Written questions by Obese-Jecty.

If she will make an estimate of the number of foreign nationals from (a) Guinea-Bissau and (b) Portugal that have been convicted in the UK since 2010.

The Ministry of Justice is unable to provide data on how many Bissau-Guinean nationals and Portuguese nationals have been convicted at court. This is because it is not possible to identify an offender's nationality from the centrally collated convictions data.However, the Department is able to provide data on foreign nationals in prison and also those under probation supervision in the community.(a) The nationality of foreign offenders in prison is published quarterly in table 1_Q_12 of Offender Management Statistics, with the latest data (31 December 2024) available from prison-population-31-Dec-2024.ods. As of the 31 December 2024, there was one Bissau-Guinean national and 260 Portuguese nationals in HMPPS custody.(b) The nationality of foreign offenders under probation supervision can be found in table 6_9 of Offender Management Statistics, with the latest data (30 September 2024) available from Probation-Jul-to-Sep-2024.ods. As of the 30 September 2024, there are 474 Portuguese nationals under probation supervision in the community and no records of Bissau-Guinean nationals under probation supervision.Previous publications of the Offender Management Statistics quarterly bulletin can be found at Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK.

What discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on support for male victims of (a) rape and (b) sexual assault.

This Government was elected on its landmark mission to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in a decade. VAWG crimes disproportionately affect women and girls, but we know that men and boys are also often victims, and this Government is absolutely committed to stopping sexual violence against all victims. I recently chaired a roundtable, which brought together key voices from the victim’s sector to ensure men’s voices are heard, and I am working closely with my ministerial counterparts in the Home Office and across government to make sure that the Safer Streets mission, and our upcoming strategy, addresses the needs of all victims.Support services such as the 24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support line, and services funded through Department’s Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund, are available to all victims regardless of their gender. Similarly, new policies, such as Domestic Abuse Protection Orders, and the incoming Independent Legal Advice service, apply to all victims.

What the budget for victim and witness support services was in 2024-25.

We do not routinely publish the full Ministry of Justice budget for victim and witness support services, as funding awards are subject to change and many services will receive funding from multiple sources. At the end of the financial year, a breakdown of grant funding is made publicly available on the Government Grants Information System, covering the previous financial period of grant spending.

Whether her Department provides support to Safeline’s national male rape helpline.

For FY 2024-25 the Ministry of Justice has allocated grant funding of £244,887 to Safeline to deliver the National Male Survivor Helpline and Online Support Service.The grant for the National Male Survivor Helpline and Online Support Service, delivered by Safeline, will expire on 31 March 2025. The Ministry of Justice has worked with Safeline on their exit planning arrangements for our grant funding and the Department was informed that the helpline service will continue due to Safeline securing alternative funding.The 24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Line, funded by the Department and currently delivered by Rape Crisis England and Wales, will be extended until 31 March 2026. This service supports all victims of sexual violence, regardless of their gender.We inherited a criminal justice system in crisis as well as an incredibly challenging financial inheritance meaning difficult decisions are needed across the board. These are not calls we have taken lightly - but by continuing to protect funding for sexual violence and domestic abuse services, we will make sure brave victims can get the vital help they need to rebuild their lives.

Whether her Department provides support to SurvivorsUK’s webchat.

For FY 2024-25 the Ministry of Justice has allocated grant funding of £127,463 to SurvivorsUK to deliver the National Male Survivors’ Online Helpline.The grant for the National Male Survivors’ Online Helpline, delivered by SurvivorsUK, will expire on 31 March 2025. The Ministry of Justice has worked with SurvivorsUK on their exit planning arrangements for our grant funding and the Department was informed that the online helpline service will continue due to SurvivorsUK securing alternative funding.The 24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Line, funded by the Department and currently delivered by Rape Crisis England and Wales, will be extended until 31 March 2026. This service supports all victims of sexual violence, regardless of their gender.We inherited a criminal justice system in crisis as well as an incredibly challenging financial inheritance meaning difficult decisions across the board. These are not calls we have taken lightly - but by continuing to protect funding for sexual violence and domestic abuse services, we will make sure brave victims can get the vital help they need to rebuild their lives.

