Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much compensation has been paid to prisoners as a result of delays in parole hearings in each year since March 2010.

We have worked closely with the Parole Board to help them progress cases more quickly, and to eliminate the backlog of delayed cases by the end of this year. This should lead to a decrease in the number of compensation claims in future years.

We have provided additional funding for 100 new Parole Board members – a near 60% increase - and established a dedicated MoJ unit to help progress complex cases. We are ensuring prisoners can secure release by showing genuine progress while fulfilling our most important duty - protecting the public

The amount of compensation paid to prisoners as a result of delays in parole hearings in the years 2009/10 - 2016/17 is set out below.