Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Prison Capacity

Tuesday 8 July 2025 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Tom Hayes questioned the Minister about increasing prison capacity to protect the public and reduce reoffending.
  • The Minister responded that public protection is the top priority and emphasized the importance of supporting individuals upon release to prevent reoffending.
  • Graham Stuart inquired about the assessment of the Government's early release scheme, noting that nearly a quarter of those released reoffended within a year.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Tom Hayes Lab Bournemouth East
Crime & Law Enforcement Justice & Courts
Context

Concerns about crime in Bournemouth and the need to increase prison spaces to keep dangerous people away from the public and punish serious crimes. Constituent Tim from Athelstan Road provided suggestions for achieving this.

Question

Every week brings new concerns about crime in Bournemouth, and I will pick up this issue with the police and crime commissioner for my area in my Boscombe office on Friday. Increasing prison spaces keeps dangerous people away from the public, punishes serious crime, and stops reoffending, especially where it applies to violent crime.

Answer from The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Sir Nicholas Dakin)

Public protection is our No. 1 priority, but we are also tackling reoffending with proper programmes in place in prison. We need to support people when they come out of prison as well, and probation is part of that solution.

Partly answered
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Q2 Graham Stuart Con Beverley and Holderness
Justice & Courts
Context

Pressure on prison places due to the early release scheme introduced by the current government. Nearly a quarter of those released under this scheme reoffended within just one year.

Question

In light of the pressure on prison places, what assessment has the Minister made of the Government’s early release scheme? The data shows that nearly a quarter of those released reoffended again within just one year. Does he believe that the criteria used to determine eligibility were fit for purpose?

Answer from The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Sir Nicholas Dakin)

Due to the circumstances that this Government found when we came into office, we had no option but to introduce a temporary change to the law to allow prisoners serving an eligible standard determinate sentence to be released on licence. This scheme had many more constraints than the early release scheme operated by the previous Government, which was rushed out just before the election. The data has not yet been published, so the right hon. Gentleman will have to wait for that.

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