Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total cost was of (a) settlement agreements and (b) special severance payments made to departing staff in his Department in the last year.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
For the last financial year, the total cost to the Ministry of Justice of payments associated with settlement agreements is set out in Annual Report and Accounts. Where relevant, this includes special severance payments that have associated settlement agreements.
Asked by: Robert Jenrick (Conservative - Newark)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on what dates he has officially visited HMP Chelmsford since his appointment; and whether he has met with the Governor to discuss the recent mistaken release.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Deputy Prime Minister met with the Governor of HMP Chelmsford on 24 October, the same day as the release in error of Hadush Kebatu. The Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending is planning to visit HMP Chelmsford in the coming months.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will review the cost of leasehold tribunal applications.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Most leasehold applications currently attract an application fee of £114. Fees for leasehold applications to the First-tier Tribunal of the Property Chamber are set at levels which recover only part of the cost of the service.
The Government is committed to protecting leaseholders from disproportionate litigation costs. On 26 September 2025, the Government concluded a consultation with proposals to establish exemptions for landlords from seeking tribunal approval to recover litigation costs, permitting temporary suspension of this requirement for specified landlords, and defining the categories of cases in which leaseholders may apply to recover their own litigation costs. The Government is currently analysing responses and will publish the outcome in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many drug related incidents were recorded in prisons in each of the past five years, including instances of possession, supply and related violence.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We publish the number of drugs finds in prisons in England and Wales in the HMPPS Annual Digest. Please see table 6.1 in the Finds tables and the Finds in Prison – Find Incidents data tool. The latest issue covers the 12-month period to March 2025, with a time series of drug finds starting from the 12-months to March 2007.
The HMPPS Annual Digest reports the number of drug find incidents rather than the overall number of drug related incidents. Any increase in finds should not be interpreted as an increase in drug related activity. Higher figures may reflect more items being found, rather than more items being present in prisons. Data relating to drug related incidents more generally could only be provided at disproportionate cost and data specific to instances of possession, supply and related violence cannot be disclosed for security reasons.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede on 18 November 2024 (HL2243), whether they have carried out a risk assessment relating to e-bikes on His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service premises; and if so, what were the dates of the surveys for that risk assessment, and whether they will place a copy of those surveys in the Library of the House.
Answered by Baroness Levitt - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Risk-assessment surveys have been conducted at sites where there has been a request to store an e-bike. To date, ten sites have been surveyed, with Brighton Family Court deemed suitable to store e-bikes.
The list of sites surveyed are as follows:
The surveys contain sensitive site-related security information which we do not routinely publish and, as a result, copies will not be placed in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect the second part of Lord Leveson's Independent Review of the Criminal Courts to be published.
Answered by Baroness Levitt - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Part two of the Independent Review into Criminal Courts is considering how the criminal courts can operate as efficiently as possible, specifically looking at the efficiency and timeliness of processes. We expect to receive Sir Brian's report on court efficiency early next year.
We will consider his recommendations in full and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Robert Jenrick (Conservative - Newark)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on what dates he has officially visited HMP Wandsworth since his appointment; and whether he has met with the Governor to discuss the recent mistaken release.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending is planning to visit HMP Wandsworth in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many prison-based staff are (1) trained, and (2) equipped, to use tasers.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
On 21 September, the Deputy Prime Minister announced that 500 prison-based staff would be trained and equipped to use Taser devices, as part of a wider effort to enhance safety across the prison estate, and currently we have 20 trained national specialist officers.
Delivering this capability is a significant undertaking: work to train and equip these officers is in progress.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of bringing forward proposals for a national safeguarding framework for historic burial grounds linked to former (a) psychiatric and (b) Poor Law institutions.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government recognises the sensitivities surrounding burial grounds linked to former psychiatric institutions, including Horton Cemetery, and is committed to upholding the dignity of these sites and the memory of those interred within them.
The Law Commission is currently reviewing burial legislation, including the legal framework for the management of burial grounds, as part of its Burial, Cremation and New Funerary Methods project (Burial, cremation, and new funerary methods – Law Commission).
The project includes an assessment of the existing legal safeguards for burial and disinterment, the options for improved regulation and oversight of burial sites taking into account their nature and context, and potential reforms to ensure appropriate protection for private burial grounds.
The Government welcomes the Law Commission’s consideration of these issues and will respond in due course to its report, which is expected to be published in early 2026.
Asked by: Baroness Chakrabarti (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many individuals are currently remanded in custody for their own protection or welfare under the Bail Act 1976; how many individuals have been remanded in custody for their own protection or welfare in the past year; and what source they use for that data.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
There is no centrally collated statistical data available on the number of individuals currently remanded in custody for their own protection or welfare under the Bail Act 1976, or how many individuals have been remanded in custody for their own protection or welfare in the past year. To obtain this information would exceed permitted costs.
The court’s decision to remand an individual in custody for their own protection or welfare is used as a last resort and out of concern for the defendant, where circumstances are such that a defendant would come to harm if released into the community and there is no other suitable option available to the courts.
The Mental Health Bill was introduced to Parliament in November 2024 and has now completed Third Reading in the House of Commons. It includes a reform to end the use of remand for own protection under the Bail Act where the court’s sole concern is the defendant’s mental health. To support implementation of the reform, we are working with partners to collect data on cases where concerns around mental health are the only reason this power is used.