Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Oral Statement of 16 October 2023 on Prison Capacity, Official Report, column 61, which countries his Department has had discussions with on prisoner transfer deals.

The removal of Foreign National Offenders is a Government priority. The Ministry of Justice continues to work closely with the Home Office to maximise the number of deportations.

The UK, alongside 71 other countries, has ratified the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons. The full list of countries who have ratified can be found on the Council of Europe website: Full list - Treaty Office (coe.int)

To develop bilateral Prisoner Transfer Agreements, we engage with key countries in the European Union and the rest of the world.

We signed a Prisoner Transfer Agreement with the Philippines in October 2023, and made a new arrangement with Albania in May 2023 to increase the number of transfers under the agreement signed in May 2022.