Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of prisoners tested positive for illegal drugs on arrival and during their time in custody in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
We recognise that the availability and use of drugs in prisons is too high. Tackling this is a priority in order to reduce reoffending, and improve the safety of our prisons. To drive down supply of drugs, we are investing over £40 million in physical security measures this financial year. This builds on the range of specialist equipment prisons already use to intercept contraband, including X-ray body scanners, airport-style Enhanced Gate Security, and baggage scanners.
We must also address the demand for drugs which drives this illicit market. We work closely with health partners to identify prisoners with a drug problem and support them into treatment. To create the environment and incentives for prisoners to make the right choices, we have funded Incentivised Substance Free Living Units in 85 prisons. Prisoners on these units sign a behaviour compact, agree to be regularly drug tested and can access enhanced opportunities compared to a standard wing. Alongside this, we are working to increase access to mutual aid fellowships in prison, which can provide vital ongoing support for people in recovery.
The information requested regarding the proportion of prisoners testing positive on arrival and during their time in custody can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
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 of the prisoners mistakenly released since April 2025 were convicted of violent, sexual or other serious offences; and what assessment he has made of the danger to the public posed by those still at large.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Releases in error have been increasing for several years and are another symptom of the prison system crisis inherited by this Government. The safety of the public is our absolute priority.
While the overwhelming majority of offenders are released correctly, any release in error is treated with utmost seriousness and we are clamping down on those that do occur. On 11 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a five-point action plan setting out initial steps to address this issue. As soon as an error is identified, we immediately assess the individual’s risk and work closely with the police to ensure swift action. A joint protocol between HMPPS and NPCC is in place, to ensure effective and timely communication between partner agencies when an individual is released in error to rearrest them as quickly as possible.
Totals for releases in error are published each July in the HMPPS Annual Digest, with the latest available via HMPPS Annual Digest, April 2024 to March 2025 - GOV.UK, which provides data up to March 2025. These include information on the principal offence group of those released.
A further transparency ad hoc publication, available via Releases_in_Error_from_1_April_2025_to_31_October_2025.pdf, also covers the number of releases in error from 1 April 2025 to 31 October 2025. Further breakdowns of this data cannot be provided at this time because they would give an early indication of future Official Statistics.
Offender Management Units play a vital role in our prisons, including processing prisoner releases. Prisons are encouraged to fill vacancies promptly, with the Department providing support on best practice in recruitment. We are also rolling out technology-based upgrades to assist frontline staff, helping to reduce human error.
The Government is determined to fix the issue of mistaken releases and ensure the public is properly protected.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of staff shortages in offender management units on errors in calculating prisoners release dates.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Releases in error have been increasing for several years and are another symptom of the prison system crisis inherited by this Government. The safety of the public is our absolute priority.
While the overwhelming majority of offenders are released correctly, any release in error is treated with utmost seriousness and we are clamping down on those that do occur. On 11 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a five-point action plan setting out initial steps to address this issue. As soon as an error is identified, we immediately assess the individual’s risk and work closely with the police to ensure swift action. A joint protocol between HMPPS and NPCC is in place, to ensure effective and timely communication between partner agencies when an individual is released in error to rearrest them as quickly as possible.
Totals for releases in error are published each July in the HMPPS Annual Digest, with the latest available via HMPPS Annual Digest, April 2024 to March 2025 - GOV.UK, which provides data up to March 2025. These include information on the principal offence group of those released.
A further transparency ad hoc publication, available via Releases_in_Error_from_1_April_2025_to_31_October_2025.pdf, also covers the number of releases in error from 1 April 2025 to 31 October 2025. Further breakdowns of this data cannot be provided at this time because they would give an early indication of future Official Statistics.
Offender Management Units play a vital role in our prisons, including processing prisoner releases. Prisons are encouraged to fill vacancies promptly, with the Department providing support on best practice in recruitment. We are also rolling out technology-based upgrades to assist frontline staff, helping to reduce human error.
The Government is determined to fix the issue of mistaken releases and ensure the public is properly protected.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the impact of the scale of erroneous prisoner releases on public confidence and public safety.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Releases in error have been increasing for several years and are another symptom of the prison system crisis inherited by this Government. The safety of the public is our absolute priority.
While the overwhelming majority of offenders are released correctly, any release in error is treated with utmost seriousness and we are clamping down on those that do occur. On 11 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a five-point action plan setting out initial steps to address this issue. As soon as an error is identified, we immediately assess the individual’s risk and work closely with the police to ensure swift action. A joint protocol between HMPPS and NPCC is in place, to ensure effective and timely communication between partner agencies when an individual is released in error to rearrest them as quickly as possible.
