theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of asylum claims have been withdrawn due to non-attendance in each of the last five years. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’.

Data on asylum claims certified under Section 94 is published in table Asy_D08 of the ‘Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement detailed datasets’.

Data on initial decisions and outcomes on asylum claims, including implicit withdrawals (which can result from non-attendance at a reporting event or interview), is published in table Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement detailed datasets’.

Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the public purse has been of interpretation for asylum interviews in each of the last five years. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Cost information on Asylum-specific and interpretation costs is not readily available from our financial systems and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what evidence is required to determine gender identity as basis for claiming asylum. \p Dame Angela Eagle: All asylum and human rights claims are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations. The Substantive asylum interview is the claimant’s main opportunity to provide detailed evidence that relates specifically to their individual protection needs.

Our guidance for considering asylum claims is available on GOV.UK at: Assessing credibility and refugee status: caseworker guidance - GOV.UK

Asylum claims made after 28 June 2022 have been considered to the higher standard of proof established in the Nationality and Borders Act 2022.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2025 to Question 23578 on Undocumented Migrants, if she will make an estimate of the number of irregular migrants in the UK. \p Dame Angela Eagle: I refer the Honourable Member to the Answer I gave on 15 January to Question UIN 22990.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Jo White:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on Serco’s compliance with Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts requirements for each of the last five years. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Home Office holds detailed information on the compliance of its contractors with the requirements set out in Schedule 2 of the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts (AASC). The Home Office monitors Serco’s performance through a robust performance management framework. Performance data is published periodically and includes performance against key contractual obligations and key performance indicators.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Ayoub Khan:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason her Department paused the processing of applications made by Syrian asylum seekers on 9 December 2024. \p Dame Angela Eagle: We keep all country guidance relating to asylum claims under constant review, so we can respond to emerging issues. Following the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, the Home Office has withdrawn the Country Policy Information Notes and Guidance relating to Syria.

Consequently, as the Home Office continues to assess the current situation in Syria, the Home Office has temporarily paused decisions on Syrian asylum claims.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Ayoub Khan:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average processing time for Syrians' asylum applications was before 9 December 2024. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum claims awaiting an initial decision by nationality and duration is published in table Asy_D03 of the ‘Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement detailed datasets’. The latest data relates to the situation as of 30th September 2024.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people entered the UK through irregular means other than small boats in (a) 2023 and (b) 2024. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Home Office publishes statistics on the number of detected irregular arrivals to the UK across four routes of entry in the ‘Immigration System Statistics quarterly release’.

Data on inadequately documented air arrivals, recorded detections at UK ports and recorded detections in the UK, alongside small boat arrivals and can be found in Irr_01 of the ‘Irregular migration summary tables’. This data covers the period 2018 to September 2024.

Data covering the period of October to December 2024 is due to be published on 27th February 2025.

Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2025 to Question 22404 on People Smuggling, whether her Department has recorded the number of OIC groups that have been broken up by law enforcement agencies since 4 July 2024. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Where it is possible to make them public, the Home Office and National Crime Agency regularly publish details of successful operations about OIC gangs, including on numbers of arrests and volumes of seizures, and will continue to do so in the future.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost of financial incentives offered to Assisted Voluntary Returns deported in Quarter 3 of 2024 was. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Where it is possible to make them public, the Home Office and National Crime Agency regularly publish details of successful operations about OIC gangs, including on numbers of arrests and volumes of seizures, and will continue to do so in the future.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Dawn Butler:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which companies were contracted by her Department to develop an IT system for the Rwanda scheme; and how much was spent with each company. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The department has set out the costs of the scheme and provided further details to clarify this: Breakdown of Home Office costs associated with the MEDP with Rwanda and the Illegal Migration Act 2023 - GOV.UK.

