Written questions by Anderson.

Whether his department has considered the potential merits of increasing the judicial penalty for illegal working in relation to riders for food delivery companies.

Awaiting answer.

What steps his Department is taking to increase prison capacity.

Awaiting answer.

What steps his Department is taking to tackle (a) violence and (b) drug use in prisons.

Awaiting answer.

What steps his Department is taking to improve the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of prison officers.

Awaiting answer.

What recent steps his Department has taken to tackle overcrowding in prisons.

Awaiting answer.

What recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of overcrowding in prisons on (a) prisoner violence and (b) attacks on prison staff.

Awaiting answer.

What steps his Department is taking to improve (a) wellbeing and (b) working conditions for prison officers.

Awaiting answer.

What steps his Department is taking to improve support in the court system for victims of (a) rape and (b) sexual violence.

To ensure that victims, including those of rape and sexual violence, receive the right and timely support, the Ministry of Justice has announced record investment of £550 million in victim support services over the next three years of this Spending Review period.In addition, this Government is also taking decisive action to address long-standing issues that impact victims of rape and sexual violence. This includes:Funding a record number of sitting days and uncapping Crown Court sitting days in 26/27, so that more rape and other sexual offence cases can be heard.Introducing the Courts & Tribunals Bill to drive down the Crown Court caseload and reduce delays.Introducing a package of legislative measures to protect victims of sexual violence in particular from unnecessary and intrusive cross-examination about their personal lives at court.Announcing that we will introduce free Independent Legal Advisors this year, for victims and survivors of adult rape to help them to understand their legal rights.Testing the Operation Soteria model in courtrooms, to ensure rape cases focus on suspects, not victims.Rolling out trauma-informed training for all court staff, so that those who come into contact with victims at court understand how best to support their experience.

Whether his Department hold data on the number of foreign nationals who have received legal aid.

This information requested is not held centrally.

If his Department will provide an estimate of the total cost of legal aid for foreign nationals in the last 5 years.

This information requested is not held centrally.

What steps his Department is taking to increase the number of available prison spaces.

As set out in the December 2024 10-Year Prison Capacity Strategy, this Government is committed to delivering an additional 14,000 prison places and aims to do so by 2031. Our build programme consists of the construction of four new prisons, including HMP Millsike delivered in March 2025, as well as the expansion and refurbishment of the existing estate. We broke ground at the site of the new prison HMP Welland Oaks in Leicestershire in November 2025.This Government has invested £4.7 billion over the spending review period (2026/27 to 2028/29) to enable the delivery of these additional prison places at pace, and we have already delivered c.3,100 since taking office. We are also committed to undertaking critical maintenance work and the ambition to acquire more land for future prisons, should they be required.

What steps his Department is taking to reduce reoffending rates.

Reoffending in England and Wales costs taxpayers £22.7 billion per year (adjusted to 24/25 prices). Tackling reoffending is crucial to reducing crime, reducing demand on prison and probation services and protecting the public.Working across Government, we are taking steps to tackle the root causes of reoffending by investing in a range of interventions which address offenders’ underlying criminogenic needs and support their rehabilitation journey. This includes, but is not limited to, education, employment, accommodation and substance misuse treatment services.We have launched regional Employment Councils, which for the first time bring businesses together with prisons, probation, and the Department for Work and Pensions to support prison leavers. We are expanding our community accommodation service to support prison leavers at risk of homelessness by providing up to 12 weeks of temporary accommodation for those under probation supervision. And we have funded Incentivised Substance-Free Living units (ISFLs) in 85 prisons, where prisoners sign a behaviour compact, agree to be regularly drug tested and can access enhanced opportunities compared to a standard wing.

If he will make it his policy to reopen local magistrate courts that have been closed to help clear the court case backlog.

50% of magistrates’ courts were closed under previous Governments between 2010 and 2020.Estate capacity is not a limiting factor to sitting the funded days in the magistrates courts. In other words, we are investing in more court staff, legal aid and judge time so that magistrates can hear more cases - up to £450 million in additional courts funding per year. There is therefore a difference between system capacity and physical capacity of courtrooms. Running courtrooms requires not just available courtrooms, but judicial time, and sufficient numbers of legal professionals.We continue to keep the court estate under review to ensure it meets operational priorities. Projects to boost court capacity across the country include a new Magistrate’s Court in Blackpool and an additional 18 court rooms in the City of London.

What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of judicial penalties for domestic abuse.

Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the courts. When deciding what sentence to impose, courts must consider the circumstances of the case, including the culpability of the offender, the harm they caused or intended to cause, and any aggravating and mitigating factors. The courts also have a statutory duty to follow any relevant sentencing guidelines, issued by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales. Although domestic abuse is not a standalone offence, it is a context within which a wide range of criminal offences may be committed, which courts will take into account. We recognise the importance of consistently identifying domestic abuse offenders at every stage of the system. That is why we are moving at pace to implement a domestic abuse identifier at sentencing in criminal cases, delivering on a recommendation made in the Independent Sentencing Review.This domestic abuse identifier will enable police, prisons and probation to more consistently identify domestic abuse offenders. This will mean improved support for victims, whether the domestic abuse perpetrator is in the community or in prison.

How much their Department has spent on (a) advertising and (b) marketing in each of the last three years.

We are unable to separate advertising and marketing spend. Total spend with our media buying agency Omnigov and TMP for the last three financial years is as follows:22/23 23/24 24/25 £3,120,675£12,609,151£8,975,058 The Ministry of Justice advertising spend is published yearly within our Annual Report and Accounts. Attached are the reports that cover the three previous financial years.2022/23 – Annual Report and Accounts2023/24 – Annual Report and Accounts2024/25 – Annual Report and Accounts The Ministry of Justice uses advertising to support the Department in delivering its key priorities. These priorities include campaigns that ensure victims of crime are aware of, and able to access the support services available to them, as well as our recruitment campaigns that support filling our operationally critical front line roles in the Prison and Probation Service, and Magistrates roles.

How many people have been convicted of spiking in each of the last five years.

Incidents of spiking may be prosecuted under various criminal offences. These offences encompass a broad spectrum of criminal behaviours, not all of which constitute spiking.The Ministry of Justice does not currently collate statistics which show the number of individuals who are charged and subsequently prosecuted and convicted of offences which relate to incidents of spiking. The Government is, however, considering options to improve the way spiking crimes are recorded and collated with the aim of capturing better data to help advise preventative strategies for spiking where needed.

How many prisoners released through the Early Release Scheme have since reoffended.

This Government inherited prisons days from collapse. We have had no choice but to take decisive action to stop our prisons overflowing and keep the public safe. Reoffending rates are published regularly on an annual and quarterly basis. The most recent rates are available at the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/proven-reoffending-statistics We have also published SDS40 release data alongside the quarterly Offender Management Statistics, in line with the Lord Chancellor’s commitment to transparency: Standard Determinate Sentence (SDS40) release data - GOV.UK

Whether his Department currently has an English proficiency requirement for prison officers.

The prison officer recruitment process assesses English language proficiency at multiple stages, without requiring a separate English test or formal qualifications such as GCSEs at the point of application. The process for recruiting prison officers across all Public Sector Prisons is the same for all applicants, both UK and non-UK nationals, with candidates appointed based on merit, in line with the fair and open Civil Service recruitment principles.Once candidates have passed the application and online test stages, they are assessed via His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service’s centralised Online Assessment Centre (OAC), which is conducted by trained human assessors who evaluate candidates in real time. Candidates undertake a written assessment, role-play exercises and a structured interview, all designed to assess whether they possess the written and spoken communication skills required for the prison officer role.The centralised OAC process upholds consistent standards across all applicants and cannot be bypassed through automated or multiple-choice responses alone. This approach ensures that any difficulties in understanding instructions or in expressing responses clearly are identified and reflected in the assessment outcome. The assessment process also includes fitness and medical checks, which are applied to the same standard for all candidates, regardless of nationality.We continuously evaluate our assessment process for all stages of prison officer recruitment to ensure best practice and integrate improvements appropriately as new tools and methodologies become available. Future changes to the assessment process will continue to assess a candidate’s English proficiency against the communication skills required for the prison officer role and will remain aligned with professional attainment levels used across comparable professions.

What proportion of the prison population do not have (a) English and (b) another native UK languages as a first language in each of the last five years; and what languages such prisoners did speak as a first language.

The information requested is not centrally recorded.Collecting it would involve a search of the records of each prisoner in England and Wales over the last five years. It could not, therefore, be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.

What data his Department holds on the total cost of (a) translation and (b) interpretation services in the court system for each of the last five years.

The information requested can be found in the tables below.Translation:FY TranslationFY21-22£ 51,231.54FY22-23£ 113,487.07FY23-24£ 140,829.23FY24-25£ 126,433.75FY25-26£ 78,995.19Total £ 510,976.78 Interpreting:FYInterpretingFY21/22£ 22,225,742.45FY22/23£ 27,362,968.49FY23/24£ 31,022,423.14FY24/25£ 32,390,150.55FY25/26£ 20,517,115.66Total £ 133,518,400.29 The Ministry of Justice has a statutory duty to provide Language Services to enable access to justice for users whom English is not their first language. Language Service needs and spend are assessed to ensure these services offer good value for money for taxpayers whilst maintaining high standards of service delivery.