Written questions by Timothy.

How much legal aid funding has been provided to appellants in the First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber in each year since 2020, broken down by (a) ethnicity, and (b) nationality of the appellant.

Legal aid expenditure in respect of cases before the First-Tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) broken down by ethnicity is set out in the annexed table. Data is self-reported to the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) by applicants or their legal aid solicitor, it is not verified by the LAA. It is not mandatory for applicants to complete the Equality and Diversity section of an application. Where this has been left blank ethnicity is recorded as ‘unknown’.Legal aid funding is not paid directly to the individual in receipt of legal aid. Legal aid is only paid to legal providers for the provision of legal advice and representation. Data in the annexed table therefore reflects expenditure relating to bills submitted by legal aid providers.Information relating to nationality of applicants is not centrally held.

How many prison inmates have had illicit relationships with prison officers in each year since 2010, broken down by offence group.

The table below shows the number of prisoners in the last six years recorded as being involved in proven cases where a member of prison staff has been convicted of Misconduct in Public Office. No data is held for years prior to 2020. Year of case outcome202020212022202320242025Number of prisoners055171022 An inappropriate relationship is defined as any relationship that compromises a staff member’s ability to perform their duties appropriately. Where officers fall below our high standards, we do not hesitate to take robust action. We are catching more of the minority who break the rules with our Counter Corruption Unit and stronger vetting. The figures in this table have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

What estimate has his department made of the size of the (a) youth custody population, (b) youth secure estate for the next five years.

During the last 12 months, the population of the youth secure estate has varied in the range 440 to 510. Work on future projections is in hand, but owing to the small numbers involved and consequent volatility, there are difficulties in generating robust figures. Later this year, we will set out our plans for wider reforms to youth custody, to deliver better outcomes for children, communities and taxpayers. This will include consideration of the future shape and configuration of the youth secure estate.

What steps is he taking to improve the safety of officers in the Youth Custody Service.

Unacceptable levels of violence faced by Youth Justice Workers (i.e. officers) in young offender institutions were part of the wider difficulties across the criminal justice system that this Government has had to address. Making PAVA spray available in young offender institutions, subject to strict controls, was necessary to keep both staff and young people in custody safe. Each use of PAVA spray is reviewed by an independent panel and reported to Ministers for further scrutiny. H M Prison & Probation Service, as well as external organisations, are continuing to exercise very close scrutiny of any use of PAVA spray. The Youth Custody Service’s Framework for Integrated Care, known as ‘SECURE STAIRS’, which is delivered in partnership with the Department for Health and Social Care, and includes improvements in areas such as conflict resolution and specialist psychological interventions, is integral to improving safety within the youth estate. The Youth Custody Service has also developed roadmaps to effective practice which focus on outcomes in areas such as safety, behaviour management support and education.

How much funding has been allocated to the Youth Custody Service for the next five years.

As budget allocation across the Department is agreed annually, it is not possible to provide the information requested.

How many prison officers have been (a) arrested, (b) charged, and (c) prosecuted for having illicit relationships with prison inmates in each year since 2020, broken down by offence group.

The table below shows the number of prison officers at Bands 3-5 convicted in each of the last five years of an offence of misconduct in public office, where the offence related to an inappropriate relationship with a prisoner. 202020212022202320242025Misconduct in Public Office03512615An inappropriate relationship is defined as any relationship that compromises a staff member’s ability to appropriately perform their duties. The figures in this table have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

What steps he is taking to improve recruitment and retention in the Youth Custody Service.

The Youth Justice Worker (YJW) recruitment process includes multiple assessment stages designed to test candidates against the YJW success profile and give them realistic insight into the role. The success profile is based on job analysis with serving YJWs and identifies the knowledge, skills and behaviours needed for effective practice.YJWs have a defined progression pathway. After completing their 12 month probation, they are offered a Level 4 qualification focused on working with children and young people in custody.His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service has a comprehensive approach to improving retention across the Prison and Probation Services. The Retention Framework sets out how data and insight are used to identify drivers of attrition and guide targeted interventions. This is supported by a retention toolkit, structured exit interviews, and an oversight process that conducts deep dive reviews at high attrition sites. National activity is coordinated through the Retention Delivery Committee to ensure alignment and minimise operational impact.