For a variety of reasons, including issues around commercial sensitivities, we do not expect to provide a further breakdown of IT-related expenditure, but as the Home Secretary has made clear, our work now is to repurpose as much of this money as possible to clear the asylum backlog and move out of hotels.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to prevent the export of stolen mobile devices out of the United Kingdom. \p Dame Diana Johnson: Set against soaring levels of snatch thefts and pickpocketing, crimes which commonly involve the theft of mobile phones, a series of meetings have already been held, and we will shortly be holding a Home Office Mobile Phone Theft Summit, drawing together representatives from the mobile phone industry, including tech companies, the Metropolitan Police and other law enforcement agencies to see what more can collectively be done to break the business model of mobile phone thieves.

As part of our Safer Streets Mission, this government is determined to crack down on theft and other crimes that make people feel unsafe in our communities, including tackling anti-social behaviour and restoring public confidence. We are also committed to strengthening neighbourhood policing and through our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, there will be thousands of additional police officers, police community support officers and Special Constables.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Jack Rankin:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate with the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the potential impact of the number of people granted Health and Care Worker visas on the public finances since in the period since that visa was introduced; and how many of those people have since qualified for indefinite leave to remain. \p Seema Malhotra: The information requested is not centrally held, and could only be collected and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Laurence Turner:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will allow Ukrainian citizens who have resided in the UK for four years the ability to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain. \p Seema Malhotra: This Government stands with Ukraine and is committed to providing stability for those we have welcomed to the UK and those who still need our sanctuary.

To provide future certainty to those who have been provided with sanctuary in the UK under the existing Ukraine schemes, the government will be introducing a bespoke Ukraine Permission Extension (UPE) scheme, which will open to applications on 4 February 2025. This will allow those with existing sanctuary to apply for a further 18 months permission to remain in the UK, giving them the same rights and entitlements as they have been given under the existing Ukraine Schemes.

The Ukrainian government have been clear about their strong desire for the future return of its citizens to help rebuild Ukraine when it is safe to do so. It is important that our approach respects these wishes.

We will, of course, continue to keep the Ukraine Schemes under consistent review in line with developments in the ongoing war.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2025 to Question 22431 on Visas: Pakistan, whether her Department holds information on the number of visa applications from people with Pakistani nationality rejected because of criminal records in each of the last five years. \p Seema Malhotra: The requested data is not centrally held in easily accessible format and could only be collated for the purposes of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of fraudulent visa applications made in (a) 2023 and (b) 2024. \p Seema Malhotra: There are a wide range of circumstances which can lead to a visa application being classed as fraudulent, including the use of false documentation, or lying about the purpose of a visit, employment status or financial situation.

Data on the total number of fraudulent visa applications is not readily available in accessible form and could only be collated and verified for the purpose of this question at a disproportionate cost.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to increase the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of UKBA officers. \p Seema Malhotra: Regarding the recruitment of Border Force officers, the latest published staffing and finance figures can be found in the Home Office Annual Reports: Home Office annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK.

However, Border Force workforce planning reflects our evolving requirements and comprises of multiple resourcing options with decisions being assessed against several factors including the potential impacts they may have. As well as having an existing group of highly trained officers, Border Force has run several fair and open competition recruitment campaigns over the last few months – including alternative working options – which were open to anyone interested in working for Border Force.

On the issue of retention, we recognise that being a Border Force officer is a demanding role. That is why we have introduced additional mental health support to ensure our officers are supported if needed. Additionally, as a key recommendation of the Alexander Downer Review published in 2022, Border Force recognised the need to build on and improve their learning offer for staff at all levels of the organisation.

A comprehensive programme of modernisation and development is currently underway within Border Force L&D in support of delivering these recommendations and wider strategic priorities. Our primary aim is the development of the capabilities required across operational and non-operational areas, and ensuring leaders and managers have the skills required to manage staff and develop their talent.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Jack Rankin:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the impact of people who have arrived in the UK on the Skilled Worker Visa on the economy since that scheme was established. \p Seema Malhotra: Impact Assessments evaluating the impacts of policy changes to the Skilled Worker route since it was established can be found at Impact assessments covering migration policy - GOV.UK. These provide insight into economic impacts of the route, addressing matters such as direct and indirect business impacts and the visa fee revenue collected by the Home Office.

