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Question
Nick Timothy asked about the number of prisoners released so far who have and have not been tagged, and the number of tag breaches. He also questioned the Government’s implementation of the policy and the lack of new prison developments since the election.
Minister reply
Jake Richards acknowledged the criticisms but defended the Government's approach, stating that the numbers of prisoners released in each tranche are publicly available on the Government’s website. He indicated that the next batch of data will be released in January of the following year.
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Question
Catherine Atkinson raised concerns about the timeliness of fitting GPS tags and the percentage of tags that are now being fitted on time. She asked about the longest time an offender can wait before monitoring begins, and when offenders will be tagged on day one.
Minister reply
Jake Richards highlighted the improvements made by Serco, the company operating the tagging regime, since March of the current year. He mentioned the National Audit Office report and indicated that the Government will fully respond to it when the full report is published later in the month.
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Question
The prison capacity crisis is a national emergency due to the release of prisoners and the potential for them to be unmonitored for days after release. The hon. member asks for a commitment to tag prisoners immediately upon release and suggests a royal commission on the entire criminal justice system.
Minister reply
The Minister acknowledges the importance of tagging prisoners upon release when necessary and supports the Probation Service's operational decisions. He also notes that the Government has stabilised the criminal justice system and introduced the Sentencing Act 2026 to manage prison capacity and reduce reoffending.
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Question
The hon. Member raises concerns about the lack of proper safeguards for victims of domestic abuse when prisoners are released. She calls for a systematic approach to ensure proper safeguarding.
Minister reply
The Minister commits to working with the Minister for Victims and Probation to ensure proper support for victims, including financial investment and outreach to address specific cases. He emphasises the need for effective implementation beyond funding.
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Question
The hon. Member questions the nature of prisoners being released and whether they pose a threat to victims who need support. He asks for clarification on the categories of prisoners being released.
Minister reply
The Minister explains that 4,500 prisoners are released monthly, and a risk assessment is conducted to determine necessary measures and notifications to victims. He highlights the Probation Service's role in this process.
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Question
The hon. Member is concerned about the Probation Service's ability to manage early releases and broader challenges due to years of cuts. He asks what steps are being taken to support the Probation Service.
Minister reply
The Minister acknowledges the Probation Service's importance and highlights a £750 million investment, the largest in a generation, contrasting it with the previous Government's privatisation experiment. He notes ongoing efforts to support the Probation Service.
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Question
The hon. Member raises a case involving Kaylan Hippsley, who was killed by a driver under the influence of drugs and alcohol. The killer's sentence was increased but has since been transferred to an open prison after serving two years. He seeks assurances for the family.
Minister reply
The Minister expresses condolences and states that he will ensure the relevant Minister writes to the hon. Member regarding the details of the case.
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Question
The hon. Member highlights the over-representation of care leavers in prisons and suggests looking at a pilot by Catch22 in supporting care leavers leaving prison. She asks for the Minister's commitment to considering these outcomes.
Minister reply
The Minister agrees with the hon. Friend's point about care leavers being disproportionately represented in prisons. He emphasises the importance of tackling reoffending and highlights recent investment in probation services.
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Question
The hon. Member raises the issue of prison capacity and suggests using Crown prerogative powers to expedite the construction of prisons to address the space issue.
Minister reply
The Minister acknowledges the need for fast-tracking planning infrastructure projects but notes that some colleagues oppose building prisons in their constituencies. He highlights the Government's plans to build 14,000 places, contrasted with the Conservative record.
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Question
The hon. Member criticises the Conservative Government's record on prison capacity and asks for steps to reassure victims and prevent a similar situation in the future.
Minister reply
The Minister commits to ensuring more criminals are behind bars by the end of this Parliament, highlighting the Government's plans to build 14,000 prison places and spend three times more on prison building than the Conservatives.
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Question
The sad truth is that dangerous sexual predators are being released early under this scheme. There are some 4,000 empty cells that require maintenance and refurbishment, and 10,000 cells are occupied by overseas nationals. Will the Government use those places to stop dangerous offenders from being released early?