How many (a) defendants and (b) witnesses have requested translation services in each year since 2020 broken down by (i) ethnicity and (ii) nationality.

The Ministry of Justice does not hold information on the number of defendants or witnesses that have requested translation services. The booking portal does not collect information on whether the individual making the request is a defendant or witness and also does not collect information on the ethnicity and nationality of the requestor.

What analysis his Department has undertaken on the potential impact of the proposed Interest on Lawyers’ Client Accounts scheme on the financial viability of legal aid providers.

The Department has engaged with a range of relevant stakeholders to help shape policy proposals. We have engaged with firms that undertake legal aid work, as well as representative bodies, through bilateral engagement, legal aid providers’ roundtables and our recent consultation.We have also been working with relevant experts to consider the potential impacts of an ILCA scheme and the consultation collected evidence on the administration of the scheme and regulatory challenges.We are currently considering all the evidence received through engagement as part of our ongoing policy development and consultation response.

What assessment he has made of the potential (a) administrative and (b) regulatory challenges that the ILCA scheme may place on SME law firms.

The Department has engaged with a range of relevant stakeholders to help shape policy proposals. We have engaged with firms that undertake legal aid work, as well as representative bodies, through bilateral engagement, legal aid providers’ roundtables and our recent consultation.We have also been working with relevant experts to consider the potential impacts of an ILCA scheme and the consultation collected evidence on the administration of the scheme and regulatory challenges.We are currently considering all the evidence received through engagement as part of our ongoing policy development and consultation response.

How many prison places have been closed due to reasons concerning (a) health and safety, (b) security, (c) resources and (d) physical conditions in each year since 2010, broken down by location.

The information requested has been provided in the table below. Please note that, since 2010, 23 prisons (7519 places) have been permanently closed. The site-specific reasons for closure vary, but in the main these prisons were assessed as old and uneconomic and the decision to close was based on the suitability, sustainability and the cost of running and maintaining these prisons. For the purposes of the breakdown in the table below, these full prison closures have been identified as “physical conditions”Some of the places included on the list below as closed due to physical conditions have either been, or are due to be, returned following refurbishment. This includes places removed at Liverpool, Birmingham, Haverigg ,Feltham and Swinfen Hall.YearPrison(a) health & safety(b) security(c) resources(d) physical conditionsTotal2011 Ashwell* -214-214  Brockhill (Hewell)* -170-170  Lancaster Castle* -243-243  Latchmere House* -207-2072011 Total   0 0 0 -834 -834 2012 Wellingborough* -588-5882012 Total   0 0 0 -588 -588 2013 Blundeston* -526-526  Bullwood Hall* -228-228  Camp Hill (IoW)* -595-595  Canterbury* -314-314  Dorchester* -291-291  Gloucester* -321-321  Kingston* -205-205  Northallerton* -252-252  Reading* -320-320  Shepton Mallet* -189-189  Shrewsbury* -341-3412013 Total   0 0 0 -3582 -3582 2014 Feltham -112-1122014 Total   0 0 0 -112 -112 2015 Blantyre House* -122-122  Dover* -401-401  Feltham -36-36  Haslar* -197-197  Rochester -60-602015 Total   0 0 0 -816 -816 2016 Haverigg -335 -335  Hindley-28 -28  Holloway* -591-591  Kennet* -342-3422016 Total   -28 -335 0 -933 -1296 2017 Glen Parva* -638-638  Guys Marsh -66-66  Liverpool -172-172  Rochester -60-60  Swinfen Hall -30-302017 Total   0 0 0 -966 -966 2018 Birmingham -306-306  Haverigg -40-40  Liverpool -234-2342018 Total 0 0 0 -580 -580 2019 Aylesbury -235-235  Birmingham -167-167  Hindley-28 -28  Swinfen Hall -30-302019 Total -28 0 0 -432 -460 2020 Haverigg-80 -80  Hewell Grange* -224-224  Spring Hill-35 -35  Erlestoke-80 -80  Ford-96 -96  Foston Hall-80 -80  Kirkham-80 -80  Kirklevington Grange-120 -120  Littlehey-40 -40  Norwich-40 -40  Standford Hill-24 -24  Wayland-80 -802020 Total   -755 0 0 -224 -979 2021 Spring Hill-45 -45  Channings Wood-40 -40  Ford-179 -179  Hatfield-80 -80  Highpoint-40 -40  Hollesley Bay-80 -80  Leyhill-80 -80  Low Newton-40 -40  New Hall-40 -40  North Sea Camp-120 -120  Northumberland-40 -40  Prescoed-40 -40  Send-80 -80  Standford Hill-56 -56  Sudbury-40 -40  Whatton-40 -40  Wymott-40 -402021 Total -1080 0 0 0 -1080 2022 Bedford -32-32  Eastwood Park-20 -20  Guys Marsh-40 -40  Spring Hill-40 -40  Highpoint-40 -402022 Total -140 0 0 -32 -172 2023 Deerbolt -19-19  Gartree-3 -3  Isle of Wight -52-52  Leicester-6 -62023 Total -9 0 0 -71 -80 2024 Deerbolt -20-20 Dartmoor**-640 -640  Elmley-114 -114  Gartree-6 -6  Hull-2 -22024 Total   -762 0 0 -20 -782 2025 Eastwood Park-20 -202025 Total -20 0 0 0 -20 Total   -2822 -335 0 -9190 -1247 *- Full Prison Closure** - Dartmoor has been temporarily closed since 2024 due to radon levels, assessment of options for this site is ongoing.

