Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to introduce routine collection and publication of reoffending data for immigration-related cases.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Ministry of Justice publishes quarterly statistics on proven reoffending of offenders which can be found here: Proven reoffending statistics - GOV.UK. These include reoffending rates presented in various breakdowns, such as by index offence.
We do not currently have plans to introduce routine publication of reoffending data for immigration-related cases. We keep the contents of our Official Statistics under continuous review, to ensure their compliance with the three pillars of the Code of Practice for Statistics: trustworthiness, quality and value.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of a) rehabilitation and b) reoffending reduction policies for individuals convicted of immigration-related offences.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The rehabilitation pathway an individual takes, including for individuals convicted of immigration-related offences, is determined by their assessed risk and needs, ensuring interventions are targeted and proportionate.
The Ministry of Justice’s Reducing Reoffending Evidence Synthesis (2025) provides a comprehensive overview of what works to reduce reoffending. The report highlights key factors influencing the likelihood of reoffending, and we are investing in a range of interventions to address these needs and support rehabilitation. This includes accommodation, employment and substance misuse treatment services, including key employment roles in 93 prisons (such as Prison Employment Leads) and Incentivised Substance-Free Living units (ISFLs) in 85 prisons. Depending on the specific risks and needs of the offender, a range of accredited programmes, designed to address offending behaviour, are also available.
The proportion of adults released with an ongoing substance misuse need who engage in treatment within 3 weeks of release increased from 38% in April 2021 to 53% in November 2025. Similarly, employment rates six months after release from prison for those sentenced to 12 months or more have increased from 15% in 20/21 to 38% in 24/25.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of departures from sentencing guidelines on the effectiveness of a) sentencing and b) public confidence in the criminal justice system.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
I refer the honourable Member to the answer I gave on 23 December to PQ 100766
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for which offence types departures from sentencing guidelines on the grounds of the interests of justice occur most frequently.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The data necessary to answer these questions is not held centrally by the Ministry of Justice.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times sentencing courts have departed from sentencing guidelines on the basis of the interests of justice in each of the last three years.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The data necessary to answer these questions is not held centrally by the Ministry of Justice.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether departures from sentencing guidelines on the grounds of the interests of justice are recorded in sentencing data.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The data necessary to answer these questions is not held centrally by the Ministry of Justice.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has conducted an assessment of Crown Court and Magistrates’ Court sitting time lost as a result of the late production or non-production of defendants in custody.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Data on the number of trials declared ineffective due to the non-production of defendants can be found here: Trial effectiveness at the Criminal Courts tool.
In the most recent reported quarter (July to September 2025) – non-production of defendants accounted for less than 2% of ineffective trials.
Securing data on the impact that late production or non-production of defendants has had on sitting time would come at a disproportionate cost, due to the time required to process this information.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted of offences connected with the use of illegal number plates on vehicles in the last four years.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on convictions for a variety of offences including offences involving the use of illegal number plates on vehicles, in the Outcomes by Offences tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal justice statistics quarterly - GOV.UK.
The number of convictions related to the illegal use of vehicle number plates can be accessed by navigating to the ‘Overall Volumes’ tab and filtering the “HO offence code” drop down for:
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the net zero targets for the Ministry of Justice and its arm’s-length bodies are; and what guidance has been issued to prisons, courts and other agencies on adopting net zero targets earlier than 2050.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Net Zero target in the Climate Change Act 2008 is a target for the whole of the UK, not individual Departments or arms-length bodies.
Greening Government Commitments are the central framework setting out the actions UK Government Departments and their agencies will take to reduce their impacts on the environment, including setting targets to reduce emissions, during the framework period.
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs is reviewing the Greening Government Commitments to ensure that they remain aligned with Government priorities.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the capacity of magistrates’ courts to handle additional triable-either-way cases.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The magistrates’ court is an effective and efficient jurisdiction – In the 12 months to September 2025 it disposed of 1,448,163 cases with an average timeliness (offence to case completion) for the most recent quarter of 191 days. The Government will ensure there are sufficient numbers of magistrates and will seek to ensure that there are sufficient magistrates’ court sitting days to meet additional demand placed on the system.
An impact assessment for the criminal court reforms will be published alongside legislation in the usual way. In 2024, triable either way offences in the magistrates’ courts completed more than four times faster than in the Crown Court.
The Government has already made significant additional investment in the criminal justice system – in record sitting days, court buildings and technology, and in legal professionals. We have secured record investment (up to £450 million per year for the courts system over the Spending Review period), and we are investing almost £150 million to modernise the court estate, including magistrates’ courts. Discussions about the allocation for 2025-26 between the Deputy Prime Minister and Lady Chief Justice continue and we will provide more detail in due course. Nevertheless, the Deputy Prime Minister has been clear that sitting days in the Crown Court and magistrates’ courts must continue to rise.
We are also accelerating our programme to recruit more new and diverse magistrates over the coming years and we continue to recruit high levels of legal advisers to ensure courts remain resilient.