Minister reply
I am happy to ensure that the hon. Member has the appropriate information needed about the case that he raises, and we will be able to look into that case individually. Prison capacity more generally is still a challenge. Although 4,000 places may be available today, there are different categories of prisons and there is geographical need. It is not quite as simple as just being a numbers game; the picture is a bit more complicated than that. I am proud that this Government have increased the deportation of foreign national offenders by 40%. We will continue to deport more foreign national offenders when the new early release scheme comes into effect early next year, and I look forward to Members from across the House supporting the Government in our efforts.
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Question
The prisoner early release scheme is clearly simply a result of the failings of the previous Conservative Government, but as the Minister has already acknowledged, we do not want those prisoners to end up back in prison a short time after being released. What is being done to stop those prisoners reoffending, particularly in terms of their employment and resettlement?
Minister reply
My hon. Friend rightly comes to the heart of this debate, which is how we can confront reoffending. We are working with local employers and we have regional councils to try to ensure that people have opportunities for work and housing. It is a challenge—it has been a challenge for decades—that ex-offenders often do not have the right support when they leave prison. That is why we are investing in the Probation Service and working with local authorities at pace to ensure that when ex-offenders leave prison they are given the opportunities to build a stake in society and not commit offences again.
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Question
Will the Minister confirm to my constituents that the most dangerous offenders, including rapists, are excluded from the progression model? What steps is his Department taking to repair the prison estate, which was left on the brink of collapse by the Conservatives, and ensure that we never reach this crisis point again?
Minister reply
My hon. Friend is right. I can confirm, as the Prime Minister and the Justice Secretary have at this Dispatch Box, that rapists will not be subject to the new regime. My hon. Friend is also right that constituents like his and mine expect us to meet this challenge by building more prison places. That is why we are investing in 14,000 new prison places by 2031. There will be more criminals behind bars at the end of this Parliament under a Labour Government.
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Question
The Minister will know that all of the 3,000 new prison places that have come online since the election were initiated by the last Conservative Government. Will he tell the House why this Government have not planned or approved any new prison spaces since they came to office?
Minister reply
We hear this a lot—Conservative Members saying, “Well, we didn’t do anything for 14 years, we didn’t spend much money, and then in the final few months we thought, gosh, we have a prison capacity crisis, we had better start planning, and then we called an election.” It is absolutely hopeless. What we are doing constitutes the biggest prison building programme since the Victorian era, with 14,000 places by 2031. The Conservatives’ policy chief has apologised for their record on criminal justice, as has the Leader of the Opposition. Will the hon. Gentleman do so?
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Question
Of course, the legacy that we inherited was the failure of the last Government, who did not build enough prison places and left it until the last minute to sanction new places. I appreciate the Minister’s clarity in respect of the new prison places and the Government’s investment in 14,000 future places, but may I ask him about the recruitment of prison officers? Will we have enough personnel to support that expansion so that we do not have to resort to early release in the future?
Minister reply
There is indeed a challenge. Alongside our prison building programme, the biggest since the Victorian era, is the need to recruit people to staff those prisons. However, we are implementing a range of new recruitment initiatives to ensure that we have enough prison officers to make them safe and workable.
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Question
Several constituents who have been in touch with me are victims of domestic abuse and desperately need to move. Emotional support and safety planning are cold comfort when offenders are cutting off their tags, when they are making threats to kill, and when the victims’ addresses are being disclosed to them, but these vulnerable families are still coming 12th, 15th or 18th on the list for being moved to new social housing. What is the Ministry of Justice doing with local authorities to ensure that these people are properly prioritised?
Minister reply
That absolutely should not be the case and it is very worrying, so I will ensure that the appropriate Minister meets the hon. Lady to discuss those individual cases. As I have said, we have invested in community safeguarding measures and there is a further £18 million for victim support, but I entirely appreciate that victims want reassurances about their safety rather than just warm words, and that is what this Government are committed to providing.
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Question
Local residents and I are deeply concerned about the possible return of a convicted child sex offender to Townsend following his planned release. On Saturday I held a community meeting which was joined by the police and crime commissioner as well as representatives of Dorset police. It is clear that people fear that this man will be not just a cause for concern in his own right, but a magnet for violent and antisocial behaviour to himself and the wider community. Will the Minister arrange for a meeting with the Probation Minister and me, along with local residents? The last thing we want is to see Townsend go through this sort of ordeal.
