Written questions by Anderson.

For what purposes their Department has used artificial intelligence in the last year.

Over the last year, the Ministry of Justice has begun using artificial intelligence to boost staff productivity, reduce administrative burdens, and deliver better justice outcomes. Through the ‘AI for All’ initiative, all staff now have access to a secure AI assistant to support with day-to-day tasks. The tool Justice Transcribe, which is part of the Prime Minister’s AI Exemplars Programme, uses speech recognition to transcribe probation meetings, reducing the note-taking burden on frontline staff and enabling more meaningful engagement with those they supervise. These initiatives form part of the wider AI Action Plan for Justice, which sets out the Ministry of Justice's longer-term vision for the responsible and ethical adoption of AI across the justice system.

What information they hold on the number of workdays that were completed remotely in their Department in (a) 2024 and (b) 2025 to date.

The Ministry of Justice does not hold data on the number of days completed remotely by staff. The Ministry of Justice has over 90,000 staff with the majority having operational roles delivering vital frontline services, including in our prisons, courts and probation services.

Whether she has considered the potential merits of requiring prisoners convicted for (a) murder, (b) rape and (c) terrorism offences to work in prison to repay legal aid.

Legal aid is not paid directly to the defendant. It is paid to lawyers and ensures defendants have a fair trial and can be punished for their crimes.The Legal Aid Agency ensures public money is used efficiently by applying means and merits (the interests of justice test) tests, except where exempt by regulation, to all defendants before the magistrates’ and Crown courts, when they make an application for legal aid funding. Where a defendant’s income is above the minimum income threshold, they are required to pay contributions for up to six months during the case. If convicted, they may be required to pay contributions from their capital assets up to the full amount of their defence costs.The Court of Appeal can also make ‘Recovery of Defence Costs Order’ after upholding a conviction to recover legal aid costs where the defendant has been assessed to have the financial means to do so.

How many people have been given legal aid for cases in relation to immigration offences in each of the last five years.

The requested information relating to legal aid expenditure in respect of specific criminal offences could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Whether any convicted paedophiles have been released from prison through the early release scheme; and if she will make it her policy not to release convicted paedophiles through the early release scheme.

This Government inherited prisons days from collapse. We had no choice but to take decisive action to stop our prisons overflowing and keep the public safe. On 10 September 2024, the Government therefore took the unavoidable step to move the release point for certain standard determinate sentences from 50% to 40% (‘SDS40’).All sex offences including those committed against a child are automatically excluded from SDS40.

What the cost to the public purse was for legal aid for cases in relation to immigration offences in each of the last five years.

The requested information relating to legal aid expenditure in respect of specific criminal offences could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

With reference to recommendation 8 of part 1 report of the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts, published on 9 July 2025, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of adopting the recommendation on trends in the level of (a) theft and (b) drug dealing.

The Government will carefully consider Sir Brian’s recommendations in detail before setting out a full response to the report in the autumn.

How much was given in legal aid to people accused of (a) murder, (b) rape and (c) terrorism offences in each of the last five years.

The requested information relating to legal aid expenditure in respect of specific criminal offences could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

How much was given in legal aid to foreign nationals accused of (a) murder, (b) rape and (c) terrorism offences in each of the last five years.

The requested information relating to legal aid expenditure in respect of specific criminal offences could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

How much was given in legal aid to foreign nationals in each of the last five years.

Legal aid expenditure since 2010 is published as part of the Legal Aid Agency’s official statistics. The most recent publication can be viewed here [see table 1.0] and includes expenditure up to 31 March 2025.Information about legal aid expenditure in respect of foreign nationals is not centrally recorded.

What the cost to the public purse was of legal aid in each of the last five years.

Legal aid expenditure since 2010 is published as part of the Legal Aid Agency’s official statistics. The most recent publication can be viewed here [see table 1.0] and includes expenditure up to 31 March 2025.Information about legal aid expenditure in respect of foreign nationals is not centrally recorded.

What meetings she has had with the victims of people released from prison through the early release scheme.

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. SDS40 was a necessary measure introduced to relieve pressure on the prison estate. This involved changes to some offender’s automatic release dates.In designing SDS40, we carefully considered the impact on victims and public safety, ensuring that the most serious offenders were excluded from the scheme. The implementation of SDS40 was considered at a victim support sector roundtable, and then subsequently through meetings with a sector engagement group, which included a broad range of victims’ groups and representatives. We also published an explanation of the policy on GOV.UK and provided victim support organisations with frequently asked questions and answers to support them when engaging with victims who may be affected by the measure. Ministers regularly meet with victims and engage with the victims’ sector to inform relevant areas of policy.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of deporting all foreign criminals currently in prison.

