Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the process for assigning judges to cases involving legal challenges to Government decisions.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Under section 7(2)(c) of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the Lady Chief Justice is responsible for the maintenance of appropriate arrangements for the deployment of the judiciary and the allocation of work within courts. Accordingly, the Government has no role in the process for assigning judges to cases.
This is consistent with the important principle of judicial independence, which shields judges from external pressures and gives the public confidence that cases will be decided fairly and in accordance with the law.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government on how many occasions pelargonic acid vanillylamide (PAVA) incapacitant spray has been (1) drawn, and (2) drawn and deployed in prisons in 2024 and 2025; and what was the (a) ethnicity, (b) religion, and (c) disability status of the prisoner involved in each case.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Data relating to the use of PAVA broken down by disability comes from internal management information that is under development. It is not quality assured and does not meet the standard required for publication.
The table below provides information on the use of PAVA broken down ethnicity and religion.
| 2024 | 2024 Total | 2025 | 2025 YTD Total* | |||
Drawn and used | Drawn not used | Drawn and used | Drawn not used | ||||
Ethnicity | Asian | 93 | 36 | 129 | 121 | 35 | 156 |
Black | 543 | 187 | 730 | 524 | 193 | 717 | |
Mixed | 166 | 65 | 231 | 159 | 71 | 230 | |
Other | 23 | 25 | 48 | 32 | 12 | 44 | |
White | 460 | 270 | 730 | 518 | 308 | 826 | |
White: Gypsy/Roma/Irish Traveller | 29 | 14 | 43 | 20 | 23 | 43 | |
Unknown | 17 | 3 | 20 | 5 | 1 | 6 | |
Religion | Christian | 533 | 258 | 791 | 531 | 253 | 784 |
Muslim | 522 | 211 | 733 | 550 | 227 | 777 | |
No Religion | 219 | 103 | 322 | 241 | 123 | 364 | |
Other | 57 | 27 | 84 | 55 | 39 | 94 | |
Unknown | - | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
Grand Total | 1,331 | 600 | 1,931 | 1,379 | 643 | 2,022 | |
Please note that the 2025 figures represent data to 30 November this year. Figures include each time a prisoner is impacted by a PAVA incident. This means each time PAVA is drawn and used/drawn not used, multiple prisoners may be counted. In addition, the same prisoner may be counted more than once if involved in multiple incidents.
Figures provided have been drawn from HMPPS Management Information which has not passed through the quality assurance processes usually associated with official statistics published on gov.uk and may contain incomplete or, on rare occasions, inaccurate data.
Pelargonic acid vanillylamide incapacitant (PAVA) spray is made available to protect staff and prisoners in the event of serious violence, or where there is an imminent risk of serious violence. Clear guidance has been issued to staff, to ensure it is used only where appropriate. Our hardworking prison officers are brave public servants doing exceptionally difficult jobs, this Government will do everything we can to keep them safe.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the (a) discontinuement and (b) funding freeze of the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund on waiting lists.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
My Department is committed to the Government’s pledge to halve Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) in a decade. We have committed £550 million to victim support services over the next three years – the biggest investment in victim support services to date.
On 1 December 2025, all recipients of the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund (RASASF) received confirmation that their Ministry of Justice grants will be extended for two years until March 2028, with a 2% year-on-year uplift. Given this, there will be no impacts on waiting lists as funding has not been discontinued or frozen.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when her department plans to confirm allocations for the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund for 2026/27.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
My Department is committed to the Government’s pledge to halve Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) in a decade. We have committed £550 million to victim support services over the next three years – the biggest investment in victim support services to date.
On 1 December 2025, all recipients of the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund (RASASF) received confirmation that their Ministry of Justice grants will be extended for two years until March 2028, with a 2% year-on-year uplift. Given this, there will be no impacts on waiting lists as funding has not been discontinued or frozen.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted of spiking in each of the last five years.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Incidents of spiking may be prosecuted under various criminal offences. These offences encompass a broad spectrum of criminal behaviours, not all of which constitute spiking.
The Ministry of Justice does not currently collate statistics which show the number of individuals who are charged and subsequently prosecuted and convicted of offences which relate to incidents of spiking. The Government is, however, considering options to improve the way spiking crimes are recorded and collated with the aim of capturing better data to help advise preventative strategies for spiking where needed.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing long-term funding for specialist sexual violence and abuse services.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
My Department is committed to the Government’s pledge to halve Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) in a decade. We have committed £550 million to victim support services over the next three years – the biggest investment in victim support services to date.
The 42 Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) in England and Wales receive annual grant funding from the Department’s victim and witness budget to commission local practical, emotional, and therapeutic support services for victims of all crime types. This includes services for victims of sexual abuse. In addition, MoJ provides funding through the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund to over 60 specialist organisations, supporting victims of all ages to cope with their experiences and move forward with their lives.
On 1 December 2025, all PCCs and RASASF recipients received confirmation that their grants will be extended for two years until March 2028, with a 2% year-on-year uplift.
In light of the announcement to abolish the PCC function in May 2028, we have held back confirmation of year three funding. This enables us to explore changes to the longer-term delivery of victims funding to ensure this is delivered in the best way in the future. This will include extensive engagement with partners, including PCCs and RASASF recipients, to ensure we can continue to provide the right support to victims.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment has been made of the potential impact on victim support arising from the announced reduction, by nearly half, in funding for the West Mercia Police Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre; and in light of these funding cuts, how will the Department ensure that all survivors of sexual violence referred to this centre continue to receive the timely and high‑quality support they deserve.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
My Department is committed to the Government’s pledge to halve Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) in a decade. We have committed £550 million to victim support services over the next three years – the biggest investment in victim support services to date.
On 1 December 2025, all Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and recipients of the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund (RASASF) received confirmation that their Ministry of Justice grants will be extended for two years until March 2028, with a 2% year-on-year uplift. This includes the grants the Ministry of Justice holds with West Mercia Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre (WMRSASC) and with West Mercia PCC, who will make decisions on which organisations to fund locally, based on their assessment of need.
The grant the Department holds with WMRSASC has been unchanged since August 2023 when the RASASF was recompeted via an open competition.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many and what proportion of people arriving into custody were assessed for additional support due to neurodiversity in each prison and Young Offender Institution in England over each of the last two years.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
On 01 October 2025 we introduced a requirement and new tool for Governors to ensure all prisoners receive a screening for additional learning needs within 30 days of reception into custody. Young people entering the youth estate are screened within 10 days of arrival.
The new screening requirement built on an earlier process (since 2023) of carrying out an initial rapid screening for learning difficulties and/or disabilities and more in-depth screening which formed part of the initial education induction.
Data is collected and used locally, however, there is no routine centralised collection of validated data in relation to the numbers undertaking screening and assessment in either the adult estate or in Young Offender Institutions.
Asked by: Lord Carter of Haslemere (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many prisoners sentenced to Imprisonment for Public Protection who have been recalled to prison have been released by the Secretary of State under section 32ZZA of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
29 prisoners serving a sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection were released by the Secretary of State under section 32ZZA of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997 between 1 November 2024 (when the power became available) and 1 June 2025. We are determined to make progress towards safe and sustainable releases for those in prison, but not in a way that undermines public protection.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many male-born sex offenders have been granted gender recognition certificates in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested is not held centrally.