Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress he has made on the launch of test and learn pilots for children with parents in prison.

The Government is committed to improving the recognition and support of children with a parent in prison. Working with the Department for Education, the Ministry of Justice announced a test-and-learn pilot programme in July 2026 to test different approaches to recognising and supporting children affected by parental imprisonment and their families.

An Expression of Interest process for local authorities to take part in the pilots ran from 3 September to 1 October 2026. We plan to work with up to 10 local authorities, providing a diverse range of areas and demographics in which to test the approaches. Successful local authorities will be notified shortly, aiming for the focused support offer to be in place in all pilot local authorities by April 2027.

The pilots will test two approaches to recognising children with a parent in prison through data sharing, alongside local authority-led assurance, triage and focused support for them. The learning will build our understanding of what works and inform any future decisions on a national approach.