Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many children have been held at the Oasis Restore secure school at Medway in each month since it opened.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The number of children at the secure school at the end of each month, to the end of July 2025, is shown in the table below. The average age was 16.

(1) The symbol [x] indicates that the total is five or fewer. Where this is the case, an exact figure is not provided, in order to avoid the risk of identifying individuals.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average age is of the children held at the Oasis Restore secure school at Medway since it opened.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The number of children at the secure school at the end of each month, to the end of July 2025, is shown in the table below. The average age was 16.

(1) The symbol [x] indicates that the total is five or fewer. Where this is the case, an exact figure is not provided, in order to avoid the risk of identifying individuals.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many children-on-children assaults have occurred at the Oasis Restore secure school at Medway since it opened.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The latest published statistics for assaults relate to the period up to 31 March 2025. During that period, there were 31 assaults on staff and 10 child-on-child assaults. The total number reported to the police was five or fewer: it is not possible to provide an exact figure, as that would risk identifying individuals.

In the period up to 28 August 2025, 32 weapons were found.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many assaults on staff have occurred at the Oasis Restore secure school at Medway since it opened.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The latest published statistics for assaults relate to the period up to 31 March 2025. During that period, there were 31 assaults on staff and 10 child-on-child assaults. The total number reported to the police was five or fewer: it is not possible to provide an exact figure, as that would risk identifying individuals.

In the period up to 28 August 2025, 32 weapons were found.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many assaults at the Oasis Restore secure school at Medway have been reported to the police since it opened.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The latest published statistics for assaults relate to the period up to 31 March 2025. During that period, there were 31 assaults on staff and 10 child-on-child assaults. The total number reported to the police was five or fewer: it is not possible to provide an exact figure, as that would risk identifying individuals.

In the period up to 28 August 2025, 32 weapons were found.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many weapons have been found at the Oasis Restore secure school at Medway since it opened.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The latest published statistics for assaults relate to the period up to 31 March 2025. During that period, there were 31 assaults on staff and 10 child-on-child assaults. The total number reported to the police was five or fewer: it is not possible to provide an exact figure, as that would risk identifying individuals.

In the period up to 28 August 2025, 32 weapons were found.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total cost has been of repairs to the infrastructure at the Oasis Restore secure school due to vandalism since it opened.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

To obtain the requested information, it would be necessary to undertake a detailed examination of all records relating to expenditure on repairs, in order to identify the element attributable to vandalism, and this could not be done without incurring disproportionate cost.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the funding arrangements are for the (a) Department for Transport Operator Limited and (b) transfer of staff from Rail Service, Rail Strategy and Reform and Corporate Delivery.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Department for Transport Operator Limited (formerly DfT OLR Holding Limited) is the government’s public sector rail owning group and is currently funded by charging its train operating company subsidiaries for services provided but also by dividends when received. The Department for Transport will be able to confirm future funding arrangements for Department for Transport Operator Limited in due course.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will publish any impact assessment for the transfer of staff to the Department for Transport Operator Limited from Rail Service, Rail Strategy and Reform and Corporate Delivery.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The planned transfer of some staff from DfT to the DfT Operator will take place under Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) Regulations 2006. Formal consultation is expected to commence later in the autumn, and we will continue to communicate and share materials with staff and stakeholders as appropriate.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the operational (a) status and (b) readiness is of each Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

The Royal Fleet Auxiliary continues to meet its commitments in supporting the Royal Navy worldwide, including the Carrier Strike Groups current global deployment.

The Royal Navy does not routinely disclose readiness data for individual vessels due to Operational Security.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how the (a) proposed earned progression model and (b) consequential increase in tagging will operate for people released from prison without suitable accommodation.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The Sentencing Bill will introduce a new earned progression model which will see offenders enter a period of intensive supervision once they are released from custody. We are providing probation with wider powers to ensure they can continue to effectively manage offenders in the community with the level of supervision tailored according to their risk and the type of crime they committed.

Alongside the progression model, we will also introduce a presumption that prison leavers will be electronically monitored to ensure they are closely monitored in the community. This will result in thousands more offenders tagged, to manage risk and increase protection for victims. The Probation Service will, however, retain the ability to exercise its professional judgement to ensure that only those who are suitable receive a tag based on an individual’s risk and circumstances including accommodation status.

HMPPS delivers a transitional accommodation service, known as Community Accommodation Service – Tier 3 (CAS-3) which supports prison leavers who are at risk of being released from prison homeless and will be subject to probation supervision upon release by providing up to 12 weeks of temporary accommodation. We are expanding our community accommodation service to support prison leavers at risk of homelessness while additionally we are increasing the probation annual budget to expand our community accommodation service for those at risk of homelessness, as well as tagging and monitoring tens of thousands more offenders in the community.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that prison-based treatment and rehabilitation services are adequately resourced for the provisions of the Sentencing Bill.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

We know that continued engagement with treatment is vital to addressing the underlying causes of offending. That is why we want to divert offenders with a substance misuse need away from custody and into community treatment where appropriate. For those where a prison sentence is appropriate, we need to make prison a place that reforms offenders and supports them to recover from substance misuse.