Further analysis of the economic impact of those on the Skilled Worker visa can be found in Chapters 1 and 2 of the independent Migration Advisory Committee’s 2024 Annual Report (Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) annual report, 2024 (accessible) - GOV.UK). The OBR also assesses the potential economic implications of net migration, to which those on the Skilled Worker visa contribute, as part of their Economic and Fiscal outlook (Net migration forecast and its impact on the economy - Office for Budget Responsibility).
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Jo White:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many financial penalties her Department has applied to Serco for underperformance on its Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts in each of the last five years. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Home Office applies Service Credits as per the contracts performance management framework, but disclosure of this information is commercially sensitive.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to increase police officer (a) recruitment and (b) retention within Greater London. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The Government is committed to ensuring police forces are supported to effectively tackle crime. We are clear that visible policing is essential to restoring public confidence in the police. As a result, our expectation is that officer numbers must be protected.

We expect the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to do all it can to halt the decline in officer numbers and prioritise frontline policing.

The Government is supporting the MPS by providing the force with £3.8 billion of funding in the 2025/26 police settlement. This is a £226.9 million increase when compared with the 2024/25 settlement, equating to a 6.4% cash increase and 3.9% real terms. In addition for 2025/26, we have transferred some ringfenced funding to the core grant, of which the MPS will receive its funding formula share.

We will work with the MPS and Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) to fully understand the force’s recruitment challenges. The MPS must ensure that they are taking every step available to put in place recruitment and retention plans that prevent further reductions in headcount and protect officer numbers.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to prevent the export of stolen vehicles out of the United Kingdom. \p Dame Diana Johnson: This Government is determined to drive down vehicle crime and we are working with the automotive industry and police to ensure our response is as strong as it can be. I met the NPCC Vehicle Crime lead, ACC Jenny Sims, in November and discussed this matter.

We are providing £250,000 funding this financial year to help support enforcement at ports to prevent stolen vehicles and vehicle parts being shipped abroad, including additional staff and specialist equipment.

There are also intelligence teams that support work to tackle vehicle crime, including Opal, the police national intelligence unit for serious acquisitive crime, and the National Vehicle Intelligence Service (NaVCIS), a policing unit funded by industry, including finance and leasing companies, insurers and hauliers, to provide dedicated specialist intelligence and enforcement.

We are continuing to work closely with the police-led National Vehicle Crime Working Group; through this group a network of vehicle crime specialists has been established, involving every police force in England and Wales, to ensure forces can share information about emerging trends in vehicle crime and better tackle regional issues.

In autumn 2024, driven by the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for vehicle crime, the National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership began work, bringing together the police, Home Office and manufacturers.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment (a) her Department and (b) the National Crime Agency have made of the prevalence of money laundering from Bangladesh into United Kingdom property; and what steps she has taken to investigate the matter. \p Dan Jarvis: The UK has one of the world’s largest and most open economies. This makes the UK attractive for legitimate investment but also exposes the UK to money laundering risk. The UK is committed to fighting this risk both domestically and internationally.

The National Crime Agency forms one part of the UK's effort to support Bangladesh in tackling corruption in addition to engaging on other law enforcement issues. As a matter of policy, we do not routinely comment on NCA investigations.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Liam Conlon:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle mobile phone theft (a) in Beckenham and Penge constituency and (b) nationally. \p Dame Diana Johnson: Set against soaring levels of snatch thefts and pickpocketing, crimes which commonly involve the theft of mobile phones, a series of meetings have already been held, and we will shortly be holding a Home Office Mobile Phone Theft Summit, drawing together representatives from the mobile phone industry, including tech companies, the Metropolitan Police and other law enforcement agencies to see what more can collectively be done to break the business model of mobile phone thieves.

As part of our Safer Streets Mission, this government is determined to crack down on theft and other crimes that make people feel unsafe in our communities, including tackling anti-social behaviour and restoring public confidence. We are committed to strengthening neighbourhood policing and through our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, there will be thousands of additional police officers, police community support officers and Special Constables.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the anti-corruption champion is reviewing money laundering from foreign countries into United Kingdom property. \p Dan Jarvis: The responsibilities of the Anti-Corruption Champion are set out on Gov.uk.