The removal of Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) is an important priority of this Government. We refer all FNOs in receipt of custodial sentences to the Home Office to consider deportation and we are taking decisive steps to increase removals.In the past year, 5,179 FNOs have been deported. This is a 14% increase in returns compared to the same period 12 months prior.We have accepted the recommendations of the sentencing review to enable earlier deportation of FNOs. On 25 June 2025, we laid legislation to expand the Early Release Scheme to allow FNOs to be removed up to 4 years before the earliest release point of their sentence (increased from 18 months now), subject to having served 30% of the custodial element of their sentence (allowing earlier removal compared to the 50% minimum time needed to serve now). This is estimated to further increase deportations and reduce demand by up to 500 prison places per year.

If her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of exempting foreign nationals from being eligible for legal aid.

Decisions about who receives legal aid are made in accordance with the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 and regulations made under that Act.Anyone applying for legal aid in England and Wales is subject to strict eligibility criteria, and as a result, their legal issue must generally be in scope, and they must satisfy means and merit tests, unless specifically exempt by regulation.Legal aid can play an important role in ensuring the smooth running of the courts, by providing timely advice to the individuals concerned, reducing the likelihood of delays and adjournments and helping to tackle court backlogs.

If she will consider the potential merits of conducting a review of the legal aid policy.

The previous Government commissioned the Criminal Legal Aid Independent Review (CLAIR), chaired by Lord Bellamy KC in 2021, to provide analysis of the criminal legal aid system and explore the ways in which the Government could support its long-term sustainability. This Government continues to keep the Review’s findings under consideration as we look at options for reform in the criminal legal aid sector. On 19 December 2024, we announced that criminal legal aid solicitors will receive up to £92 million more a year, subject to consultation, to help address the ongoing challenges in the criminal justice system. The consultation for this has now closed. Additionally, in November 2024, we announced our response to the Crime Lower consultation, confirming an uplift to the lowest police station fees, introducing a new Youth Court fee scheme, and paying for travel in certain circumstances. Together, these changes amounted to a £24 million investment for criminal legal aid providers.

How much their Department has spent on translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.

The Ministry of Justice has a statutory duty to provide Language Services to enable access to justice for users for whom English is not their first language and those who require visual and tactile services, under the provision of the Equality Act.Language Service needs and spend are assessed to ensure these services offer good value for money for taxpayers while maintaining high standards of service delivery.In FY 23/24 the total contracted spend was £915,037.52.In FY 24/25 the total contracted spend was £1,003,283.32.In FY 25/26 so far, the total contracted spend is £256,707.82.The languages in this data exclude written translations into English, Welsh and Braille.The languages translated into from English (United Kingdom) are:Albanian (Albania)Amharic (Ethiopia)Arabic (Classical)Arabic (Egypt)Arabic (Modern Standard) Middle EasternArabic (Modern Standard) North AfricanArabic (Morocco)Armenian (Armenia)Bangla (Bangladesh)Bosnian (Latin, Bosnia and Herzegovina)Bulgarian (Bulgaria)BurmeseBurmese (Myanmar)Catalan (Catalan)Chinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)Croatian (Latin, Bosnia and Herzegovina)Czech (Czech Republic)Danish (Denmark)Dari (Afghanistan)Dutch (Netherlands)Estonian (Estonia)Filipino (Philippines)Finnish (Finland)French (Belgium)French (France)Georgian (Georgia)German (Austria)German (Germany)Greek (Greece)Gujarati (India)Hebrew (Israel)Hindi (India)Hungarian (Hungary)Icelandic (Iceland)Indonesian (Indonesia)Italian (Italy)Japanese (Japan)Kinyarwanda (Rwanda)Kiswahili (Kenya)Korean (Korea)Kurdish (Bahdini)Kurdish (Sorani)Latvian (Latvia)Lingala (Congo DRC)Lithuanian (Lithuania)Macedonian (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia)Malay (Malaysia)Malayalam (India)Maltese (Malta)Mirpuri (Central Asia)Mongolian (Cyrillic, Mongolia)Nepali (Nepal)Norwegian, Bokmål (Norway)Norwegian, Nynorsk (Norway)Oromo (Ethiopia)PahariPotwari (Central Asia)Pashto (Afghanistan)Persian (Afghanistan)Persian (Iran)Polish (Poland)Portuguese (Brazil)Portuguese (Portugal)Punjabi (India)Punjabi (Pakistan)Romanian (Romania)Romany (Europe)Russian (Russia)Serbian (Cyrillic, Serbia)Serbian (Latin, Serbia)Shona (Latin, Zimbabwe)Sinhala (Sri Lanka)Slovak (Slovakia)Slovenian (Slovenia)Somali (Somalia)Spanish (Argentina)Spanish (Latin America)Spanish (Mexico)Spanish (Spain)Swedish (Sweden)Tajik (Cyrillic, Tajikistan)Tamazight (Latin, Algeria)Tamil (India)Tetum (Timor)Thai (Thailand)Tigrinya (Eritrea)Turkish (Turkey)Ukranian (Ukraine)Urdu (Islamic Republic of Pakistan)Uzbek (Latin, Uzbekistan)Vietnamese (Vietnam)Wolof (Senegal)Yoruba (Nigeria) The Languages translated into from English (United States) are:Arabic (Egypt)Hungarian (Hungary)Polish (Poland)Romanian (Romania)

