.
Answered by Jake Richards
- Assistant Whip
I recognise the valuable role of the thousands of Voluntary Sector organisations that work in partnership with Prisons and Probation to provide vital support to people serving their sentence in prison and returning to the community.
We welcome the Independent Sentencing Review’s recommendation to explore how we can better harness the value of the Third Sector and build even stronger partnerships to enable better targeting of probation resource and improve outcomes for offenders.
We are currently in the process of re-procuring our commissioned rehabilitative services (CRS) contracts. 76% of current CRS contracts are led by the Third Sector. Our new contracts will improve on our current offering with expanded and improved consistency of service available in both custody and community.
We will continue to work with the Voluntary Sector as implementation of the Independent Sentencing Review progresses.
Written Question
Monday 5th January 2026
Asked by:
Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question
to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure the effectiveness of the proposed expansion of electronic monitoring of offenders in helping to (a) reduce reoffending and (b) support rehabilitation.
Answered by Jake Richards
- Assistant Whip
In support of the Sentencing Bill, the Ministry of Justice will significantly expand the use of electronic monitoring as a vital tool for probation to ensure offenders are managed safely in the community.
This expansion builds on the Department’s long-standing commitment to building the evidence base for electronic monitoring. Our evaluations, alongside external research commissioned by the Department, have provided clear evidence that targeted electronic monitoring conditions can reduce reoffending and support reintegration by providing an effective alternative to custody. A recent study has found that curfew tags reduce reoffending by 20% when used as part of a community sentence. Further to this, our Acquisitive Crime pilot evaluation shows that burglars, robbers, and thieves given a constant whereabouts monitoring condition with a GPS tag were around 20% less likely to reoffend while on the tag.
Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 18 Dec 2025
Oral Answers to Questions
"Restricting jury trials may help to reduce the Crown court backlog, but there is no evidence that the use of juries caused the current delay. However, there is evidence, starting under the previous Government, that a lack of advocates—prosecution and defence—is a significant cause of delay. What steps is the …..."Andy Slaughter - View Speech
View all Andy Slaughter (Lab - Hammersmith and Chiswick) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions
Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 18 Dec 2025
Violence against Women and Girls Strategy
"We are all aware of the delays in the criminal justice system. Those can occur at any stage, but they are particularly severe when cases move from the police to the Crown Prosecution Service and then to the courts, each under a separate Department. What mechanism or, better still, individual …..."Andy Slaughter - View Speech
View all Andy Slaughter (Lab - Hammersmith and Chiswick) contributions to the debate on: Violence against Women and Girls Strategy
Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 17 Dec 2025
Local Government Finance
"The Minister mentioned Hammersmith and Fulham council in her statement, so I hope she will not mind my reminding her that it is one of the most efficiently run councils in the country. Despite having had 50% of its funding cut under the Tories, it has made £138 million in …..."Andy Slaughter - View Speech
View all Andy Slaughter (Lab - Hammersmith and Chiswick) contributions to the debate on: Local Government Finance
Division Vote (Commons)
17 Dec 2025 - National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill -
View Vote Context
Andy Slaughter (Lab) voted Aye
- in line with the party majority
and in line with the House
One of
300 Labour Aye votes vs
0 Labour No votes
Vote Tally: Ayes - 312 Noes - 165
Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 16 Dec 2025
Oral Answers to Questions
"The Select Committee has just begun an inquiry into access to justice. The evidence we are getting suggests that civil and family legal aid in particular are in a dire position, with fees now approximately half what they were 28 years ago. There have been welcome increases in housing and …..."Andy Slaughter - View Speech
View all Andy Slaughter (Lab - Hammersmith and Chiswick) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions
Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 16 Dec 2025
Oral Answers to Questions
"Is the Secretary of State aware that there is a crisis in family mediation, with no confirmation of mediation vouchers going beyond next April and over half of legal aid providers having been forced to give up in the last eight years? Does he agree that this is short-sighted, as …..."Andy Slaughter - View Speech
View all Andy Slaughter (Lab - Hammersmith and Chiswick) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions
Division Vote (Commons)
16 Dec 2025 - Finance (No. 2) Bill -
View Vote Context
Andy Slaughter (Lab) voted Aye
- in line with the party majority
and in line with the House
One of
329 Labour Aye votes vs
0 Labour No votes
Vote Tally: Ayes - 341 Noes - 195
Division Vote (Commons)
16 Dec 2025 - Finance (No. 2) Bill -
View Vote Context
Andy Slaughter (Lab) voted No
- in line with the party majority
and in line with the House
One of
333 Labour No votes vs
0 Labour Aye votes
Vote Tally: Ayes - 118 Noes - 340