Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions she has had with Serco on electronic tagging.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Lord Timpson, Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending, has met regularly with senior representatives from Serco. The most recent of these meetings took place on Tuesday 22 July 2025. At that meeting, the Minister welcomed the improvements observed in Serco’s recent performance but emphasised the need for continued progress at pace to meet the standards set out in the contract. Serco’s performance continues to be monitored closely and we will not hesitate to apply financial penalties should our high-performance targets not be met.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reason she has increased legal aid for immigration cases.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Legal aid for immigration cases is important to maintaining an effective immigration and asylum system. Legal aid can play a vital role in ensuring the smooth running of the courts, by providing timely advice to the individuals concerned, reducing the likelihood of delays and adjournments and helping to tackle court backlogs. Hourly rates for immigration work have not been uplifted since 1996, but, following the Review of Civil Legal Aid, and a consultation on increasing fees for those working in the housing and debt and immigration and asylum sectors, we are taking action to uplift those fees given the particularly acute pressures facing these sectors.
This investment will help the Government deliver commitments to reduce the asylum backlog, end hotel use, increase returns and ensure the most vulnerable – such as victims of modern slavery and human trafficking - can navigate a complex legal system and access justice.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make it her policy to utilise all court sitting days made available by the Lady Chief Justice in the (a) 2026–27, (b) 2027–28 and (c) 2028–29 financial years.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Lord Chancellor will begin the Concordat process with the judiciary in due course, and this is how sitting days will be allocated. The Lord Chancellor has been clear she is committed to tackling the outstanding caseload, but the number of sitting days allocated is just one factor in achieving this. The Lord Chancellor must be mindful of managing the wider system capacity—the availability not just of judges to sit in the Crown court but of the lawyers, prosecutors, legal aid and defence barristers that underpin the rest of the system.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign nationals received legal aid in (a) 2024-2025 and (b) 2025-2026; and what the cost to the public purse was of the legal aid provided.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of legal aid was spent on foreign nationals appealing deportation decisions in (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26 so far.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners have been on probation without an electronic tag since 4 July 2024, broken down by the length of time.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Electronic Monitoring can be one part of robust licence conditions to support the management of offenders in the community. It is a mandatory requirement for those released under the Home Detention Curfew scheme and for those released onto the Acquisitive Crime programme. Electronic Monitoring can also be used on a discretionary basis where it is available, and probation practitioners consider it a proportionate and necessary part of a risk management plan. The requested information for all those offenders released without an electronic monitoring requirement is not held centrally and could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what negotiations she has had with prisoner escort contractors on reducing the number of court trials that are cancelled as a result of contractors not bring the defendant to court on time.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Prisoner Escort and Custody Service (PECS), which is part of HM Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS), provides Ministers with regular updates on performance of prisoner escort contractors against delivery targets.
It is recognised that there are many factors that can lead to trials being cancelled and that the efficient running of the criminal justice system requires a whole-system approach. PECS’ contractual performance against the indicator for timely delivery to court currently stands at 99.93%.
HMPPS closely monitors the operation of the contracts, and works with criminal justice partners through its Strategic Partnership Board, which includes representatives from His Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service and the police, as well as the contractors which deliver PECS services, to ensure that prisoners get to court on time, and that courts are prepared for their arrival.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will publish the (a) justice impact test and (b) new burdens assessment her Department has undertaken on the Renters’ Rights Bill.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Justice Impact Tests are internal government documents which are not usually published by government.
We will set out the funding we are making available to local authorities to meet new burdens arising from the Renters’ Rights Bill in due course.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to inform members of the public affected by the cyber attack on the Legal Aid Agency.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
To reach as many potentially impacted individuals as possible, the Ministry of Justice published a notice at 08:15 on 19 May on GOV.UK. The statement provides information about the cyber-attack and directs concerned members of the public to the National Cyber Security Centre’s webpage.
Further, the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) has set up a dedicated helpline that will be available from Tuesday 27 May for members of the public who are concerned they may have been affected by the LAA data breach. HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) is working with the LAA to facilitate this by standing up an operational call centre team to handle telephone calls.
In the days following the discovery, we took immediate action to inform all legal aid providers that some of their details, including financial information, may have been compromised. Further updates, including the decision to temporarily take the Legal Aid Agency’s (LAA) portal offline and contingency measures implemented have been provided by email and a dedicated information page relating to the cyber-attack has been set up: Legal Aid Agency cyber-security incident - GOV.UK.
The cyber-attack is subject to an ongoing investigation and the LAA continues to work closely with the National Crime Agency and National Cyber Security Centre. Appropriate actions have been taken to mitigate the impact of the attack and contingency measures have been put in place to ensure those most in need of legal support and advice can continue to access the help they need during this time, as outlined on LAA’s dedicated information page.
Since taking office, this Government has prioritised work to reverse the damage of over a decade of under-investment. That includes the allocation of over £20 million in extra funding this year to stabilise and transform the Legal Aid Agency digital services. This investment will make the system more robust and resilient in the face of similar cyber-attacks in future.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Bexhill and Battle)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to inform legal aid providers of the potential impact of the cyber attack on the Legal Aid Agency; and what assessment she has made of the cyber attack on the provision of legal aid services.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
To reach as many potentially impacted individuals as possible, the Ministry of Justice published a notice at 08:15 on 19 May on GOV.UK. The statement provides information about the cyber-attack and directs concerned members of the public to the National Cyber Security Centre’s webpage.
Further, the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) has set up a dedicated helpline that will be available from Tuesday 27 May for members of the public who are concerned they may have been affected by the LAA data breach. HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) is working with the LAA to facilitate this by standing up an operational call centre team to handle telephone calls.
In the days following the discovery, we took immediate action to inform all legal aid providers that some of their details, including financial information, may have been compromised. Further updates, including the decision to temporarily take the Legal Aid Agency’s (LAA) portal offline and contingency measures implemented have been provided by email and a dedicated information page relating to the cyber-attack has been set up: Legal Aid Agency cyber-security incident - GOV.UK.
The cyber-attack is subject to an ongoing investigation and the LAA continues to work closely with the National Crime Agency and National Cyber Security Centre. Appropriate actions have been taken to mitigate the impact of the attack and contingency measures have been put in place to ensure those most in need of legal support and advice can continue to access the help they need during this time, as outlined on LAA’s dedicated information page.
Since taking office, this Government has prioritised work to reverse the damage of over a decade of under-investment. That includes the allocation of over £20 million in extra funding this year to stabilise and transform the Legal Aid Agency digital services. This investment will make the system more robust and resilient in the face of similar cyber-attacks in future.