Written questions by Evans.

What assessment he has made of trends in the level of (a) anabolic steroid and (b) image and performance enhancing drugs use in prisons.

Awaiting answer.

What steps he is taking to prevent the smuggling of anabolic steroids and image and performance enhancing drugs into prisons.

Awaiting answer.

Pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2026 to Question 101467 on Men, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to ensure that the terms and reference, objectives and conclusions of the planned Men and Boys Summit feed into wider policy work about men, including the implementation of the Men's Health Strategy.

The Prime Minister has tasked the Deputy Prime Minister and myself, the Minister for Victims and Violence Against Women and Girls, with leading the Government’s efforts to tackle the challenges faced by men and boys. This work is in development, but we will of course ensure that the Men and Boys Summit and its outcomes align with existing strategies and activity across Government, including the Men’s Health Strategy. We will keep Cabinet colleagues updated and provide further detail in due course.

Pursuant to Question 101467 answered on 5 January 2026 about Men, if he will speak to Cabinet colleagues about the potential merits of the appointment of a Minister or Government-appointed Ambassador to capture common themes and trends facing men and boys arising from the Men and Boys Summit and the Men's Health Strategy.

The Prime Minister has tasked the Deputy Prime Minister and myself, the Minister for Victims and Violence Against Women and Girls, with leading the Government’s efforts to tackle the challenges faced by men and boys. This work is in development, but we will of course ensure that the Men and Boys Summit and its outcomes align with existing strategies and activity across Government, including the Men’s Health Strategy. We will keep Cabinet colleagues updated and provide further detail in due course.

Pursuant to Question 100423 answered on 22 December 2025 about Crown Courts Midlands, out of the 111,250 sitting days how many extra sitting days were allocated at [a] Leicester Crown Court, [b] Coventry Combined Court Centre and [c] Warwick Crown Court in the current financial year compared to the 2024-2025 financial year.

The Government is committed to bearing down on the backlog. We allocated the highest number of Cown Court sitting days on record this financial year (2025/26) and have allocated a further 1,250 sitting days for this financial year. The Deputy Prime Minister and Lady Chief Justice continue discussions on the allocation for 2025-26 and we will say more in due course. The table below shows allocated sitting days for Warwick and Leicester Crown Courts. It should be noted that Coventry Crown Court is a “satellite site” primarily used by Warwick, but also utilised by Birmingham Crown Court for sittings. It therefore has no sitting day allocation (as the sitting days come from the allocations of either Warwick or Birmingham). Financial yearWarwick Crown CourtLeicester Crown Court24/251377 days1578 days25/261517 days1560 daysSource: Internal HMCTS management information On top of the above allocations, during 25/26 Leicester has been allocated an additional 60 sitting days, and Warwick has been allocated an additional 25 days.

With reference to the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls's oral contribution in response to the hon. Member for Hinckley and Bosworth during the Oral Statement of 18 December 2025 on Violence against Women and Girls Strategy, if he will publish the terms of reference for the men and boys summit.

Our cross-government Violence Against Women and Girls strategy places prevention at its heart. Building a positive agenda for men – and acknowledging the challenges young men and boys face in today’s society – is a critical part of this work. To this end, we will host a Men and Boys Summit this year, which the Deputy Prime Minister and I are pleased to be leading on behalf of the Prime Minister. We will share further details in due course.

With reference to the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls's oral contribution in response to the hon. Member for Hinckley and Bosworth during the Oral Statement of 18 December 2025 on Violence against Women and Girls Strategy, if he will set out the list of invitees to the men and boys summit.

Our cross-government Violence Against Women and Girls strategy places prevention at its heart. Building a positive agenda for men – and acknowledging the challenges young men and boys face in today’s society – is a critical part of this work. To this end, we will host a Men and Boys Summit this year, which the Deputy Prime Minister and I are pleased to be leading on behalf of the Prime Minister. We will share further details in due course.

With reference to the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls's oral contribution in response to the hon. Member for Hinckley and Bosworth during the Oral Statement of 18 December 2025 on Violence against Women and Girls Strategy, when will the men and boys summit be held.

Our cross-government Violence Against Women and Girls strategy places prevention at its heart. Building a positive agenda for men – and acknowledging the challenges young men and boys face in today’s society – is a critical part of this work. To this end, we will host a Men and Boys Summit this year, which the Deputy Prime Minister and I are pleased to be leading on behalf of the Prime Minister. We will share further details in due course.

