HMP Leyhill: Offender Abscondments

Emily Darlington Excerpts

Monday 5th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Alex Davies-Jones]

The hon. Lady is correct. We are investing in the IT systems in our prisons, which are needed to reduce releases in error, and in the brilliant and brave men and women who serve on the frontline as prison officers, day in, day out in very difficult conditions. They have been chronically underfunded for the past 14 years. They are brilliant servicepeople and they deserve our praise—I pay tribute to them. They are working in difficult conditions, but we are investing in them and in the technology that will help them in their everyday job.

[Emily Darlington (Milton Keynes Central) (Lab)]

Some Opposition spokespeople clearly think that it is still pantomime season; they should take this issue with the seriousness that it deserves.

What is the consequence for absconding from an open prison? Being in an open prison is a privilege, as part of rehabilitation; it is not the right of any prisoner to be there.

[Alex Davies-Jones]

That is a good point. The prisoners who have absconded were at the end of their sentences. They were working through rehabilitation in order to reintegrate into society. They have let themselves, their families and the victims down. They have basically come to the end of the marathon—the final mile—and let themselves down. They will now be returned to closed conditions, and could, if the courts determine it appropriate, have more time added to their sentences, but we must be careful in discussing ongoing cases.