Written questions by Roberts.

With reference to her Department's consultation on reforming Local Justice Areas, what assessment has she made of the adequacy of her Department's adherence to the statutory duty to provide a Welsh language impact assessment.

The Ministry of Justice produced a Welsh language impact assessment during consultation (published on 16 April 2025, shortly after the consultation’s launch), and has committed to publishing a further assessment alongside the finalised proposals, once these are determined.The existing assessment is available at section 10 of the Equalities Statement: LJA Consultation Equalities Statement.

How many probation service staff providing pre-sentencing report delivery were in employment for courts in (a) England and (b) Wales in each of the last 10 years.

The number of Probation Officers and Probation Services Officers (FTE) working in the Courts internal function as of December of each year since 2017: EnglandWalesTotal2017988.048.81,036.82018970.456.41026.92019885.754.3940.02020863.653.7917.32021894.752.4947.12022894.456.5950.92023956.164.01,020.120241,060.779.71,140.4The above table details, from internal management information, the FTE Probation Officers and Probation Services Officers who were recorded as working in the Courts internal function in December of each year. Data prior to 2017 is not easily obtainable or reliable as it would come from a different data source. It would not be reliable to provide a trend between the two data sources. Staff in this internal function would have spent some (but not necessarily all) of their time delivering Pre-Sentence Reports. Staff are also required to carry out other forms of work in court e.g. triaging court lists and producing other types of reports. There are some other staff who may carry out Pre-Sentence Reports in addition to those in the table (sessional staff and some staff from the Offender Management internal function). These staff would carry out Pre-Sentence Reports on an ad-hoc basis and their contribution would not be quantifiable. Any change year-on-year does not necessarily mean a change in funding for these staff and could reflect of how many staff were in post and available to carry out this work. Administrative or managerial staff are not included in these figures, although these staff play an important role in supporting PO and PSO colleagues with the delivery of Pre-Sentence Reports.

How many (a) standard delivery, (b) fast delivery, and (c) oral pre-sentence reports were produced in (i) Wales and (ii) England in 2024.

The Probation Service is responsible for producing pre-sentence reports (PSRs) where they have been requested by the Court. The PSR assesses the offender’s behaviour, the risk they pose, and recommend sentencing options tailored to the individual. The report can suggest community sentences and specific requirements like treatment programmes. Ultimately, the PSR provides recommendations to the Court, but the final decision rests with the judge.The following table shows the number of PSRs prepared by the Probation Service and presented to the criminal courts in England and Wales between January 2024 and December 2024.Magistrates' and Crown CourtsEnglandWalesTotalTotal pre-sentence court reports (PSR)91,8577,14999,006Standard PSR4,8387485,586Fast Delivery PSR written71,1574,37675,533Fast Delivery PSR oral15,8622,02517,887Note, PSR figures by region are published every April as part of the Offender Management Statistics quarterly bulletin. Please also note that the data pipeline used to compile the figures has been updated. This change was introduced for the 2024 figures. More details can be found in the 'Probation data process transition' section of Chapter 6 of the publication, available here: Offender management statistics quarterly: October to December 2024 - GOV.UK.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that the names of deceased fathers can be included on birth certificates in instances where the parents were unmarried prior to his death.

Under Section 55A of the Family Law Act 1986, in situations where a child is born to unmarried parents, and the father dies prior to the birth, a Declaration of Parentage must be issued by the court in order for the paternity to be established. Once a declaration is issued, the birth can be re-registered to include the father’s details.We want to make the process as simple as is possible in these circumstances, whilst still ensuring the court has means to establish parentage if one parent is deceased and not able to convey their views. This is vitally important as, in some cases, this decision will have significant financial implications for others, such as children from previous relationships.

How many prison officers working in each prison in Wales were recorded as Welsh speaking in (a) March, (b) June, (c) September and (d) December 2024.

