Written questions by Grant.

What his planned timetable is for the operation of specialist courts to fast-track rape cases.

This Government is committed to improving victims’ experience of the justice system. We commissioned Sir Brian Leveson to propose bold and ambitious measures to deliver swifter justice for victims, including for victims of sexual violence, in his Independent Review of Criminal Courts. Work on Part 2 of the report, which is looking at how the criminal courts can operate as efficiently as possible, is underway. We expect it to be finalised this year. We are considering how we can deliver our manifesto commitment alongside this work.We are also committed to tackling the outstanding caseload to improve timeliness - we have already doubled magistrates’ sentencing powers, so that Crown Courts can focus on the most serious cases, and this year we have funded a record-high allocation of 111,250 Crown Court sitting days.

By what date he plans to introduce free independent legal advice for adult rape victims.

The Government continues to progress the manifesto commitment to introduce free independent legal advice (ILA) for victims of adult rape, to help them understand and feel confident in their legal rights.ILAs will be able to help victims with issues including understanding their rights, understanding what constitutes a reasonable Third-Party Material or digital material request, assisting with complaint applications, compensation claims, and the Victim’s Right to Review scheme.We will be making further announcements about our plans for the rollout of this service in due course.

Whether she has plans to increase the use of artificial intelligence in the HM Courts and Tribunals Service.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the Government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth, transform how we deliver public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country.AI has the potential to enable service improvements across HMCTS, and we are exploring how it can be applied responsibly to our operations and services, including to support document processing, transcription, summarisation and translation. The use of AI in the courts and tribunals will be focused on accelerating and assisting people’s work, not automating decisions.All use of artificial intelligence in the Ministry of Justice is aligned with the AI Playbook for the UK Government and the Algorithmic Transparency Reporting Standard. The Lady Chief Justice and Senior President of Tribunals issued AI Guidance for the judiciary in December 2023.

If she will make an estimate of the total cost to the public purse of accessing court transcripts for each of the last five years.

The cost incurred by HM Courts and Tribunals Service for transcription services in the five most recent financial years (April – March) is as below:Financial YearTotal Spend (£)2019-201,252,2012020-21939,3092021-221,258,3532022-231,104,6672023-241,043,971These figures do not include transcription spend incurred by Legal Aid Agency which are covered by central funds as these are not included in the accounts for HM Courts and Tribunals Service.

What the average cost of a (a) court and (b) tribunal hearing transcript is.

The cost of a court or tribunal transcript varies, depending on the length of the hearing, whether the transcript is new or a copy, and the speed of delivery requested. HMCTS contracts with external suppliers to provide court transcripts who hold data on orders that they receive. While HMCTS does not retain data centrally on the costs of court or tribunal transcripts, supplier Management Information data for the period January to December 2024 was extracted as follows:Total number of court and tribunal transcripts produced: 45,178The average cost of a transcript order between January and December 2024 based on the transcripts produced: £117.00 (excl. VAT) Court and tribunal hearings differ significantly in length (from hearings that last less than a day to trials that can last several weeks or months) and transcript costs are in proportion to the volume of audio that must be transcribed and checked on a case-by-case basis. While costs of shorter hearings may be lower, full hearings or trials can cost significantly more. Therefore, the average cost calculated above using supplier data is not reflective of the full range of court and tribunal hearings and is not a general average cost of transcripts.

With reference to Q3 of the oral evidence given by the Lady Chief Justice of England to the Justice Select Committee on 26 November 2024, HC 421, what estimate she has made of the total cost of sitting the extra 6,500 court sitting days to reach the maximum 113,000 days available.

113,000 sitting days are a theoretical maximum of judicial sitting days in the Crown Court. It is not clear whether other parts of the system – for example the availability of counsel - could sustain that level of sitting, and therefore it is not correct to say that number of sitting days was 'available' for FY24/25.In June the previous Lord Chancellor reached agreement with the Lady Chief Justice and Senior President of Tribunals to sit 106,000 days in the Crown Court in FY24/25 within a total budget of £275 million. In September, the current Lord Chancellor increased the allocation of sitting days for the Crown Court by 500 additional days and then again in December by 2,000, meaning that the total allocation for FY 24/25 is now 108,500, the highest number in nearly a decade.

How many cases involved violence against (a) women and (b) girls in (i) criminal and (ii) family courts in each of the last five years.

Tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a top priority for this Government, which is why we have committed to halving the prevalence of VAWG within the decade. We will go further than before to deliver a cross-government transformative approach to halve violence against women and girls, underpinned by a new VAWG strategy to be published this year.VAWG is defined as offences which predominantly, but not exclusively, affect women and girls. This includes sexual offences, stalking, harassment and domestic abuse.Published data on the number of cases of stalking, harassment and sexual offences at criminal courts can be found in the Outcomes by Offence data tool published here: Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly: June 2024.Data held centrally by the Ministry of Justice does not include detailed information about victims of offences and the nature of the offence. Therefore, information on some violence against women and girls and domestic abuse cases can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

What the reoffending rates are of (a) former Imprisonment for Public Protection prisoners following the termination of their licence period, (b) the general prison population and (c) prisoners released under the revised early release scheme since August 2024.

Reoffending rates for offenders released from an IPP sentence are measured from the point of prison release in line with the published methodology, not from the point of licence termination. The latest proven reoffending rate for offenders released from an IPP sentence was 8.4% in 2021/22. The proven reoffending rate for the adult cohort who were released from custody was 37.0% in 2021/22. The number of people who have reoffended following release under the early release scheme (SDS40) forms a subset of prison releases data which is scheduled for future publication. In accordance with the requirements of the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, we are not permitted to give any early indication of the contents of this statistical report.

For what reasons was there a reduction in Parole Board oral review hearings for imprisonment for public protection prisoners between (a) 2018-19 and (b) 2022-23; and what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of hearings.

In 2018/19 there were 1,317 review oral hearings for IPP prisoners and in 2022/23 there were 792, a reduction of 40%. During a similar period, the unreleased IPP prisoner population reduced from 2,491 on 31 December 2018 to 1,227 on 31 December 2023, a reduction of 51%. As such, the number of IPP oral hearings has reduced by a smaller proportion than the reduction in the IPP prisoner population.The Parole Board has taken a number of steps to continue to progress those IPPs referred for a parole review, where it is safe to do so, including:prioritising indeterminate prisoners, over determinate sentenced prisoners, when listing their oral hearings; andgiving a future oral hearing date to over two thirds of the IPP prisoners who require an oral hearing, to allow professionals additional notice to prepare for the parole review and give the prisoner a date to work towards.Officials in the Ministry of Justice, HMPPS and the Parole Board are working closely together to ensure the parole system is working as efficiently and effectively as possible.

What the average length of time imprisonment for public protection prisoners spend in custody following a recall; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of extended recall periods on trends in successful re-release rates.