Whether her Department plans to increase the punishment for arson.

The crime of arson, where destruction or damage to property is committed by fire, is a horrific crime and should be investigated and punished with the full force of the law. The maximum penalty for arson is life imprisonment. The Government therefore does not intend to increase the maximum penalty for this offence. Sentencing for the offence is a matter for the independent Sentencing Council. In 2019 it produced guidelines for sentencing cases of arson.

What steps the Probation Service takes to liaise with local residents when convicted paedophiles leave prison and move to local communities.

In deciding where to permit a convicted child sex offender who is subject to licensed supervision to live or reside even for one night, the Probation Service works closely with the Police and other agencies under MAPPA (Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements).Additionally, offenders subject to licensed supervision may be prohibited from entering specified geographical locations (exclusion zones) on account of the particular risks which those offenders present.Under MAPPA, the Probation and Police Services must by law consider whether to disclose information about a child sex offender to any particular member of the public. There is a presumption to make disclosure where the offender is assessed as presenting a risk of serious harm to any child or children, where the MAPPA agencies judge that disclosure is necessary for the purpose of protecting any particular child or children from serious harm.The Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme aims to improve access to information that may help protect children from the risk of abuse. The Scheme allows parents, carers, guardians or interested third parties to ask local police to tell them about a person's record of child sex offences if they are concerned about that person's access to a child. Members of the public can submit a disclosure request to the Police by letter, phone, at a police station or by speaking directly to any police officer.The Police will disclose information to the person best placed to protect the child if they believe there is a need to protect a child, and the disclosure is necessary and proportionate. Anyone receiving this information must keep it confidential and use it only to protect the child concerned.

If the Probation Service will introduce a ban on convicted paedophiles living within a five-mile radius of (a) schools and (b) nurseries.

In deciding where to permit a convicted child sex offender who is subject to licensed supervision to live or reside even for one night, the Probation Service works closely with the Police and other agencies under MAPPA (Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements).Additionally, offenders subject to licensed supervision may be prohibited from entering specified geographical locations (exclusion zones) on account of the particular risks which those offenders present.Under MAPPA, the Probation and Police Services must by law consider whether to disclose information about a child sex offender to any particular member of the public. There is a presumption to make disclosure where the offender is assessed as presenting a risk of serious harm to any child or children, where the MAPPA agencies judge that disclosure is necessary for the purpose of protecting any particular child or children from serious harm.The Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme aims to improve access to information that may help protect children from the risk of abuse. The Scheme allows parents, carers, guardians or interested third parties to ask local police to tell them about a person's record of child sex offences if they are concerned about that person's access to a child. Members of the public can submit a disclosure request to the Police by letter, phone, at a police station or by speaking directly to any police officer.The Police will disclose information to the person best placed to protect the child if they believe there is a need to protect a child, and the disclosure is necessary and proportionate. Anyone receiving this information must keep it confidential and use it only to protect the child concerned.

What steps she is taking to reduce rates of reoffending for antisocial behaviour.

As part of the Safer Streets Mission, the Government is committed to improving confidence in policing and the local response to crime, including anti-social behaviour. Anti-social behaviour can be characterised by a range of different offence types, and we are responding in ways that are tough on crime whilst also supporting offenders to turn their backs on their offending behaviour.We are tackling 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 accommodation, employment and substance misuse treatment services. Depending on the specific risks and needs of the offender, a range of accredited programmes, designed to address offending behaviour, are also available.We are also making sure that punishment is tough. To do this, we will impose new unpaid work orders to ensure offenders pay back to society. For the most problematic and persistent community offenders, Integrated Offender Management reduces reoffending through intensive joint police-probation supervision and access to pathways and services that address underlying criminogenic needs. We will also expand the availability of Intensive Supervision Courts to address the causes of their offending behaviour.