Committee publication · Correspondence · 8 January 2026
Letter from the Chief Executive Officer at HM Prison & Probation Service relating to his appearance before the Committee on its Efficiency and resilience of the Probation Service evidence session on 01 December 2025, 15 December 2025
Summary
James McEwen, CEO of HM Prison & Probation Service, responds to the Public Accounts Committee's question about nationality recording discrepancies between prisons and probation. He explains that 0.5% of prisoners have no recorded nationality versus 7.6% of all probation cases, attributing the difference to prisons' mandatory recording at reception and Home Office cross-checks, whereas probation relies on voluntary self-reporting.
Key findings
- 0.5% of people in prison had no recorded nationality as at 30 September 2025, compared to 7.6% of all those under probation supervision as at 30 June 2025
- Prison nationality data is recorded at reception and cross-checked with the Home Office for deportation purposes, increasing data confidence
- Probation nationality recording relies on voluntary self-reporting at pre-sentence stage or first contact, resulting in higher rates of 'unknown', 'refused', or missing entries
- HMPPS commits to working with the Home Office to establish nationality background for all those managed, both in custody and community
Tone
ProceduralTopics
probation-servicepublic-administrationdata-management
Key actors
James McEwen, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, HM Prison and Probation Service, Ministry of Justice, Home Office, Public Accounts Committee
Notable line
“Nationality is collected differently in prisons and probation. In prisons, nationality is recorded at reception.”
Key Quotes
“Nationality is collected differently in prisons and probation. In prisons, nationality is recorded at reception.”
“In Probation, nationality is recorded by staff at the pre-sentence stage and/or the first point of contact with probation. However, this relies on self-reporting and is voluntary.”
“We remain committed to working with the Home Office to establishing the nationality background of all those managed by HMPPS, both in custody and in the community.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