A new Anti-Corruption Strategy will be published in 2025 and will include measures that address the UK’s vulnerabilities to corruption and corrupt funds, make it harder for corrupt actors to operate in the UK and overseas, and strengthen global resilience to corruption.

The Anti-Corruption Champion will play an important role in supporting Ministers on anti-corruption and related issues, including the development of the Anti-Corruption Strategy.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Alex Burghart:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which teams in her Department can revoke a person's Indefinite Leave to Remain. \p Seema Malhotra: Indefinite Leave to Remain can be revoked by the Home Office’s Status Review Unit (SRU), Special Cases Unit (SCU) and Foreign National Offender Returns Command (FNORC).
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people entered the UK on a visa and overstayed in each of the last three years. \p Seema Malhotra: The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas in the ‘Immigration System Statistics quarterly release’.

The specific data requested is not routinely published and could only be collated and verified for the purposes of answering this question at a disproportionate cost.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Jack Rankin:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the impact of people who arrive in the UK on the health and care visa and their dependents on the economy since that scheme was established. \p Seema Malhotra: Impact Assessments evaluating the impacts of policy changes to the Health and Care Worker route since it was established can be found at Impact assessments covering migration policy - GOV.UK. These provide insight into economic impacts of the route, addressing matters such as direct and indirect business impacts and the visa fee revenue collected by the Home Office.

Further analysis of the economic impact of those on the Health and Care Worker visa can be found in Chapter 1 of the independent Migration Advisory Committee’s 2024 Annual Report (Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) annual report, 2024 (accessible) - GOV.UK). The OBR also assesses the potential economic implications of net migration, to which those on the Health and Care Worker visa contribute, as part of their Economic and Fiscal outlook (Net migration forecast and its impact on the economy - Office for Budget Responsibility).
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Peter Fortune:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the accessibility of the consultation on Ransomware: proposals to increase incident reporting and reduce payments to criminals, published on 14 January 2025. \p Dan Jarvis: The Home Office Cyber Policy Unit launched the Ransomware: proposals to increase incident reporting and reduce payments to criminals consultation on 14 January 2025.

As per the Governments Publishing Accessible Documents guidance, the document will be published in HTML format. We provided a PDF version, as per Government guidance on publishing official documents.

As with all of our publications, users can request an alternative format by emailing xxx@xxx.xx.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department records an ideological breakdown of people in the Desistance and Disengagement Programme. \p Dan Jarvis: The Home Office does collect information relating to the ideology of participants of the Desistance and Disengagement programme. However, this information is considered to be protected information which we are unable publish as this constitutes personal data as defined in the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).

The Desistance and Disengagement Programme is an important tool used to keep the public safe from people who have been involved in terrorist related activity.

Providing further granular detail around ideology could lead to the identification or presumed identification, of its participants which could have serious security implications and fundamentally undermine the effectiveness of the programme as a counter terrorism tool.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Kim Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help improve the transparency of processes for the (a) collection, (b) retention and (c) use of data by the police. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The Gang Violence Matrix (GVM) was an operational intelligence tool used by the Metropolitan Police to identify and risk-assess individuals involved with gangs across London.

The deletion of the data held on the GVM is an operational matter for the Metropolitan Police as the data controller, and it is their sole responsibility to exercise their retention policies in line with the Data Protection Act 2018 and authorised professional practice from the College of Policing. The Metropolitan Police’s use of the GVM is subject to an enforcement notice from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). We understand that since the enforcement notice the names on the GVM have been under regular review, and since its inception in 2012 over 4,000 names have been removed.

Following the enforcement notice from the ICO, the Metropolitan Police made a decision that GVM data would be retained for a period of 12 months, from the date of decommission (13 February 2024), as there was no policing purpose to justify the continued retention of the data. This means that all data will permanently be destroyed on 13 February 2025. This decision was taken in order to satisfy Right of Access requests from persons seeking clarity on their inclusion on the GVM. Any individual that considers they may have been included on the GVM is therefore entitled to submit a Subject Access Request to the Metropolitan Police by 13 February 2025, and the Metropolitan Police advise the public of this on their website.