The table below represents the numbers of prison officers at the end of each calendar month specified who have self-declared that they are Welsh speaking on the organisation’s HR system. This includes Band 3-4 prison officers, including specialists, Band 4 Supervising Officers, and Band 5 Custodial Managers. ‘~’ denotes suppressed values of 2 or fewer to prevent disclosure in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 2018. Declaration rates vary between prisons, but are consistently low, which means true numbers are likely to be higher, and no conclusions should be drawn from the data. This question was introduced to Ministry of Justice systems in 2023, and ongoing campaigns across HMPPS Wales encourage staff to complete their Welsh language information, however, this is voluntary. 31/03/202430/06/202430/09/202431/12/2024Berwyn13131415Cardiff6666Swansea9101111Usk/Prescoed~~~~

How many prisoners were recorded as Welsh speaking in every prison in (a) Wales and (b) England in (i) March, (ii) June, (iii) September and (iv) December 2024.

The Ministry of Justice holds the data for Welsh speaking prisoners in both Wales and England. Annex A outlines how many prisoners were recorded as Welsh speaking in every prison in (a) Wales and (b) England in (i) March, (ii) June, (iii) September and (iv) December 2024.

How many women resident in Wales prior to entering custody, were held in prison across England and Wales by (a) each local authority area and (b) prison in (i) March 2024, (ii) June 2024, (iii) September 2024 and (iv) December 2024.

The requested information has been provided as an Excel file alongside this response. The dataset for December 2024 is a subset of data scheduled to be published as part of the Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK release and cannot be provided in advance of that publication. In addition, the numbers 1 and 2 have been replaced with the symbol ‘≤2’ to avoid any risk of individual identification.Around 99% of prisoners have an origin location - i.e. addresses that are recorded in our central IT system. If no address is given, an offender’s committal court address is used as a proxy for the area in which they are resident.This information is included in the data provided in the tables attached. No address has been recorded and no court information is available for around 1% of all offenders; these figures are excluded from the tables attached.

How many women with a home address in Wales before entering custody were in prison for the offence type of (a) violence against the person, (b) sexual offences, (c) robbery, (d) theft offences, (e) criminal damage and arson and (f) drug offences in (i) March, (ii) June, (iii) September and (iv) December 2024.

The requested information has been provided as an Excel file alongside this response. The dataset for December 2024 is a subset of data scheduled to be published as part of the Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK release and cannot be provided in advance of that publication. In addition, the numbers 1 and 2 have been replaced with the symbol ‘≤2’ to avoid any risk of individual identification.Around 99% of prisoners have an origin location - i.e. addresses that are recorded in our central IT system. If no address is given, an offender’s committal court address is used as a proxy for the area in which they are resident.This information is included in the data provided in the tables attached. No address has been recorded and no court information is available for around 1% of all offenders; these figures are excluded from the tables attached.

Pursuant to the Answer of 11 November 2024 to Question 12091 on Prisons: Staff, whether her Department has provided guidance to successful bidders for the Prison Education Service contracts on the application of the New Fair Deal on employee pensions; and if she will publish this guidance.

Guidance on the application of the New Fair Deal was included in the Invitation to Tender for the current procurement for prisoner education services. Successful bidders will be supported to mobilise new services, including addressing any questions relating to New Fair Deal. Further information can be found using the following links: Prisoner Education Services Panel (Inc. Core Education) - Find a Tender (find-tender.service.gov.uk) and Procurement for the Provision of Prisoner Education Services (Careers Information, Advice and Guidance (CIAG)) - Find a Tender.

How many people with a home address in England prior to entering custody were being held in prison across England and Wales and identified as (a) White, (b) Mixed Ethic Groups, (c) Asian or Asian British, (d) Black or Black British, (e) Chinese or Other Ethnic Group, (f) Not known/not stated, in (i) March 2024, (ii) June 2024, (iii) September 2024 and (iv) December 2024.

The requested information has been provided as an Excel file alongside this response. The dataset for December 2024 is a subset of data scheduled to be published as part of the Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK release and cannot be provided in advance of that publication. In addition, the numbers 1 and 2 have been replaced with the symbol ‘≤2’ to avoid any risk of individual identification.Around 99% of prisoners have an origin location - i.e. addresses that are recorded in our central IT system. If no address is given, an offender’s committal court address is used as a proxy for the area in which they are resident.This information is included in the data provided in the tables attached. No address has been recorded and no court information is available for around 1% of all offenders; these figures are excluded from the tables attached.

How many women resident in Wales prior to entering custody were (a) serving an IPP sentence, (b) sentenced to life imprisonment, (c) on recall, (d) serving a non-criminal sentence and (e) serving an unknown sentence in (i) March 2024, (ii) June 2024, (iii) September 2024 and (iv) December 2024.