The Ministry of Justice routinely publishes data on the average length of time Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) prisoners spent in custody following recall. The most recent data can be found in Table 5.Q.11: licence-recalls-Apr-to-June-2024.ods. The figures from the latest publication on the last five quarters of available data have been provided below:PeriodAverage time recalled (months)Apr to Jun 202327Jul to Sep 202328Oct to Dec 202327Jan to Mar 202428Apr to Jun 202424 Where an offender on an IPP licence is recalled to custody, the Secretary of State must refer the offender to the Parole Board, and the Board will conduct a review in order to determine whether the offender may be safely re-released. The Ministry of Justice, HMPPS and the Parole Board are working together to improve the efficiency of the parole system, including with a view to ensuring that the Board completes post-recall reviews as quickly as possible. Following commencement of the majority of IPP provisions in the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 on 1 November 2024, and as an alternative to review by the Parole Board, the Secretary of State now has a power to release recalled IPP prisoners – without the need for a release decision by the Parole Board – following a process known as Risk Assessed Recall Review (RARR). The Secretary of State must apply the same test as the Parole Board and therefore, must be satisfied that it is no longer necessary for the protection of the public that they should stay in prison. The Ministry of Justice routinely publishes data on the number of IPP prisoners and IPP offenders under probation supervision as part of its quarterly Offender Management Statistics publication. Prison figures can be found under ‘Prison Population’ in Table 1.Q.14 and community figures can be found under ‘Probation’ in Table 6.13: Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK. The figures from the last five years of available data have been provided below. Table 1. Shows the number of IPP prisoners, at end of period, September 2020 to September 2024, England and Wales.Caseload periodNumber of IPP prisoners30 Sep 20203,25230 Sep 20213,01830 Sep 20222,89030 Sep 20232,92130 Sep 20242,694 Table 2. Shows the number of offenders serving IPP sentences in the community on licence, at end of period, June 2020 to June 2024, England and Wales.Caseload periodNumber of IPP offenders in the community30 June 20202,99330 June 20213,20230 June 20223,24630 June 20233,09830 June 20242,958 Please note: (1) Includes offenders serving a Detention for Public Protection (DPP) sentence who are defined in the data as offenders serving an IPP sentence, but were aged under 18 at the time of sentencing. (2) The data pipeline used to compile the figures in this table has been updated. This change was introduced from June 2024. More details can be found in the 'Probation data process transition' section of Chapter 6 of the Offender Management Statistics quarterly publication, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2024. The Government is committed to ensuring that implementation of the IPP Action Plan and its initiatives safely reduce the IPP population both in custody and the community, whilst still prioritising public protection. On 1 November 2024, the Government implemented the first phase of IPP provisions in the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024, which saw licences terminated for 1,742 IPP offenders in the community. In addition to this, around 600 people will be referred to the Parole Board for consideration of licence termination on the commencement of phase two on 1 February 2025. We anticipate that these changes, once fully implemented, will reduce the number of people serving IPP sentences in the community by around two-thirds. The Government recognises the specific challenges faced by those serving IPP sentences. We are committed to improving outcomes for individuals with mental health needs, including IPP prisoners, and recognise the importance of providing the right interventions at the right time. This is reflected in the National Partnership Agreement on Health and Social Care in England which was published in 2023, which sets out a shared priority workplan to deliver safe, decent and effective care for offenders in prison and the community. The Chief Medical Officer has agreed to the Lord Chancellor’s request to consider the IPP sentence as part of his independent review of offender health. Health and justice partners provide an equivalent standard, range and quality of healthcare in prisons to that available in the community. If a prisoner has a severe mental health need to an extent that detention under the Mental Health Act 1983 may be appropriate, they will be referred and assessed by qualified clinicians to determine whether to transfer to a mental health hospital is warranted.HMPPS operates a traffic light system for all never-released IPP offenders to identify those who are struggling to progress through their sentence plan, so that resources can be directed to offenders who need it most. HMPPS is rolling this system out to all IPP offenders, including those recalled to custody and those on licence in the community, in the first quarter of 2025.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of prolonged imprisonment on the (a) mental health and (b) prospects for safe release of prisoners serving imprisonment for public protection sentences; and what steps her Department is taking to support those prisoners who have served more than 10 years beyond their tariff.

The Ministry of Justice routinely publishes data on the average length of time Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) prisoners spent in custody following recall. The most recent data can be found in Table 5.Q.11: licence-recalls-Apr-to-June-2024.ods. The figures from the latest publication on the last five quarters of available data have been provided below:PeriodAverage time recalled (months)Apr to Jun 202327Jul to Sep 202328Oct to Dec 202327Jan to Mar 202428Apr to Jun 202424 Where an offender on an IPP licence is recalled to custody, the Secretary of State must refer the offender to the Parole Board, and the Board will conduct a review in order to determine whether the offender may be safely re-released. The Ministry of Justice, HMPPS and the Parole Board are working together to improve the efficiency of the parole system, including with a view to ensuring that the Board completes post-recall reviews as quickly as possible. Following commencement of the majority of IPP provisions in the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 on 1 November 2024, and as an alternative to review by the Parole Board, the Secretary of State now has a power to release recalled IPP prisoners – without the need for a release decision by the Parole Board – following a process known as Risk Assessed Recall Review (RARR). The Secretary of State must apply the same test as the Parole Board and therefore, must be satisfied that it is no longer necessary for the protection of the public that they should stay in prison. The Ministry of Justice routinely publishes data on the number of IPP prisoners and IPP offenders under probation supervision as part of its quarterly Offender Management Statistics publication. Prison figures can be found under ‘Prison Population’ in Table 1.Q.14 and community figures can be found under ‘Probation’ in Table 6.13: Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK. The figures from the last five years of available data have been provided below. Table 1. Shows the number of IPP prisoners, at end of period, September 2020 to September 2024, England and Wales.Caseload periodNumber of IPP prisoners30 Sep 20203,25230 Sep 20213,01830 Sep 20222,89030 Sep 20232,92130 Sep 20242,694 Table 2. Shows the number of offenders serving IPP sentences in the community on licence, at end of period, June 2020 to June 2024, England and Wales.Caseload periodNumber of IPP offenders in the community30 June 20202,99330 June 20213,20230 June 20223,24630 June 20233,09830 June 20242,958 Please note: (1) Includes offenders serving a Detention for Public Protection (DPP) sentence who are defined in the data as offenders serving an IPP sentence, but were aged under 18 at the time of sentencing. (2) The data pipeline used to compile the figures in this table has been updated. This change was introduced from June 2024. More details can be found in the 'Probation data process transition' section of Chapter 6 of the Offender Management Statistics quarterly publication, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2024. The Government is committed to ensuring that implementation of the IPP Action Plan and its initiatives safely reduce the IPP population both in custody and the community, whilst still prioritising public protection. On 1 November 2024, the Government implemented the first phase of IPP provisions in the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024, which saw licences terminated for 1,742 IPP offenders in the community. In addition to this, around 600 people will be referred to the Parole Board for consideration of licence termination on the commencement of phase two on 1 February 2025. We anticipate that these changes, once fully implemented, will reduce the number of people serving IPP sentences in the community by around two-thirds. The Government recognises the specific challenges faced by those serving IPP sentences. We are committed to improving outcomes for individuals with mental health needs, including IPP prisoners, and recognise the importance of providing the right interventions at the right time. This is reflected in the National Partnership Agreement on Health and Social Care in England which was published in 2023, which sets out a shared priority workplan to deliver safe, decent and effective care for offenders in prison and the community. The Chief Medical Officer has agreed to the Lord Chancellor’s request to consider the IPP sentence as part of his independent review of offender health. Health and justice partners provide an equivalent standard, range and quality of healthcare in prisons to that available in the community. If a prisoner has a severe mental health need to an extent that detention under the Mental Health Act 1983 may be appropriate, they will be referred and assessed by qualified clinicians to determine whether to transfer to a mental health hospital is warranted.HMPPS operates a traffic light system for all never-released IPP offenders to identify those who are struggling to progress through their sentence plan, so that resources can be directed to offenders who need it most. HMPPS is rolling this system out to all IPP offenders, including those recalled to custody and those on licence in the community, in the first quarter of 2025.

