Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to respond to the 2016-17 annual report by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.

We are grateful to the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman for his annual report which identifies important areas for improvement in our prison system. We take these issues extremely seriously.

We have regular, constructive discussions with the Ombudsman and we shall continue to do so.

We have created a new unit within HM Prison and Probation Service to ensure relevant recommendations from the Ombudsman are being taken forward in a timely manner and to track how they are being implemented by prisons.