Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential fiscal effect of leaving the EU without a deal on his Department's operation and management of prisons.

As part of cross-Whitehall preparations for a no deal scenario, all Government Departments are considering what resources are required to mitigate any potential impacts and to ensure that businesses and citizens are sufficiently prepared for all eventualities of Brexit. The Ministry of Justice was allocated £17.3m in 18/19 and £30m in 19/20 from HMT specifically for EU-related activities. Robust plans are in place to ensure EU Exit related allocations are spent in an appropriate and efficient way across all business areas in the MoJ. This has allowed the department to prepare effectively for the potential impact on prisons, in any EU exit scenario. Delivering a revised deal negotiated with the EU remains the Government’s top priority. This has not changed. The Government is accelerating no deal preparations to ensure the country is prepared for every eventuality. It is the responsible thing to do.