Additionally, the ICO’s enforcement notice already requires that the Metropolitan Police review their sharing of information with third parties and, as the relevant supervisory authority, the ICO have the necessary powers to enforce compliance with said notice.

The Home Office does not hold any data on individuals being charged, prosecuted or incarcerated based on information held on the GVM.

In relation to the transparency of the process by which the Police collect retain and use data, the Police are subject to the Data Protection Act 2018 and authorised professional practice from the College of Policing. However, as part of the Home Office’s police reform agenda we will explore how best to support policing in the collection, use and management of their data for a range of operational and analytical purposes.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of people on the terrorist watch list are dual nationals. \p Dan Jarvis: It is longstanding policy not to discuss either the specific information held on any security-related watchlist, the source of the information or how it is used.

To do so would be counterproductive and harmful to the national security of the UK.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of Prevent cases were (a) dropped and (b) downgraded in each of the last five years. \p Dan Jarvis: Information on Prevent referrals is already publicly available in the published annual statistics on GOV.UK: Individuals referred to Prevent: to March 2024, including the outcome of each referral.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Kim Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of deleting the Gang Violence Matrix on the ability of wrongfully convicted people to appeal their convictions. \p Sarah Sackman: The now decommissioned Gang Violence Matrix was an operational risk assessment tool used by the Metropolitan Police. As a risk assessment tool, it was not used to provide evidence on which a person could be convicted. The deletion of the Gang Violence Matrix will not have any bearing on a person’s ability to appeal their convictions.

In order to be convicted of an offence, evidence must be provided such that the court or jury is sure beyond reasonable doubt that the person committed the offence. There is the right to seek leave to appeal against conviction or sentence.

If someone has had their application for permission to appeal refused, or had their conviction upheld on appeal, and they believe they have been wrongfully convicted, it remains open to them to apply to the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
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Zöe Franklin:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to implement the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, published on 20 October 2022. \p Sarah Sackman: The Government is focused on delivering meaningful change for victims of these horrendous crimes.

Before Easter, we will lay out a timetable for responding to the 20 recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. The new victims and survivors panel will support our cross-Government ministerial group to consider those recommendations, putting the voices of victims at the heart of our plans going forward.

We will strengthen the law, introducing a mandatory reporting duty to make it an offence, with professional and criminal sanctions, to fail to report or to cover up child sexual abuse.

Going further, my Department will legislate to make grooming an aggravating factor in the sentencing of child sexual offences, to ensure that this behaviour is reflected in the sentencing of perpetrators.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

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Charlotte Cane:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to tackle backlogs in the courts. \p Sarah Sackman: Criminal Courts

We remain committed to bearing down on the outstanding caseload and delivering swifter justice for victims, but the challenge we face to do so is significant.

The Government has taken action to reduce the rate of caseload growth, through extending magistrates’ court sentencing powers to 12 months and funding 108,500 days at the Crown Court this financial year (FY24/25), the highest level since FY15/16.  To tackle the outstanding caseload in the longer term it is clear that we must go further and do things differently. The Lord Chancellor has commissioned an independent review of the criminal courts, led by Sir Brian Leveson, to consider the merits of longer-term reform, as well as reviewing the efficiency and timeliness of court processes, through charge to case completion.

Family Courts

Delays in the court process can have a significant impact on children and families - we are committed to improving timeliness and reducing the outstanding caseload.

The Family Justice Board agreed system-wide targets for reducing delay in 2024/25. These are focused on closing the longest running cases and increasing the proportion of public law cases concluded within the statutory 26-week timeframe.  Areas delivering the Pathfinder model for private law are making significant progress in addressing delays, with some of the lowest case durations nationally. To address the particular challenges in London, we are investing up to £1 million this financial year to tackle the outstanding private law caseload through providing additional capacity.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-30 conversation_77

Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for the Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2025 to Question 21759 on Offences against children, whether the information requested is held by her Department. \p Sarah Sackman: The Ministry of Justice publishes data on prosecutions and convictions at criminal courts in England and Wales in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, including rape. They can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics.