How many Imprisonment for Public Protection prisoners were (a) in custody and (b) in the community on licence in each of the last five years; and what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of these trends.

The Ministry of Justice routinely publishes data on the average length of time Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) prisoners spent in custody following recall. The most recent data can be found in Table 5.Q.11: licence-recalls-Apr-to-June-2024.ods. The figures from the latest publication on the last five quarters of available data have been provided below:PeriodAverage time recalled (months)Apr to Jun 202327Jul to Sep 202328Oct to Dec 202327Jan to Mar 202428Apr to Jun 202424 Where an offender on an IPP licence is recalled to custody, the Secretary of State must refer the offender to the Parole Board, and the Board will conduct a review in order to determine whether the offender may be safely re-released. The Ministry of Justice, HMPPS and the Parole Board are working together to improve the efficiency of the parole system, including with a view to ensuring that the Board completes post-recall reviews as quickly as possible. Following commencement of the majority of IPP provisions in the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 on 1 November 2024, and as an alternative to review by the Parole Board, the Secretary of State now has a power to release recalled IPP prisoners – without the need for a release decision by the Parole Board – following a process known as Risk Assessed Recall Review (RARR). The Secretary of State must apply the same test as the Parole Board and therefore, must be satisfied that it is no longer necessary for the protection of the public that they should stay in prison. The Ministry of Justice routinely publishes data on the number of IPP prisoners and IPP offenders under probation supervision as part of its quarterly Offender Management Statistics publication. Prison figures can be found under ‘Prison Population’ in Table 1.Q.14 and community figures can be found under ‘Probation’ in Table 6.13: Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK. The figures from the last five years of available data have been provided below. Table 1. Shows the number of IPP prisoners, at end of period, September 2020 to September 2024, England and Wales.Caseload periodNumber of IPP prisoners30 Sep 20203,25230 Sep 20213,01830 Sep 20222,89030 Sep 20232,92130 Sep 20242,694 Table 2. Shows the number of offenders serving IPP sentences in the community on licence, at end of period, June 2020 to June 2024, England and Wales.Caseload periodNumber of IPP offenders in the community30 June 20202,99330 June 20213,20230 June 20223,24630 June 20233,09830 June 20242,958 Please note: (1) Includes offenders serving a Detention for Public Protection (DPP) sentence who are defined in the data as offenders serving an IPP sentence, but were aged under 18 at the time of sentencing. (2) The data pipeline used to compile the figures in this table has been updated. This change was introduced from June 2024. More details can be found in the 'Probation data process transition' section of Chapter 6 of the Offender Management Statistics quarterly publication, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2024. The Government is committed to ensuring that implementation of the IPP Action Plan and its initiatives safely reduce the IPP population both in custody and the community, whilst still prioritising public protection. On 1 November 2024, the Government implemented the first phase of IPP provisions in the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024, which saw licences terminated for 1,742 IPP offenders in the community. In addition to this, around 600 people will be referred to the Parole Board for consideration of licence termination on the commencement of phase two on 1 February 2025. We anticipate that these changes, once fully implemented, will reduce the number of people serving IPP sentences in the community by around two-thirds. The Government recognises the specific challenges faced by those serving IPP sentences. We are committed to improving outcomes for individuals with mental health needs, including IPP prisoners, and recognise the importance of providing the right interventions at the right time. This is reflected in the National Partnership Agreement on Health and Social Care in England which was published in 2023, which sets out a shared priority workplan to deliver safe, decent and effective care for offenders in prison and the community. The Chief Medical Officer has agreed to the Lord Chancellor’s request to consider the IPP sentence as part of his independent review of offender health. Health and justice partners provide an equivalent standard, range and quality of healthcare in prisons to that available in the community. If a prisoner has a severe mental health need to an extent that detention under the Mental Health Act 1983 may be appropriate, they will be referred and assessed by qualified clinicians to determine whether to transfer to a mental health hospital is warranted.HMPPS operates a traffic light system for all never-released IPP offenders to identify those who are struggling to progress through their sentence plan, so that resources can be directed to offenders who need it most. HMPPS is rolling this system out to all IPP offenders, including those recalled to custody and those on licence in the community, in the first quarter of 2025.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of ring-fencing a proportion of the funding provided to Police and Crime Commissioners for the provision of (a) independent domestic violence advisers and (b) independent sexual violence advisers.