The requested information has been provided as an Excel file alongside this response. The dataset for December 2024 is a subset of data scheduled to be published as part of the Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK release and cannot be provided in advance of that publication. In addition, the numbers 1 and 2 have been replaced with the symbol ‘≤2’ to avoid any risk of individual identification.Around 99% of prisoners have an origin location - i.e. addresses that are recorded in our central IT system. If no address is given, an offender’s committal court address is used as a proxy for the area in which they are resident.This information is included in the data provided in the tables attached. No address has been recorded and no court information is available for around 1% of all offenders; these figures are excluded from the tables attached.

How many women resident in Wales prior to entering custody were in prison (a) on remand, (b) sentenced to under 12 months, (c) sentenced to between 12 months and four years and (d) sentenced to four years and over in (i) March 2024, (ii) June 2024, (iii) September 2024 and (iv) December 2024.

The requested information has been provided as an Excel file alongside this response. The dataset for December 2024 is a subset of data scheduled to be published as part of the Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK release and cannot be provided in advance of that publication. In addition, the numbers 1 and 2 have been replaced with the symbol ‘≤2’ to avoid any risk of individual identification.Around 99% of prisoners have an origin location - i.e. addresses that are recorded in our central IT system. If no address is given, an offender’s committal court address is used as a proxy for the area in which they are resident.This information is included in the data provided in the tables attached. No address has been recorded and no court information is available for around 1% of all offenders; these figures are excluded from the tables attached.

How many women with a home address in Wales prior to entering custody were being held in prison across England and Wales in (a) March 2024, (b) June 2024, (c) September 2024 and (d) December 2024, broken down by prison.

The requested information has been provided as an Excel file alongside this response. The dataset for December 2024 is a subset of data scheduled to be published as part of the Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK release and cannot be provided in advance of that publication. In addition, the numbers 1 and 2 have been replaced with the symbol ‘≤2’ to avoid any risk of individual identification.Around 99% of prisoners have an origin location - i.e. addresses that are recorded in our central IT system. If no address is given, an offender’s committal court address is used as a proxy for the area in which they are resident.This information is included in the data provided in the tables attached. No address has been recorded and no court information is available for around 1% of all offenders; these figures are excluded from the tables attached.

How many women with a home address in Wales prior to entering custody were in prison and identified as (a) White, (b) Mixed Ethic Groups, (c) Asian or Asian British, (d) Black or Black British, (e) Chinese or Other Ethnic Group and (f) Not known/not stated in (i) March 2024, (ii) June 2024, (iii) September 2024 and (iv) December 2024.

The requested information has been provided as an Excel file alongside this response. The dataset for December 2024 is a subset of data scheduled to be published as part of the Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK release and cannot be provided in advance of that publication. In addition, the numbers 1 and 2 have been replaced with the symbol ‘≤2’ to avoid any risk of individual identification.Around 99% of prisoners have an origin location - i.e. addresses that are recorded in our central IT system. If no address is given, an offender’s committal court address is used as a proxy for the area in which they are resident.This information is included in the data provided in the tables attached. No address has been recorded and no court information is available for around 1% of all offenders; these figures are excluded from the tables attached.

How many women with a home address in Wales before entering custody were in prison for the offence type of (a) possession of weapons, (b) public order offences, (c) miscellaneous crimes against society, (d) fraud offences, (e) summary non-motoring offences and (f) summary motoring offences in (i) March, (ii) June, (iii) September and (iv) December 2024.

The requested information has been provided as an Excel file alongside this response. The dataset for December 2024 is a subset of data scheduled to be published as part of the Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK release and cannot be provided in advance of that publication. In addition, the numbers 1 and 2 have been replaced with the symbol ‘≤2’ to avoid any risk of individual identification.Around 99% of prisoners have an origin location - i.e. addresses that are recorded in our central IT system. If no address is given, an offender’s committal court address is used as a proxy for the area in which they are resident.This information is included in the data provided in the tables attached. No address has been recorded and no court information is available for around 1% of all offenders; these figures are excluded from the tables attached.

How many people were held in each prison in Wales aged (a) 15-17, (b) 18-20, (c) 21-24, (d) 25-29, (e) 30-39, (f) 40-49, (g) 50-59, (h) 60 and over and (i) Not recorded or not known in (i) March, (ii) June, (iii) September and (iv) December 2024.

