Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will set a target for the number and proportion of people moving into employment within (a) one and (b) six months of leaving prison.

Employment reduces the chance of reoffending significantly, by up to nine percentage points. Therefore, it is a priority for this government to increase the proportion of prison leavers in employment on release. We collect data on the proportion of prison leavers who are employed at six weeks and six months after release from prison.

The proportion of prison leavers in employment six months after their release has more than doubled in the two years to March 2023, from 14% to over 30%. Meanwhile, the proportion who were in employment six weeks after their release almost doubled in the same period, from 9.8% to 19.4%: Employment Rates following Release from Custody - Ad Hoc - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

While the Government seeks to continue this excellent progress, we are not pursuing a specific target at this time.