Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to answer of 24 June 2025 to Question 60160 on Victim Support Schemes: Finance, how much ringfenced funding for Domestic Violence and Domestic Abuse Support will be provided in the (a) 2025-26 and (b) 2026-27 financial year.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Ensuring victims receive the right and timely support is a key part of this Government’s mission to halve violence against women and girls.
We provide funding to all 42 Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) which includes ringfenced funding for domestic abuse and sexual violence services. These services are commissioned based on local need.
I have protected dedicated VAWG victims spending in the Department by maintaining 2024-25 funding levels for ringfenced domestic abuse and sexual violence support this year. This includes combined ringfenced funding for PCCs to spend on domestic abuse and sexual violence support services.
As announced on 2 December 2025, Ministry of Justice will be investing £550 million in victim support services over the next three years of this Spending Review period – the biggest investment in victim support services to date. This includes a 2% uplift year on year for the next two years to funding for PCCs. The breakdown of grant funding is also publicly available on the Government Grants Information System (GGIS), which is released annually in March covering the previous financial period of grant spending.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of staff in her Department did not meet the minimum office attendance target in the latest period for which data is available; and what sanctions her Department issues to staff who do not meet this target.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice has over 90,000 staff with the majority having operational roles delivering vital frontline services, including in our prisons, courts and probation services.
On 24 October 2024 the Cabinet Office announced that 60% minimum office attendance for most staff continues to be the best balance of working for the Civil Service. Senior managers will continue to be expected to be in the office more than 60% of the time.
If people do not meet that reasonable expectation, as with any management instruction it will be dealt with via existing performance management processes and ultimately with disciplinary action should there be sustained failure to comply.
For data on office attendance, the Ministry of Justice data is published at: Civil Service Headquarters occupancy data.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she has taken to ensure that there is sufficient capacity for tribunals to handle any increased caseload following the Renters' Rights Bill going into force.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service is undertaking a significant programme of work in preparation for an increased caseload in the tribunal following commencement of the Renters’ Right Bill. This includes streamlining case handling processes and establishing a centralised operational hub; ensuring the availability of suitable estates capacity for hearings; delivering critical improvements to the existing technology systems to increase resilience and support increased workloads; and recruitment of additional administrative staff. Plans are also in train to recruit additional judicial office holders.
The Government has concluded that there is a sound case for an alternative body or mechanism to make initial determinations on rent challenge cases in the future. This would relieve some demand from the tribunals. The Government intends to establish such a body or mechanism, subject to completing a full viability assessment. Further details of this will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Renters' Rights Bill on levels of capacity in (a) the civil courts and (b) tribunals.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice (including its executive agency His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service) is working closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to assess the potential impact of the Renter’s Rights Bill on the justice system, to ensure that there is sufficient resource in the civil courts and tribunals to respond to demand.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of staff in her Department have flexible working arrangements; and how many of those work compressed hours.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the budget for victim and witness support services will be lower in 2025-26 than 2024-25.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice remains committed to supporting victims and witnesses of crime. For the 2025–26 financial year, the Department has protected funding levels for ringfenced sexual violence and domestic abuse support, maintaining them at the same level as in 2024–25.
There has been a small reduction to the core budget allocated to Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), who are responsible for commissioning local victim support services based on assessed need. This decision was taken in the context of a challenging fiscal environment left behind by the previous Government.
The Department continues to work closely with PCCs and sector partners to support the delivery of high-quality services.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Spending Review 2025 on the safeguarding of victims of (a) sexual and (b) domestic abuse.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government recognises the scale of violence against women and girls and is treating it as a national emergency. A new cross-government strategy to tackle this will be published this summer.
Action has already been taken by piloting Domestic Abuse Protection Orders; introducing new offences for sexually explicit deepfakes, intimate image abuse and spiking and providing free transcripts of sentencing remarks to victims of sexual offences in the Crown Court.
We will also establish specialist rape and sexual offences teams in every police force and introduce free independent legal advice for victims of adult rape.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether there are any requirements for civil servants to book a desk in advance in order to attend the office in person in each of (a) their Department's office workplaces and (b) the arm’s length bodies of their Department.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Ministry of Justice staff are able to attend an office location without needing to book a desk. This includes our Department’s Arm’s Length Bodies. This approach does not apply to non-operational staff based in the operational estate, which has separate access conditions and processes, due to the security requirements of these sites.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people convicted of causing a death have been granted parole before the halfway point in their original sentences in the last year.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
No prisoners are eligible to be considered for release by the Parole Board before the half-way point in their sentence.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 15 November 2024, to Question 12889 on Ministry of Justice: Ministers’ Private Offices, if he will provide a breakdown of the (a) goods and services purchased and (b) cost of each.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
As outlined in PQ 9269, the Ministry of Justice’s total cost spent on refurbishments to Ministerial Private Offices, including new furniture and fittings, was £13,314.73, during the period requested.
The following table provides details of furniture purchased as part of the refurbishment of Ministerial offices:
Item purchased | Cost (£) |
3 x large mirrors installed in the offices of the Minister of State and Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State | 212.26 |
1 x freezer for kitchen area | 193.32 |
2 x wooden bookcases for Minister’s office | 64.86 |
The following table provides a breakdown of refurbishment and redecoration works to Ministerial offices and surrounding areas. “Miscellaneous renovation works” refers to multiple works that cannot be disclosed individually, due to commercial sensitivity around pricing, but includes works such as hanging pictures on walls, and affixing blanking plates to where wires were removed from the wall.
Goods or services provided | Cost (£) |
Electrical works and cabling | 4,107.52 |
Addressing wear and tear to Ministerial offices | 7,240.66 |
Reconfiguring furniture on the Ministerial floor | 651.02 |
Miscellaneous renovation works | 579.11 |