How many prison officers have been (a) investigated, (b) disciplined and (c) dismissed for illicit relationships with inmates in each year since 2020, broken down by sex.

We only hold data on cases where staff were recommended for dismissal, as individuals may choose to resign before a dismissal can be formally enacted. As a result, we have used this field to respond to the question to avoid undercounting the number of people involved. This data can be found in the following tables. Table 1: Band 3-5 prison officers(1) investigated(2) due to an allegation of 'Inappropriate Relationship with a Prisoner / Ex-Prisoner' 2019/202020/212021/222022/232023/242024/25Female313624323431Male9947611Total404528394042Table 2: Band 3-5 prison officers facing a conduct and discipline(3), (4)charge of 'Inappropriate Relationship with a Prisoner / Ex-Prisoner' 2019/202020/212021/222022/232023/242024/25 Female9~~121618 Male3~~535 Total121114171923 Table 3: Band 3-5 prison officers recommended for dismissal following a conduct and discipline(3) charge of 'Inappropriate Relationship with a Prisoner / Ex-Prisoner' 2019/202020/212021/222022/232023/242024/25Female~~~~~~Male~~~~~~Total8~~1214~ Notes to tables:1. Band 3-5 Officers includes Bands 3-4 / Prison Officers (incl specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officers, and Band 5 / Custodial Managers.2.    Staff subject to at least one investigation that was concluded during the relevant year.3.    Conduct and discipline cases are defined as where a penalty has been imposed on a member of HMPPS staff for a reason of conduct.4.    Staff with at least one conduct and discipline case concluded during the year. Equally staff involved in more than one case during the year are counted only once.5.    Allegations which meet a criminal threshold will be referred to the Police for investigation. If a criminal justice outcome is secured, this will result in a summary dismissal as per PSI 10/2016 Conduct and Discipline and will not be recorded against a specific ‘type’ of misconduct in the Conduct and Discipline data,6.    Years run from 1st April to 31st March.7.    In terms of the Gender data presented, the MoJ HR system holds demographic data on staff.  In the HR system there is a database field called Gender. The Gender field can only be one of two options – male or female. It is filled in for all staff when new staff records are created using details to confirm identity (i.e. name, date of birth, address) from official documentation supplied by the successful job applicant. However, it is possible for this information to be updated in line with departmental policy. The Office for Statistics Regulation recognises that this is an evolving area both for society and statistics, so advice and guidance is likely to change over time. ~ denotes suppressed values of 2 or fewer or other values which would allow values of 2 or fewer to be derived by subtraction. Low numbers are suppressed to prevent disclosure in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 2018. Additional Note:As with all HR databases, extracts are taken at a fixed point in time, to ensure consistency of reporting. However the database itself is dynamic, and where updates to the database are made late, subsequent to the taking of the extract, these updates will not be reflected in figures produced by the extract. For this reason, HR data are unlikely to be precisely accurate.

