Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of (a) foreign and (b) dual national offenders were (i) tried and (ii) sentenced in absentia in the last 12 months.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on trials, convictions and sentencing outcomes at criminal courts in England and Wales (latest data to December 2024), available from the Criminal Justice Statistics page.

However, it is not possible to provide the number of people sentenced in their absence, as this is not held. Nor is it possible to provide data on the nationality of convicted defendants who were sentenced in their absence, as this information is not collected. This information may be held in court records, but to examine individual court records would be of disproportionate costs.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information her Department holds on the (a) number and (b) proportion of people who abscond abroad before (i) trial and (ii) sentencing in the most recent period for which data is available; and how many and what proportion of these people were (A) dual and (B) foreign nationals.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The Ministry of Justice does not centrally hold information on the numbers of people who abscond abroad before trial and sentencing or absconding abroad by dual/foreign nationals. To obtain the data to answer this question would involve a manual interrogation of court records which would result in a disproportionate cost to the department.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of (a) suspects were tried and (b) convicted people were sentenced in absentia in the last 12 months.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on trials, convictions and sentencing outcomes at criminal courts in England and Wales (latest data to December 2024), available from the Criminal Justice Statistics page.

However, it is not possible to provide the number of people sentenced in their absence, as this is not held. Nor is it possible to provide data on the nationality of convicted defendants who were sentenced in their absence, as this information is not collected. This information may be held in court records, but to examine individual court records would be of disproportionate costs.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make it his policy to tie the provision of UK aid to Pakistan to the Pakistani authorities' cooperation on the (a) deportation of Pakistani criminals in the UK and (b) return of criminal suspects charged in the UK who are residing in Pakistan.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK has transitioned from a traditional aid relationship with Pakistan to a mutually beneficial partnership which underpins UK national interests, and we have regular constructive discussions with Pakistani authorities on a range of topics of vital mutual interest, including criminal justice. None of the UK's Official Development Assistance (ODA) spent in Pakistan is dispersed through the Pakistani government, therefore the UK government rules out linking ODA and deportations. Despite significant and complex challenges when seeking to return foreign national offenders, this government is fully committed to making our communities safer by deporting those who break our laws. The Foreign Secretary raised this matter with Pakistan's Prime Minister in May.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the annual administrative cost has been of providing (a) delinked payments and (b) the Basic Payment Scheme since 2020.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assurance mechanisms his Department has implemented to help ensure the accuracy of AI-derived data that forms part of the new UK peat map.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The England Peat Map, produced by Natural England as part of the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment Programme, went through a rigorous science assurance process across Natural England, Defra and external peer reviewers. This science assurance covered the scientific design of the map’s production, the collection of the field data used to drive the model and testing the final modelled analysis which produced the map.

The AI-derived data was reviewed and refined through checking in the field, using field survey data, and the methods by which this was done were reviewed by independent Defra group technical experts and external academics. This included reviewing the data inputted into the models, the models’ training and validation, the models’ application, the models’ outputs, and covered all the map layers produced including peat depth, extent and vegetation layers. Beta testing of outputs across Defra group users was initiated a year prior to release and feedback was used to refine the models.

Limitations and precautions associated with the use of AI in the project are discussed in the England Peat Map final report, available on Natural England’s Access to Evidence website.

Found: Telford) Mr Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat; Wimbledon) Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat; North Cornwall) Robbie Moore