Supporting victims and witnesses remains a priority focus for the Department and Ministers. Collectively, we are committed to the Government’s pledge to halve Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) in a decade.Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) in England and Wales receive grant funding from the Ministry of Justice’s victim and witness budget to commission local practical, emotional, and therapeutic support services for victims of all crime types. For 2022-25 this includes:‘Core’ funding, which is for PCCs to allocate at their discretion, based on their assessment of local need.Funding that is ringfenced for sexual violence and domestic abuse community-based services.Funding that is ringfenced for Independent Sexual Violence Advisor (ISVA) and Independent Domestic Violence Advisor (IDVA) posts.From 2025/26, the ISVA/IDVA ringfenced fund has been merged with the domestic abuse and sexual violence ringfenced fund. This was assessed to be the best-balanced approach, providing flexibility for local areas to adapt to challenges in their area whilst retaining a focus on VAWG. PCCs can commission ISVA and IDVA support from this funding stream.

What recent assessment she has made of the prevalence of economic abuse of older people.

Economic abuse is recognised as a form of abusive behaviour under the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. This Government is committed to halving violence against women and girls, including domestic abuse, in a decade. Though the Department does not hold prevalence data for economic abuse specifically, I have had several meetings with the specialist domestic abuse sector and the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, and am due to speak to Ministerial colleagues specifically on this issue.In addition, the Department for Health and Social Care oversees The Care Act 2014, which makes it clear that local authorities have a statutory duty to investigate safeguarding concerns. Since April 2023, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have had a duty to assess local authorities’ delivery of their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2024.

Whether she has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on developing a strategy for preventing violence and abuse against older people.

The Government is clear that violence and abuse towards anybody is unacceptable. Though anyone can suffer from domestic abuse, for older victims, abuse may be more disguised or compounded by other age-related factors such as ill health. I have had meetings on these issues with the specialist domestic abuse sector, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner and Ministerial counterparts as part of the Government’s agenda to protect victims.The Home Office has funded Hourglass, a specialist elder abuse charity, for a number of years to enhance their helpline, provide casework support, and train specialist Independent Domestic Violence Advisers. We are committed to halving violence against women and girls in a decade, which includes reducing the prevalence of domestic abuse against all victims.

If she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the capacity of the High Court (Family Division) to undertake reviews of all required cases under the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is not Government legislation. If the Bill were to progress, the Government may well assess the policy and its impacts. Should the Bill become law, the appropriate arrangements will be made to ensure the Government is able to fulfil its legal duties.