Committee publication · Estimate memoranda · 19 May 2026
Ministry of Justice Main Estimates Memorandum 2026-27
From: Justice Committee
Summary
The Ministry of Justice Main Estimates Memorandum 2026-27 sets out the department's spending allocation across three strategic outcomes: punishment that works (prisons and probation), swifter justice for victims (courts), and a beacon for justice (civil, family, and legal services). Total Resource DEL budget is £12.7bn, Capital DEL £2.4bn, with significant increases driven by the 10-year prison capacity strategy (£1.2bn for new places), court recovery funding, and pay uplifts.
Key findings
- Resource DEL increased £756.9m (6.3%) from 2025-26 Supplementary Estimate, mainly for prisons, probation, and court recovery; Capital DEL up £59.3m (2.6%)
- Settlement includes £1.2bn in 2026-27 for additional prison places under 10-year strategy to deliver 14,000 additional places by 2031
- Resource AME rose £1,023.7m (55.9%), largely due to non-cash impairment charges from investment in operational estate
- Budget transfers from other departments total £124.4m Resource DEL and £13m Capital DEL, including £57.6m from Home Office for asylum backlog clearance and £27.5m from MHCLG for housing dispute policy
- Department committed to delivering over £1bn in productivity, efficiencies and savings over Spending Review period through digital reform, commercial savings, and policy reform
Tone
ProceduralTopics
Key actors
Ministry of Justice, HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), Legal Aid Agency (LAA), Home Office, Department of Work and Pensions, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA)
Notable line
“The settlement included £1.2bn in 2026-27 for new prison places, in line with the government's 10 -year prison capacity strategy to deliver 14,000 additional places …”
Key Quotes
“The settlement included £1.2bn in 2026-27 for new prison places, in line with the government's 10 -year prison capacity strategy to deliver 14,000 additional places, with an aim to do so by”
“MoJ is a large operational delivery 'downstream' department, and therefore subject to demand pressures not fully within our control, including prisoner numbers and legal aid spending.”
“The department has rigorous financial risk management processes in place to enable it to manage in-year spending pressures, and to take appropriate action to minimise the risk of potential claims against the reserve.”
“As part of Spending Review 2025, the department agreed to deliver a challenging set of productivity, efficiencies and savings targets totalling over £1bn, over the period of the Spending Review.”
“The 2026-27 Resource DEL budget is 22% higher (in nominal terms) than the outturn in 2023-24. The increase of £2.5bn is largely as a result of: • Transformational reform of the criminal justice system …”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