The requested information has been provided as an Excel file alongside this response. The dataset for December 2024 is a subset of data scheduled to be published as part of the Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK release and cannot be provided in advance of that publication. In addition, the numbers 1 and 2 have been replaced with the symbol ‘≤2’ to avoid any risk of individual identification.Around 99% of prisoners have an origin location - i.e. addresses that are recorded in our central IT system. If no address is given, an offender’s committal court address is used as a proxy for the area in which they are resident.This information is included in the data provided in the tables attached. No address has been recorded and no court information is available for around 1% of all offenders; these figures are excluded from the tables attached.

How many people resident in England prior to entering custody were being held in prison in (a) England and (b) Wales broken down by local authority area in (i) March 2024, (ii) June 2024, (ii) September 2024 and (iv) December 2024.

The requested information has been provided as an Excel file alongside this response. The dataset for December 2024 is a subset of data scheduled to be published as part of the Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK release and cannot be provided in advance of that publication. In addition, the numbers 1 and 2 have been replaced with the symbol ‘≤2’ to avoid any risk of individual identification.Around 99% of prisoners have an origin location - i.e. addresses that are recorded in our central IT system. If no address is given, an offender’s committal court address is used as a proxy for the area in which they are resident.This information is included in the data provided in the tables attached. No address has been recorded and no court information is available for around 1% of all offenders; these figures are excluded from the tables attached.

How many people with a home address in Wales prior to entering custody were in prison and identified as (a) White, (b) Mixed Ethic Groups, (c) Asian or Asian British, (d) Black or Black British, (e) Chinese or Other Ethnic Group and (f) Not known/not stated in (i) March, (ii) June, (iii) September and (iv) December 2024.

The requested information has been provided as an Excel file alongside this response. The dataset for December 2024 is a subset of data scheduled to be published as part of the Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK release and cannot be provided in advance of that publication. In addition, the numbers 1 and 2 have been replaced with the symbol ‘≤2’ to avoid any risk of individual identification.Around 99% of prisoners have an origin location - i.e. addresses that are recorded in our central IT system. If no address is given, an offender’s committal court address is used as a proxy for the area in which they are resident.This information is included in the data provided in the tables attached. No address has been recorded and no court information is available for around 1% of all offenders; these figures are excluded from the tables attached.

How many people held in each prison in Wales identified as (a) White, (b) Mixed Ethic Groups, (c) Asian or Asian British, (d) Black or Black British, (e) Chinese or Other Ethnic Group and (f) Not known/not stated in (i) March, (ii) June, (iii) September and (iv) December 2024.

The requested information has been provided as an Excel file alongside this response. The dataset for December 2024 is a subset of data scheduled to be published as part of the Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK release and cannot be provided in advance of that publication. In addition, the numbers 1 and 2 have been replaced with the symbol ‘≤2’ to avoid any risk of individual identification.Around 99% of prisoners have an origin location - i.e. addresses that are recorded in our central IT system. If no address is given, an offender’s committal court address is used as a proxy for the area in which they are resident.This information is included in the data provided in the tables attached. No address has been recorded and no court information is available for around 1% of all offenders; these figures are excluded from the tables attached.

How many people in each prison in Wales held the religious identity of (a) all Christian, (b) Anglican, (c) Free Church, (d) Roman Catholic, (e) other Christian, (f) Muslim, (g) Hindu, (h) Sikh, (i) Buddhist, (j) Jewish, (k) other religious group, (l) no religion and (m) non recognised/not recorded in (i) March, (ii) June, (iii) September and (iv) December 2024.

The requested information has been provided as an Excel file alongside this response. The dataset for December 2024 is a subset of data scheduled to be published as part of the Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK release and cannot be provided in advance of that publication. In addition, the numbers 1 and 2 have been replaced with the symbol ‘≤2’ to avoid any risk of individual identification.Around 99% of prisoners have an origin location - i.e. addresses that are recorded in our central IT system. If no address is given, an offender’s committal court address is used as a proxy for the area in which they are resident.This information is included in the data provided in the tables attached. No address has been recorded and no court information is available for around 1% of all offenders; these figures are excluded from the tables attached.