Totals for releases in error are published each July in the HMPPS Annual Digest, with the latest available via HMPPS Annual Digest, April 2024 to March 2025 - GOV.UK, which provides data up to March 2025. These include information on the principal offence group of those released.
A further transparency ad hoc publication, available via Releases_in_Error_from_1_April_2025_to_31_October_2025.pdf, also covers the number of releases in error from 1 April 2025 to 31 October 2025. Further breakdowns of this data cannot be provided at this time because they would give an early indication of future Official Statistics.
Offender Management Units play a vital role in our prisons, including processing prisoner releases. Prisons are encouraged to fill vacancies promptly, with the Department providing support on best practice in recruitment. We are also rolling out technology-based upgrades to assist frontline staff, helping to reduce human error.
The Government is determined to fix the issue of mistaken releases and ensure the public is properly protected.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the number of prisoners kept in custody beyond their lawful release dates over the past ten years.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Release inaccuracy is yet another symptom of the prison system crisis inherited by this Government. While the overwhelming majority of offenders are released correctly, we are clamping down on those errors that do occur, and this includes unlawful detentions.
On 11 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a five-point action plan setting out initial steps which includes an independent inquiry which will report its recommendations to prevent further inaccuracies. The Government is determined to fix release inaccuracies and ensure the public is properly protected.
The data requested comes from internal management information and is not centrally collected. It is not quality assured and does not meet the standard required for publication.
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.
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: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the findings of HM Chief Inspector of Prisons regarding release date errors at HMP Pentonville.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Releases in error have been increasing for several years and are another symptom of the prison system crisis inherited by this Government.
The Government is determined to fix the issue of mistaken releases and ensure the public is properly protected and on 11 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a five-point action plan setting out initial steps to address the issue.
Work is already underway to address the areas identified for improvement by the Inspectorate. This includes establishing a specialist headquarters team to provide guidance to prisons to mitigate the risk of early or late releases, which is actively supporting HMP Pentonville as part of the Urgent Notification response.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his Department's policies on the handling of domestic abuse cases in the family courts of the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s October 2025 report entitled Everyday Business; and whether he plans to expand the roll-out of the Pathfinder court model in the South West.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government welcomes the publication of the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s report “Everyday Business: Addressing domestic abuse and continuing harm through a family court review and reporting mechanism”. We are carefully considering the recommendations made in the report and will publish a full response shortly.
This Government recognises the impact that family court proceedings can have on children and adult survivors of domestic abuse, which is why we are prioritising the protection of domestic abuse survivors going through the family court. The includes the expansion of the Pathfinder programme, which promotes safeguarding and supports victims of domestic abuse through multi-agency collaboration and expert domestic abuse support.
Launched in Dorset and North Wales in February 2022, the Pathfinder model has since expanded to nine court areas, the most recent areas being the Black Country and Shropshire, Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent and Herefordshire and Worcestershire in November 2025. In January it will be rolled out to Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, the largest court area in the South West. This will mean around a quarter of relevant cases across England and Wales follow the model.
Further expansion of the model is being considered as part of the departmental allocations process which follows the latest Spending Review, and we are unable to pre-empt the outcome of this.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he has taken to prevent mistaken releases of prisoners; and whether he plans to (a) allocate additional resource for and (b) implement systemic reforms to prisoner-release protocols.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Releases in error are never acceptable, and we are bearing down on those errors that do occur.
Following the release in error of Hadush Kebatu from HMP Chelmsford, the Deputy Prime Minister took immediate steps to make the processes that take place when a prisoner is released more robust. This includes implementing a clear checklist for governors to determine that every step has been followed the evening before any release takes place.
On 11 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a five-point action. This included additional resource allocated to the Urgent Warrant Query Unit set up to allow prisons to quickly escalate warrant-related queries and a multi-million pound investment in new technology to reduce human error. This is in addition to standing up a digital rapid response unit with up to 15 members of staff dedicated to exploring options to upgrade our digital systems.
We have committed to the simplification of release policy to reduce the scope for errors through the implementation of the Sentencing Bill. We have also appointed Dame Lynne Owens to examine what is causing releases in error, identify systemic factors, assess whether current discharge protocols are robust, and make recommendations to prevent similar mistakes in future.