Written questions by Mayhew.

How many prisoners have been released in error from HMP Bure since July 2024.

Releases in error have been increasing for several years and are another symptom of the prison system crisis inherited by this Government. On 11 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a five-point action plan setting out initial steps to address this issue.Totals for releases in error, including a breakdown by releasing prison (or Prisoner Escort Custody Services), are published each July in the HMPPS Annual Digest, available via HMPPS Annual Digest, April 2024 to March 2025 - GOV.UK, and provide data up to March 2025.The Government is determined to fix the issue of mistaken releases and ensure the public is properly protected.

How many and what proportion of convicted postmasters has her Department contacted to inform them that their conviction has been quashed under the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act 2024.

I refer the honourable Member to our GOV.UK page where we now publish monthly management information on the progress of the Post Office Convictions casework team. This page can be found at: Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act 2024: Quashed convictions management information - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).As of the end of September, we had assessed 459 individual cases and had written to 335 individuals or their appropriate contacts to inform them that they had one or more convictions quashed by the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act 2024. A further update will be published in early November.We are unable to provide an assessment of what proportion of individuals with convictions this represents, as we may not hold records for all relevant individuals. I would actively encourage anyone who believes they have a conviction in scope of the legislation and has not heard from my Department to register for the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme on GOV.UK so their case can be considered.

How many full-time civil servants are working on informing postmasters and former postmasters that their conviction has been quashed under the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act 2024.

The Horizon scandal was an unprecedented miscarriage of justice and the Government is working to notify all postmasters whose convictions have been quashed as quickly as possible. This work is carried out through a specially trained casework team who assess each case and verify that a conviction has been quashed by the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act 2024. The team must assess a wide variety of data sources including records from the Police National Computer, Post Office Limited, His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and the Criminal Cases Review Commission. As some of these convictions are decades old, it can take time to retrieve crucial pieces of data such as court records which adds to the time taken to verify a conviction in scope of the Act.As of 8 October 2024, the Ministry of Justice has 22 civil servants working on the process of informing individuals who have had a conviction quashed by the Act. This number includes the dedicated Post Office convictions casework team as well as policy advisers, legal advisers, analysts and managerial oversight. The process to provide financial redress to postmasters is undertaken separately by the Department for Business and Trade with a separate team of civil servants, once a conviction has been overturned.