Information on the immigration status of defendants is not routinely collected by the courts.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-30 conversation_78

Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total cost to the public purse was of legal aid for people (a) accused and (b) convicted for their involvement in grooming gangs, broken down by nationality [in each of the last five years]. \p Sarah Sackman: This information requested is not held centrally.

There is no single criminal offence of ‘involvement in a grooming gang’. As such, the information recorded and tracked regarding offence type when applying for legal aid does not differentiate between defendants involved in group-based child sexual exploitation offences from those accused or convicted of sexual offences more generally.

Further, where proceedings are before a court or tribunal in England or Wales, legal aid is available to individuals who qualify for services irrespective of their nationality or usual place of residence. As nationality is not a determinative factor in the availability of legal aid it is not mandatory that this information is provided with an application for legal aid.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-30 conversation_79

Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for he policies of trends in the levels of reoffending rates in Lincolnshire in the past five years; and what steps her Department is taking to help reduce reoffending rates in that county. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: The overall proven reoffending rate for Lincolnshire has decreased from 28.8% in 2018 to 26.3% in 2022 (the latest year for which reoffending data is available – see Table 1). Despite this overall downward trend, the reoffending rate increased from 24.5% in 2021 to 26.3% in 2022. We have seen reoffending rates increase slightly as we move away from Covid-affected periods (during which reoffending rates were impacted by court closures and other Covid-related operational restrictions). Despite this, rates remain lower than historical levels.

Table 1: Rate of reoffending for Lincolnshire across the past 5 years

Jan 18 -Dec 18

Jan 19 - Dec 19

Jan 20 - Dec 20

Jan 21 -Dec 21

Jan 22 -Dec 22

Lincolnshire

28.8%

25.2%

25.0%

24.5%

26.3%

This Government is committed to reducing reoffending by giving people the tools they need to turn their backs on crime, including by investing in getting offenders into employment which we know can reduce reoffending by up to 9 percentage points.  We have, for example, recruited specialist employment leads in prisons to support and prepare prisoners for work on release. This role is currently in place at HMP Lincoln and HMP North Sea Camp, two prisons located in Lincolnshire. We have also recently launched regional Employment Councils, which for the first time will bring businesses together with probation services and the Department for Work and Pensions to support offenders in the community. The county of Lincolnshire is covered by the East, North & West Midlands Employment Council.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-30 conversation_80

Josh Babarinde:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of Sections 69-72 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 on human rights. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: This Government will defend the rule of law and uphold human rights. We are carefully considering the impact of sections 69-72 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 on human rights.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-30 conversation_81

Robert Jenrick:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she plans to implement the recommendations of the reports by HM Inspectorate of Prisons on (a) HMP Long Lartin and (b) HMP Manchester, published on 14 January 2025. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) and HM Inspectorate of Probation for England and Wales are independent inspectorates which provide scrutiny of the conditions for, and treatment of prisoners and offenders. They report their findings for prisons, Young Offender Institutions, and effectiveness of the work of probation, and youth offending services across England and Wales to the Ministry of Justice and His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS).

In response to the report, HMPPS/the Ministry of Justice are required to draft a robust and timely action plan to address the priority and key concerns. Action plans provide specific steps and actions to address the priority and key concerns, which are clear, outcome focussed, measurable, achievable, and relevant with the owner and timescale of each step clearly identified. Action plans are sent to HMIP and published on the GOV.UK website. Progress against the implementation and delivery of the action plans will also be monitored and reported on.

Actions plans are active for both HMP Manchester and HMP Long Lartin in line with this process, which seek to address the concerns of the Inspectorate.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-30 conversation_82

Robert Jenrick:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle the use of drones delivering (a) weapons and (b) drugs into prisons. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: We are working hard to deter, detect and disrupt the use of illegal drones that deliver contraband, including weapons and drugs, so that prisoners have access to a safe and stable rehabilitative environment. Our approach is multi-faceted and includes physical security countermeasures, joint working with law enforcement agencies, and collaborating across Government and with international partners on this global issue.