What funding is available to the Male Rape Fund in (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26.

The Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund (RASASF) was recommissioned in 2023. To streamline the funding schemes that specialist sexual abuse organisations needed to apply to, the Ministry of Justice amalgamated the Male Rape Support Services Fund into one RASASF.£21 million is committed to the RASASF in each year: 2024-25 and 2025-26. Grant funded activities support all victims of rape and sexual abuse, including men and boys, to cope with their experiences and move forward with their lives.

What proportion of food supplied to the prison estate is sourced from British farms.

The information is not held centrally.

What discussions she has had with relevant stakeholders on reviewing sentencing for instances of coercive control that leads to the suicide of the victim.

Tackling this issue is a core part of this Government’s mission to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in a decade, and our VAWG strategy, which will be published in the summer, will look at how we can better understand, learn from and prevent future deaths linked to domestic abuse.The Lord Chancellor has recently asked the Law Commission to undertake a review of homicide law and sentencing, and the use of, and obstacles to, manslaughter charges where a person may be driven to suicide by abuse, and sentencing in these cases, is in scope of this review. The Government has engaged with the families and stakeholders campaigning on this issue.The Law Commission review will be open, inclusive and evidence-based and will include consultation with judges, legal and criminal justice practitioners, victims’ groups and representatives, parliamentarians, academics, and third-sector organisations.The Government is also working to develop the evidence base on suicides that follow domestic abuse, including through funding research by the National Police Chiefs' Council's Domestic Homicides and Suspected Victim Suicides Project, which captures information on suicides with a known history of domestic abuse from all 43 police forces.

If she will provide a breakdown by country of people designated as Foreign National Offenders.

A Foreign National Offender (FNO) is someone who is not a British citizen and is, or was, convicted in the UK of any criminal offence. The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the prison population and offenders supervised by the Probation Service as part of its Offender Management Statistics Quarterly.The requested data can be found:Prison population (based on the prison population as at 31 December 2024; latest available published data) can be found at Table 1_Q_12 in the attached link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6799631cd4f0d327e77071ae/prison-population-31-Dec-2024.odsOffenders supervised by the Probation Service (on 30 September 2024; latest available published data) can be found at Table 6_9_Caseload_Nationality in the attached link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67995c02636f8db3c270719c/Probation-Jul-to-Sep-2024.odsForeign nationals who commit crime should be in no doubt that the law will be enforced and the Ministry of Justice works closely with the Home Office to pursue their deportation. Under this government, 23% more foreign national offenders were removed during the period July 2024 to January 2025 compared with the equivalent period in 2023-24, under the previous administration.

How many prisoners were armed forces veterans on 24 February 2025.

The most recent available data for the veterans prison population is from the 2024 edition of our annual publication on “Ex-service personnel in the prison population”, which is taken from a snapshot of the prison population on 30 June 2024. Any request for information ahead of this would give an indication of data scheduled for future publication, and so we are not able to provide the figures for 24 February 2025 at this time.As per our 2024 publication, an estimated 3.6% of the prison population declared that they had served in the armed forces (based on 1,810 out of 50,700 prisoners who provided a response to that question at point of reception into prison). The publication can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67218d8d3aa14203d06ef453/Ex-service_personnel_in_the_prison_population_2024.pdf

How many Afghans there are within the prison population.

The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the prison population as part of its Offender Management Statistics Quarterly. The requested data (based on the prison population as at 31 December 2024; latest available published data) can be found at Table 1_Q_12 in the attached link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6799631cd4f0d327e77071ae/prison-population-31-Dec-2024.odsForeign nationals who commit crime should be in no doubt that the law will be enforced. Where appropriate, the Ministry of Justice will work with the Home Office to pursue their deportation. 23% more foreign national offenders were removed during the period July 2024 to January 2025 compared with the equivalent period in 2023-24.