The Ministry of Justice works closely with NHS England and the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) to ensure that all offenders who need it have access to high-quality alcohol and substance misuse treatment. Responsibility for commissioning and delivery of substance misuse treatment in the community lies with Local Authorities, and NHS England is responsible for treatment in custody. While decisions about future funding positions are ongoing, they are considering the needs of offenders. This is demonstrated by DHSC’s existing, targeted investment to support those referred by the criminal justice system, including funding 575 drug and alcohol workers with criminal justice specialisms who work closely with prisons, probation and in courts as well as the police to improve access to and quality of treatment. The National Partnership Agreement sets out the basis of a shared understanding of, and commitment to, the way in which the partners will work together.

The Ministry of Justice’s overall Impact Assessment was published with the Sentencing Bill and noted that more offenders can be expected to be diverted from short custodial sentences to suspended sentence orders. This will likely result in more people in the community who would have otherwise required treatment in prison needing support. We are also extending drug testing powers through the Sentencing Bill, meaning any offender on licence can be tested. This may lead to an increase in treatment referrals.

The Impact Assessment sets out that delivering treatment in prison is often more costly than delivering it in the community. By diverting someone from prison, we are not increasing the number of people who need treatment but are changing the setting in which they receive it. We are working closely with DHSC on the impacts and will be engaging with the sector.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of proposed powers for probation to test offenders on licence on the (a) capacity and (b) resourcing of local drug and alcohol treatment services.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

We know that continued engagement with treatment is vital to addressing the underlying causes of offending. That is why we want to divert offenders with a substance misuse need away from custody and into community treatment where appropriate. For those where a prison sentence is appropriate, we need to make prison a place that reforms offenders and supports them to recover from substance misuse.

The Ministry of Justice works closely with NHS England and the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) to ensure that all offenders who need it have access to high-quality alcohol and substance misuse treatment. Responsibility for commissioning and delivery of substance misuse treatment in the community lies with Local Authorities, and NHS England is responsible for treatment in custody. While decisions about future funding positions are ongoing, they are considering the needs of offenders. This is demonstrated by DHSC’s existing, targeted investment to support those referred by the criminal justice system, including funding 575 drug and alcohol workers with criminal justice specialisms who work closely with prisons, probation and in courts as well as the police to improve access to and quality of treatment. The National Partnership Agreement sets out the basis of a shared understanding of, and commitment to, the way in which the partners will work together.

The Ministry of Justice’s overall Impact Assessment was published with the Sentencing Bill and noted that more offenders can be expected to be diverted from short custodial sentences to suspended sentence orders. This will likely result in more people in the community who would have otherwise required treatment in prison needing support. We are also extending drug testing powers through the Sentencing Bill, meaning any offender on licence can be tested. This may lead to an increase in treatment referrals.

The Impact Assessment sets out that delivering treatment in prison is often more costly than delivering it in the community. By diverting someone from prison, we are not increasing the number of people who need treatment but are changing the setting in which they receive it. We are working closely with DHSC on the impacts and will be engaging with the sector.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the funding required for community drug and alcohol treatment providers to support the additional cohort of offenders serving sentences in the community under the provisions of the Sentencing Bill.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

We know that continued engagement with treatment is vital to addressing the underlying causes of offending. That is why we want to divert offenders with a substance misuse need away from custody and into community treatment where appropriate. For those where a prison sentence is appropriate, we need to make prison a place that reforms offenders and supports them to recover from substance misuse.

The Ministry of Justice works closely with NHS England and the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) to ensure that all offenders who need it have access to high-quality alcohol and substance misuse treatment. Responsibility for commissioning and delivery of substance misuse treatment in the community lies with Local Authorities, and NHS England is responsible for treatment in custody. While decisions about future funding positions are ongoing, they are considering the needs of offenders. This is demonstrated by DHSC’s existing, targeted investment to support those referred by the criminal justice system, including funding 575 drug and alcohol workers with criminal justice specialisms who work closely with prisons, probation and in courts as well as the police to improve access to and quality of treatment. The National Partnership Agreement sets out the basis of a shared understanding of, and commitment to, the way in which the partners will work together.

The Ministry of Justice’s overall Impact Assessment was published with the Sentencing Bill and noted that more offenders can be expected to be diverted from short custodial sentences to suspended sentence orders. This will likely result in more people in the community who would have otherwise required treatment in prison needing support. We are also extending drug testing powers through the Sentencing Bill, meaning any offender on licence can be tested. This may lead to an increase in treatment referrals.

The Impact Assessment sets out that delivering treatment in prison is often more costly than delivering it in the community. By diverting someone from prison, we are not increasing the number of people who need treatment but are changing the setting in which they receive it. We are working closely with DHSC on the impacts and will be engaging with the sector.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what her proposed timeline is for the transfer of staff to the Department for Transport Operator Limited from Rail Service, Rail Strategy and Reform and Corporate Delivery.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The proposed transfer of some staff from DfT to the DfT Operator is planned to take place for the beginning of the financial year 2026/27.

Drug deaths (No. 2)

Freezing of Local Housing Allowance

Tower Hamlets counter-demonstration on 25 October 2025

Fireworks anti-social behaviour and regulation

Loan Charge and settlement terms offered to large companies and individuals

Global Sumud Flotilla

London Underground cleaners