Minister reply
My hon. Friend has raised that particular issue, and indeed the issue more generally, with me on numerous occasions. To the extent that I am allowed to make such promises at the Dispatch Box, I will ensure that he has the right meeting with the appropriate Minister.
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Question
I must take umbrage at the idea that the last Government were too slow to react. HMP Millsike, in my constituency, was given planning approval in September 2019, but it took six years to build, and according to the latest figures it still has 344 empty cells. Should the Minister not be moving heaven and earth to ensure that we fill every available cell, rather than releasing dangerous criminals back on to our streets?
Minister reply
As I have said, the Leader of the Opposition has apologised for the Conservatives’ record, but some of them have not got the message. As for the use of space, the hon. Member is right to say that we need to maximise the prison estate. The Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary, from this Dispatch Box, made it clear that he was looking at how we could maximise all parts of the estate. However, as I said earlier, it is not quite as straightforward as a simple numbers game, because there are different categories of prison and different geographical demands. One in seven of the prison population are on recall and many are on remand, so they need to be near the appropriate courts. It is not quite as straightforward as the hon. Member would like to suggest, but of course we are determined to use every single space that we can.
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Question
I thank the Minister for his comments about probation. We saw the failure of the privatisation experiment conducted by the previous Government, and the impact that it had on probation staff and those who were using the Probation Service, so I welcome those comments. Like the hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole (Vikki Slade), I am really concerned about those who are cutting off their tags. I have spoken to victims of domestic violence in my constituency of Harlow, who have raised the issue with me. What reassurance can the Minister give me that that will not be allowed to happen, and that if it does happen, those who take off their tags will be treated severely?
Minister reply
Any attempt to interfere with tagging is very serious and will be treated in the toughest possible way. Concerns have been raised about the tagging regime, by the National Audit Office and others, and the Government will respond in due course. Performance has improved since the interim report was published a few months ago. My hon. Friend is absolutely right to point out that at the heart of this is the question of how we tackle reoffending and bolster our Probation Service, which we have invested in. Challenges that have been raised and we accept them, but I will not take lessons on the Probation Service from the Conservatives after their failed privatisation under the now Lord Grayling, which was one of the biggest failed experiments in public service reform over the past 40 years.
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Question
Last week I held my regular roundtable for local domestic abuse organisations in Bath. There was fear—real fear—among the organisations that represent survivors and victims about the number of early releases. Representatives of Avon and Somerset police, who were present, tried to reassure the group that they had the capacity and could manage the situation, but how will the Government ensure, through assessment and review, that the Avon and Somerset force does indeed have the capacity to support victims and survivors? How will that be assessed and when will there be a review?
Minister reply
The Government appreciate that there are concerns— understandable concerns—among victims’ groups and victims themselves. The Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary accepted that at the Dispatch Box, and we have invested more in our victim liaison work in order to do a better job in reaching out to victims, ensuring that they are heard and also listening to them so that we can put into effect safety measures that will help them. We are talking to the police regularly and investing in them as well to ensure that, as much as possible, we keep communities safe during this period.
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Question
Today, 650 people are being released. Efford inquired about the reasons for the inability to tag people on release and questioned the performance of the companies responsible for tagging, suggesting that it is not beyond their technological ability.
Minister reply
Richards acknowledged concerns over the performance of tagging companies and noted improvements since March. He explained that tagging is an operational decision made by the Probation Service, and it is not a presumption that every person should be tagged upon release.
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Question
Shannon thanked the Minister for his answers and brought up concerns about early-release offenders, citing the example of the Metropolitan Police Commissioner's statements about arrests of early-release offenders, including those with firearms offences. Shannon questioned whether it was time to ensure that gun-toting criminals were not released.
Minister reply
Richards responded reassuringly, noting the recall provisions in place. He explained that if individuals violate their licence conditions or commit further offences after release, they can be recalled to prison, which is part of the system's functioning. The minister emphasised the work being done to reduce reoffending and support those leaving prison.