When she expects the inquiry into Valdo Calocane to commence.

As previously stated by the Prime Minister, the Government is committed to establishing a judge-led inquiry in relation to the issues raised by the attacks in Nottingham. Work is underway to establish the Inquiry and Ministers will update Parliament on it in due course.

How many prisoners are serving life sentences of detention for crimes committed when they were under the age of 18.

The data requested is not held centrally and would only be available at a disproportionate cost.

What steps the Government has taken to block mobile phone signals for contraband mobile phones held by prisoners across the prison estate.

HM Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS) is committed to tackling the threat posed by illicit mobile telephones. It has a wide-ranging programme in place to prevent them from entering prisons, to detect and disrupt their use, and to investigate cases where a prisoner may have committed an offence.HMPPS uses powers under the Prisons (Interference with Wireless Telegraphy) Act 2012 to enable prisons to use technology to suppress the use of wireless telegraphy such as mobile phones.As part of their local security strategies, prisons are able to deploy a range of measures, but owing to security and operational sensitivities, it would not be appropriate to provide detailed information about the countermeasures that are in place.

What steps her Department is taking to prevent the use of drones for smuggling (a) weapons, (b) drugs and (c) other contraband into prisons.

Drone sightings around prisons in England and Wales are of great concern and pose a major threat to security. Drone sightings around prisons increased by over 770% between 2019 and 2023 under the previous Government. We are working hard to deter, detect and disrupt the use of illegal drones that deliver contraband so that prisoners have access to a safe and stable rehabilitative environment. Our approach is multi-faceted and includes physical security countermeasures, legislation and working across Government and with international partners on this global issue.HMPPS uses targeted physical countermeasures such as improvements to windows, installing specialised netting and grills to prevent drones from successfully delivering contraband into prisons. HMPPS also conducts vulnerability assessments across the estate to understand the risk and develop and implement 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 help ensure meaningful operational responses. Those using drones to smuggle illicit items which drive violence and criminality in custody, may face up to a decade behind bars.

How many people were prosecuted for the (a) creation, (b) distribution and (c) ownership of entirely AI-generated indecent images of children in 2024.

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on prosecutions for a wide range of offences, including offences involving the possession, creation and distribution of indecent images of children. Data up to and including June 2024 is available in the Outcomes by Offences data tool that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-justice-statistics-quarterly. However, data held centrally does not include whether the offence involved AI-generated images or use of nudifying apps. This information may be held in the court records but to examine individual court records would be of disproportionate cost. In relation to images of adults, it is already a criminal offence to share, or threaten to share, a sexually explicit deepfake image of an adult without consent, but not an offence to make one. The Government made a clear manifesto commitment to ban the creation of sexually explicit deepfake images, a central aspect of our commitment to halve the prevalence of violence against women and girls within the decade. We are bringing forward legislation to honour that commitment in the Crime and Policing Bill which will be introduced later this year, making this behaviour criminal so that perpetrators can be brought to justice.

How many (a) children and (b) adults were prosecuted for the creation of indecent images of (i) children and (ii) adults using denudifying apps in 2024.

The Ministry of Justice publishes data on prosecutions for a wide range of offences, including offences involving the possession, creation and distribution of indecent images of children. Data up to and including June 2024 is available in the Outcomes by Offences data tool that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-justice-statistics-quarterly. However, data held centrally does not include whether the offence involved AI-generated images or use of nudifying apps. This information may be held in the court records but to examine individual court records would be of disproportionate cost. In relation to images of adults, it is already a criminal offence to share, or threaten to share, a sexually explicit deepfake image of an adult without consent, but not an offence to make one. The Government made a clear manifesto commitment to ban the creation of sexually explicit deepfake images, a central aspect of our commitment to halve the prevalence of violence against women and girls within the decade. We are bringing forward legislation to honour that commitment in the Crime and Policing Bill which will be introduced later this year, making this behaviour criminal so that perpetrators can be brought to justice.