Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department’s press release entitled Government action to avert summer prison disaster, published on 29 January 2026, what steps he has taken to help ensure that changes to sentencing do not adversely impact (a) public safety and (b) offender rehabilitation.

The greatest risk to public safely is the risk of not being able to lock up dangerous offenders. Without the Sentencing Act, which received Royal Assent on 22 January, the country would have completely run out of prison places as early as June this year. This Government’s decisive action has safeguarded the police, courts, and wider criminal justice system, and avoided a potentially catastrophic breakdown of law and order.

Public protection is our main priority, and many offenders will still go to prison, some for a very long time. Where offenders are on licence, in the community, we are imposing more intensive supervision, including ramped up tagging. We are also introducing new restriction zones for the most serious offenders, locking them down to a specific area.

We are prioritising rehabilitation of offenders: evidence shows that short prison sentences exacerbate issues with employment, housing, and maintaining family ties, without allowing sufficient time for offenders to access effective rehabilitative services. Whereas suspended sentence orders give offenders a chance to stay in work, keep stable housing, and access support, all of which help reduce repeat offending and support rehabilitation.

To support rehabilitation and managing offenders in the community, this Government is rebuilding the probation service, increasing investment by up to £700 million by 2028/29, a 45% increase.

We are creating a tougher, smarter system that protects the public and supports rehabilitation.