Which external bodies has he recently spoken to about the potential impacts of proposals to reduce jury trials.

In developing his recommendations, Sir Brian Leveson and his expert advisers, including Professor David Ormerod, engaged with several external bodies with invaluable expertise of our Criminal Justice System including criminal legal organisations, charities, academics, and members of the judiciary. A full list is at Annex C of his report.When considering Sir Brian’s recommendations and developing our proposals, I have engaged regularly with stakeholders and relevant sectors over the last 12 months including representatives from the legal sector (Law Society, Bar Council, Criminal Bar Association), victims and victims representatives (the Victims Commissioner, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, Rape Crisis), judiciary (Circuit leaders, Judicial leadership), magistracy (Magistrates’ Association, Magistrates’ Leadership Executive), non-governmental organisations (Appeal, JUSTICE, Transform Justice), court staff in criminal courts around the country (Wood Green, Snaresbrook) and similar international jurisdictions. For example, I met judges and visited courts in Canada, which uses types of judge-only trial.

What steps he has taken to consider increasing the number of sitting days at [a] Leicester Crown Court [b] Coventry Combined Court Centre and [c] Warwick Crown Court.

The Government is committed to bearing down on the backlog. In the Crown Court for this financial year, we have allocated 111,250 sitting days - the highest number of sitting days on record and over 5,000 more than the previous Government funded for the last financial year.The Deputy Prime Minister and Lady Chief Justice continue discussions on the allocation for 2025-26 as part of the Concordat process and we will say more in due course.

What recent topics has he discussed with external bodies when considering the potential impacts of proposals to reduce jury trials.

In developing his recommendations, Sir Brian Leveson and his expert advisers, including Professor David Ormerod, engaged with several external bodies with invaluable expertise of our Criminal Justice System including criminal legal organisations, charities, academics, and members of the judiciary. A full list is at Annex C of his report.When considering Sir Brian’s recommendations and developing our proposals, I have engaged regularly with stakeholders and relevant sectors over the last 12 months including representatives from the legal sector (Law Society, Bar Council, Criminal Bar Association), victims and victims representatives (the Victims Commissioner, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, Rape Crisis), judiciary (Circuit leaders, Judicial leadership), magistracy (Magistrates’ Association, Magistrates’ Leadership Executive), non-governmental organisations (Appeal, JUSTICE, Transform Justice), court staff in criminal courts around the country (Wood Green, Snaresbrook) and similar international jurisdictions. For example, I met judges and visited courts in Canada, which uses types of judge-only trial.

How many people have been over detained in prison in the last five reported years.

Release inaccuracy is yet another symptom of the prison system crisis inherited by this Government. While the overwhelming majority of offenders are released correctly, we are clamping down on those errors that do occur, and this includes unlawful detentions.On 11 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced a five-point action plan setting out initial steps which includes strengthening release checks across prisons and an independent inquiry will report its recommendations to prevent further inaccuracies.The Government is determined to fix release inaccuracies and ensure the public is properly protected.The data requested comes from internal management information and is therefore not fully Quality Assured and does not meet the standard required for publication.

What steps he is taking to improve probation services in the East Midlands.

We are committed to supporting probation staff and value their hard work, commitment and dedication. Following HM Inspectorate of Probation’s (HMIP) inspection of probation services in the East Midlands, their report identified areas of improvement, making 11 recommendations. 10 of these recommendations have been accepted in full, with the 11th being partially accepted. An action plan has been agreed with HMIP and delivery against that action plan is reviewed regularly by the Area Executive Director.To address workload pressures, we have implemented initiatives such as “Probation Reset” and “Impact” and launched the “Our Future Probation Service” programme, which aims to ensure that workloads for probation staff are sustainable by deploying new technologies, reforming processes and ensuring prioritisation of probation staff time. By the final year of the spending review period, there has been a commitment to increase funding by up to £700 million for the Probation Service. Recruitment remains a priority, with significant numbers of probation officer trainees onboarded in 2024/25 and a commitment to onboard a further 1,300 in 2025/26 nationally.These efforts are supported by a new wellbeing support model across HMPPS, including regional plans such as the Midlands wellbeing strategy, to ensure staff are supported in delivering their vital public safety responsibilities.