Asked by: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department's amendment of Section 288(2) of the Sentencing Code will take effect.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Sentencing Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 22 January 2026. This measure commences automatically 2 months after Royal Assent, on 22 March 2026.
Asked by: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of conducting a review of language professionals’ (a) minimum pay rates, (b) cancellation fees and (c) working conditions on the long-term (i) procurement and (ii) retention of public service interpreters.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice has undertaken a review of interpreter remuneration and conditions as part of the current procurement exercise for the interpreting service. This included a Delivery Model Assessment and extensive market engagement. The House of Lords Public Services Committee (PSC) also conducted an inquiry into the interpreting service in courts and published their subsequent report in March 2025.
The Ministry of Justice has drawn on the valuable learning and insights from these reviews which informed the Department’s response to the House of Lords PSC report. The response, which covers the topics raised in more detail, can be accessed via this link: committees.parliament.uk/publications/48172/documents/252233/default/.
Asked by: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department has set a deadline for introducing a comprehensive remuneration and conditions framework set for implementation from October 2026 for public service interpreters.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice has provided a comprehensive response to the Public Services Committee inquiry and report into interpreter and translation services in the courts, published in June 2025, which covers this topic.
The Ministry of Justice is procuring new interpreter contracts to commence in October 2026, which include improvements to the service, interpreter remuneration, and conditions.
The Department considered mandating payment rates for interpreters during market engagement but concluded that suppliers (as experts in the market) are best placed to set payment rates. The Ministry of Justice’s role, as the commissioning body, is to ensure that these rates are fair and deliver value for money to the taxpayer.
The Ministry of Justice has already taken steps to improve interpreter remuneration, such as increasing the minimum face to face booking duration to two hours in October 2024, which has led to improved contract fulfilment rates and a reduction in off contract requests.
From October 2026, the new contracts will introduce improvements to interpreter remuneration and conditions. This includes:
Strengthening safeguarding provisions to support interpreter wellbeing
Changing the cancellation cut-off time meaning more cancellations will fall into the ‘short notice’ category and attract a fee payable to interpreters
Maintaining the two-hour minimum booking duration
Asked by: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department has considered the potential merits of introducing an independent regulator to oversee the commercial agencies it appoints for the provision of interpreting and translation services.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice does not require the introduction of an independent regulator due to the existing, robust assurance procedures in place.
All interpreters under the Ministry of Justice contracts are subject to a quality assurance regime, which is independent of the suppliers that provide our interpreters. The Department has a dedicated Commercial and Contract Management team that oversees the quality assurance provider and the suppliers of interpreters. Their work includes conducting audits to ensure that data is reliable and reviewing quality and complaints data to ensure that the service is delivering for the taxpayer.
Performance data for the language interpreter and translation services is published on the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the recruitment and retention of sufficient numbers of interpreters with a Level 6 Diploma in Public Service Interpreting by October 2026.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice is committed to maintaining both the quality and capacity of the future supply chain of qualified court interpreters.
The Department and its suppliers regularly review fulfilment data to inform and adapt recruitment strategies, and our suppliers ensure that there are, and will be, sufficient interpreters with the required qualifications to meet our demand. The new contracts will improve this further by including steps to support interpreters in attaining Level 6 Diploma in Public Service Interpreting, through expanding the Trainee Scheme managed by the quality and assurance provider and providing more support for qualification costs.
Asked by: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the proposals in Law Commission’s report entitled Modernising Wills Law, published on 15 May 2025.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government has welcomed the Law Commission’s comprehensive report on the law of making a will and will be giving the report careful consideration.
This is the first major review of the law on making wills since the Wills Act 1837, and the reforms proposed by the Law Commission are significant and wide ranging. They deserve detailed consideration. The Government recognises that the current law is outdated, and we must embrace change, but the guiding principle in doing so will be to ensure that reform does not compromise existing freedoms or protecting the elderly and vulnerable in society from undue influence.
The Government will make further announcements in due course, once it has given the report the detailed consideration it deserves.
Asked by: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion staff in (a) prisons and (b) probation services have undertaken suicide prevention training.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
I refer the honourable Member to the answer I gave on 10 April 2025 to Question 44186.
Asked by: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people (a) on probation and (b) engaging with probation services have died since 2010; and how many of these deaths cited suicide as the official cause of death.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
The number of people who died while under probation supervision in the community is published annually in Table 1 of the ‘Deaths of offenders in the community’ statistical bulletin. The latest release, which includes data from April 2010 up to March 2024, is available at the following link: Deaths of offenders in the community, annual update to March 2024 - GOV.UK.
Each death is categorised based on its apparent cause, as reported by the probation provider to HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS). It is important to note that this classification system provides a provisional categorisation for administrative and statistical purposes and has not been independently verified. The official cause of death is determined by the coroner. Consequently, while the apparent cause of death in this bulletin reflects the classification made at the time of reporting, it may not reflect the official cause of death as determined by the coroner.
The category of ‘suicide’ is not used in the published statistics because it is not always clear whether a self-inflicted death is intentional or not. Instead, the broader category of ‘self-inflicted’ deaths is used. In years prior to April 2022, this category includes all self-inflicted deaths, irrespective of intent (intentional, unintentional, and undetermined intent). From April 2022, it includes only intentional self-inflicted deaths and deaths where intent is undetermined.
The number of people engaging with probation services that have died since 2010 could only be obtained at disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of (a) prison and (b) probation staff have undertaken suicide prevention training.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
All new prison officers receive training in suicide and self-harm prevention as part of their seven-week Foundation training course.
For existing prison staff, there is a dedicated training module on suicide and self-harm. The training provides an understanding as to the context of self-harm and suicide within prisons, as well as the purpose and implementation of the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) process which is used to support prisoners identified as being at risk of suicide or self-harm.
Responsibility for delivering this training sits locally with prisons, therefore it is not possible to accurately assess the overall numbers who have received this training, due to local variations in how training is recorded.
There are two suicide prevention learning packages for Probation Staff as part of the current core national offer. One is a Zero Suicide Alliance package for all staff. The other is a package aimed at new entrant learners undertaking Professional Qualification in Probation (PQiP) and new Probation Service Officers which was developed internally as part of a broader Introduction to Mental Health.
The Introduction to Mental Health learning is designated as required for those undertaking the Professional Qualification in Probation (PQiP) and new Probation Service Officers (PSOs) in sentence management, both in custody and the community and is also accessed by established staff. The product contains knowledge modules around suicide and self-harm awareness.
The core national offer referenced is a comprehensive learning package which was recently introduced. Staff who were in post prior to this would have completed other core learning programmes.
It is important to note that whilst we collate completion figures for the current core learning, this does not represent the totality of suicide and self-harm prevention learning received by staff.
This is due to regionally organised activities and previous learning opportunities where data is not nationally held.
Asked by: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department is providing suicide prevention training to (a) all and (b) newly recruited (i) prison and (ii) probation staff.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
All new members of prison staff with prisoner contact receive training on suicide and self-harm prevention, and all staff who undertake key roles relating to risk assessment and case management also receive specific training relating to those roles. An e-learning module has recently been made available for all staff to access on postvention support following a self-inflicted death in custody.
There are two suicide prevention learning packages for probation staff: a Zero Suicide Alliance package for all staff, and a package aimed at new entrant Professional Qualification in Probation and Probation Service Officers which was developed internally as part of a broader introduction to mental health.