Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the report entitled Report to the United Kingdom Government on the periodic visit to the United Kingdom carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 8 to 21 June 2021, published on 7 July 2022, and the Government's response to that report, published on 7 July 2022, if he will make it his policy to adopt the automatic publication procedure in respect of all future (a) reports by the CPT on the UK and (b) Government responses.

The UK welcomes the visits and reports of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT). The UK Government promotes a general policy of transparency by having a default position of authorising the publication of the visit reports and the UK responses, and encouraging other Member States to do likewise.

The UK Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe has in the past intervened in the Committee of Ministers, calling on Member States to agree to the publication of all CPT reports. Although there are no immediate plans to adopt the automatic publication procedure, we shall continue to take the approach of authorising the publication of the CPT visit reports and the government responses.