Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of (a) named day questions and (b) ordinary written questions were responded to by his Department within the required timescale in (i) May 2025, (ii) June 2025, (iii) July 2025, (iv) August 2025, (v) September 2025, (vi) October 2025 and (vii) November 2025.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Government recognises the importance of the effective and timely handling of written parliamentary questions (PQs).
The following table provides the information requested:
| % of Named Day PQs answered on time | % of Ordinary PQs answered on time |
May 2025 | 80% | 93% |
June 2025 | 79% | 84% |
July 2025 | 89% | 95% |
August 2025 | - | - |
September 2025 | 96% | 89% |
October 2025 | 98% | 98% |
November 2025 | 95% | 93% |
Please note that these figures have been pulled from the Ministry of Justice’s internal data and may not be a fully accurate representation of the Department’s timeliness. No Commons PQs were due for answer in August, so no data has been given.
The House of Commons Procedure Committee monitors departmental PQ performance and publishes a report of the Government’s consolidated PQ data following the end of each session.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people released from custody in error remain at large since 4 July 2024.
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 are 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.
Annual totals for releases in error are published each July in the HMPPS Annual Digest, available via Prison and Probation Performance Statistics - GOV.UK and provide data up to March 2025.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign national offenders are currently released on license.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
Data about the number of Foreign National Offenders (FNO) on post-release supervision is published regularly as part of the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly bulletin, with figures included under table 6.9 of the Probation chapter. The series, which includes data from the 31 March 2024, can be accessed via https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 21 May 2025 to Question 51904 on Prisoners: Gender Recognition, how many of the prisoners with a Gender Recognition Certificate are housed in the correct prison facility for their biological sex.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
The latest published data (a snapshot from 31 March 2024) shows that there were 10 prisoners known to have a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC). The full data report can be viewed here: HMPPS Offender Equalities Report 2023/24 - GOV.UK.
Because the number of prisoners who hold a GRC is so low, we are unable to provide further information beyond the total figure (including other personal characteristics and location) as this risks disclosing which individuals hold a GRC, which is an offence under Section 22 of the Gender Recognition Act 2004.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 21 May 2025 to Question 51904 on Prisoners: Gender Recognition, how many of the prisoners with a Gender Recognition Certificate are biological (a) males and (b) females.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
The latest published data (a snapshot from 31 March 2024) shows that there were 10 prisoners known to have a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC). The full data report can be viewed here: HMPPS Offender Equalities Report 2023/24 - GOV.UK.
Because the number of prisoners who hold a GRC is so low, we are unable to provide further information beyond the total figure (including other personal characteristics and location) as this risks disclosing which individuals hold a GRC, which is an offence under Section 22 of the Gender Recognition Act 2004.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners have a gender recognition certificate.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
The number of prisoners known to have a Gender Recognition Certificate is published in the annual HM Prison & Probation Service Offender Equalities Report.
In 2023/24, there were 10 prisoners known to have a Gender Recognition Certificate. The full report can be viewed here: HMPPS Offender Equalities Report 2023/24 - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many biological men are in female prisons.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
As per the latest published data on the placement of transgender prisoners (which covers transgender prisoners without gender recognition certificates, and is taken from a snapshot of the prison population on 31 March 2024), there were 2 or fewer transgender women housed within the women’s estate.
This government inherited the policy regarding allocation of transgender prisoners from the previous government, and have not moved any transgender women into the women’s estate since taking office.
Following the Supreme Court ruling in the For Women Scotland case, the Lord Chancellor has commissioned a review of transgender prisoner allocation policy.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the rights of biological women are protected in female prisons.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
We have a range of policies in place to ensure that the rights of female prisoners are protected.
With regard to transgender prisoners, the Supreme Court ruling brings clarity and confidence for women and service providers.
We inherited the current policy regarding allocation of transgender prisoners from the previous Government, and have not moved any transgender women into the women’s estate since taking office.
Following the Supreme Court’s ruling, we will be reviewing the transgender prisoner allocation policy we inherited, as well as staff searching policy.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many children are detained on remand awaiting trial (a) in total and (b) by (i) age and (ii) duration of time since placed in custody.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
The latest information on the number of young people held on remand is provided at Table 3.3 at the following link: Youth_Custody_Population_Report_-_Feb_-_25.ods.
It is not possible, without incurring disproportionate cost, to disaggregate these data to show how many of the young people were awaiting trial.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many children were convicted of (a) murder and (b) manslaughter by (i) age, (ii) biological sex, (iii) ethnicity, (iv) country of birth, (v) care experience, (vi) history of previous criminal offences, (vii) whether they lived with both parents, (viii) county lived in at time of offence and (ix) county in which the offence took place in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
The number of children that were convicted of murder and manslaughter by age, biological sex and ethnicity can be found in the criminal justice statistics: Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly: June 2024 - GOV.UK.
The Ministry of Justice does not hold data on the number of children convicted of murder and manslaughter by country of birth, care experience, whether they lived with both parents, country lived at time of offence and county in which the offence took place in each of the last ten years. The information requested on children convicted of murder and manslaughter by history of previous criminal offences is held by the Department but could only be obtained at disproportionate cost