Whilst it is not possible to outline in detail the tactics used to disrupt drones given the security implications, HMPPS invests in targeted countermeasures such as improvements to windows, specialist netting and grills to prevent drones from successfully delivering contraband into prisons. HMPPS also conducts assessments across the estate to understand the risk and develop and implement tailored local plans to mitigate the threat.

In January 2024, Restricted Fly Zones were introduced around all closed prisons and young offender institutions to disrupt illegal drone use. These restrictions make all unauthorised drone incursions a crime, and support police and prison collaboration to pursue drone operators. Those using drones to smuggle illicit items which drive violence and criminality in custody may face up to a decade behind bars.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-30 conversation_83

Robert Jenrick:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she has visited HMP Manchester since the urgent notification was issued by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons on 9 October 2024. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: Since her appointment, the Secretary of State has made a range of Ministerial Visits across the UK. She is due to visit HMP Manchester in the coming months but will not be giving a running commentary on her diary. Lord Timpson, Minister for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending, visited the prison on 24 October, in advance of our published response to the UN on 6 November.

In response to the UN, the Lord Chancellor instructed the Prison Service to make a number of significant improvements to the site. As such, the Department has published a new action plan to radically improve safety, security and conditions at HMP Manchester. This includes installing a new CCTV system, enhanced staff training and the introduction of netting across the site to combat drones and clamp down on the contraband which fuels violence behind bars.

We are determined to drive improvement at HMP Manchester and Lord Timpson met with the Executive Director on 13 January 2025, to understand the progress made since the inspection. He also receives regular updates on progress at HMP Manchester from his officials.

The Government is tackling the crisis it inherited from the previous Government who left our criminal justice system on the point of collapse.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-30 conversation_84

Robert Jenrick:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions she has visited (a) HMP Long Lartin and (b) HMP Manchester since her appointment. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: Since her appointment, the Secretary of State for Justice has made a range of Ministerial Visits across the UK. She is due to visit HMP Manchester in the coming months but will not be giving a running commentary on her diary.

The Minister for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending visited HMP Manchester on 24 October, in advance of our published response to the UN on 6 November. He will be visiting Long Lartin in the coming months. Details of Ministerial meetings are published on the gov.uk website.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-30 conversation_85

Robert Jenrick:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what her planned timeframe is for fixing broken (a) netting, (b) windows and (c) CCTV at (i) HMP Long Lartin and (ii) HMP Manchester. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: At HMP Manchester, a project to install grills and restrictors on all windows, and to install netting around all buildings, is in the design and development phase. As the prison is a listed building, full planning permission is required. The project is expected to be fully delivered by mid-2026. Maintenance teams at HMP Manchester have completed a full CCTV survey. Work to upgrade wiring and replace faulty cameras, as well as filling gaps in coverage, is projected to complete by April 2025.

Similarly, at HMP Long Lartin, a project to install grills and restrictors on all windows, and to install netting around all buildings, has been commissioned, and is expected to be fully delivered by mid-2026. A local review of the condition of all windows across the site is also being completed, and funding is being sought to begin the work in 2025-26. The local maintenance team has commissioned a full CCTV survey: this will inform a programme of rapid improvement works.

In addition, major projects to upgrade security systems at both Manchester and Long Lartin form part of the 2025-26 custodial capital maintenance programme. This includes upgrading CCTV and Perimeter Intruder Detection Systems. The timescale for completing this work is dependent on completion of the design and contract stages.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-30 conversation_86

Kim Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent estimate she has made of the annual cost to the public purse of people serving imprisonment for public protection sentences. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: It is right that the sentence was abolished. The Government is determined to make further progress towards a safe and sustainable release for those serving the IPP sentence, but not in a way that impacts public protection.

For 2022/23, the average Overall Resource Expenditure cost per prisoner was £51,108. The annual cost for IPP prisoners is not collected or published.

To improve the prospects of release for the unreleased cohort of IPP Prisoners, we published the updated IPP Action Plan on 15 November 2024. The Updated Plan puts stronger emphasis on effective frontline delivery in our prisons ensuring that those serving IPP sentences have a sentence plan tailored to their needs, and that they have access to the right interventions or services to address their offending behaviour.