How many court interpreters have been requested for translation services in each year since 2020, broken down by the language requested.

The Ministry of Justice publishes quarterly data on the volume of completed language interpreter and translation services requests, split by requestor type, as part of the Criminal court statistics release. However, published data is not broken down by language.Criminal Court Statistics: Criminal court statistics - GOV.UKThe Ministry of Justice has provided a table in the attachment showing the number of completed service requests both through contracts (with thebigword Group Ltd and Clarion UK Ltd) and off-contract, for each year from 2020 to 2024, split by language. The table is a breakdown of the published figures, split by language.Given the request for ‘court interpreters’, we have filtered the data to include criminal courts and civil & family courts. We have not included data for Tribunals or other types of Ministry of Justice interpreter usage.Data has not been provided for 2025 as we do not yet have a complete dataset for this year.

What estimate has his Department made for capital spending on the youth secure estate for the next year.

Budget allocation for the 2026/27 financial year within the Department has not yet been concluded and as such forecasted spend on the youth secure estate has not been committed.

What evidence his Department has gathered from schemes overseas comparable with the proposed Interest on Lawyers’ Client Accounts scheme.

Interest on Lawyer’s Client Account schemes have been successfully employed in several international jurisdictions for decades. As part of developing this proposal, the Ministry of Justice has undertaken extensive research and engagement with experts, officials and administrators from several international comparators. This includes schemes in Australia, Canada, France and the USA.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of compensating firms for unpaid labour resulting from the Legal Aid Agency data breach.

We appreciate the constructive way in which legal aid providers have worked with us following the serious criminal attack on the Legal Aid Agency’s (LAA) digital systems. They have continued to do vital work in challenging circumstances.Since systems were restored in December 2025, the LAA has processed civil casework, both applications and bills, for the work undertaken by providers during the system outage. Where individual providers believe they have incurred additional billable costs, these can be claimed through the normal billing processes set out in the Costs Assessment Guidance.We appreciate that some providers have raised concerns regarding additional administrative burdens related to contingency operations. We have worked with stakeholders to simplify processes wherever possible. This has included testing new service functionality with providers before launch and refining services based on the feedback received. For example, we extended the Average Payment Scheme for civil certificated work and temporarily suspended activities such as audits to ease administrative pressures. We have also continued to update guidance and FAQs in direct response to stakeholder input to provide clearer, more streamlined support for providers. Our priority now is working through the backlog of cases which is currently progressing well. All providers will be paid for the legal services provided under their legal aid contracts. We have no plans to set up a compensation scheme.

What recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the legal aid means test thresholds; and whether he plans to update them.

The Government is committed to the provision of legal aid, recognising the vital role that it plays in underpinning genuine access to justice.We are considering our approach to eligibility across legal aid, including carefully assessing the impact of the recommendations made by the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts This Government inherited a legal system in crisis, and we are taking steps to invest in legal aid.We are providing additional funding of up to £34 million a year for criminal legal aid advocates alongside our commitment to match fund a number of criminal barrister pupillages. This is in addition to the investment of £92 million in the solicitor fee schemes.Alongside this, we have also announced an uplift to immigration and housing legal aid fees. This amounts to a significant investment of £20 million a year once fully implemented – the first major increase since 1996.Furthermore, we are delivering the largest expansion of civil legal aid in a decade, enabling bereaved families to access non-means tested legal aid at all inquests where a public authority is an interested person.Beyond legal aid, this Government is also providing over £6 million of grant funding in 2025-2026 to support access to legal support services for people with social welfare problems. We have also announced nearly £20 million of multi-year funding to extend existing grant programmes to September 2026 and providing a new grant from October 2026 to March 2029.

Whether revenue raised under his Department's proposed Interest on Lawyer's Client Accounts scheme will be earmarked to support access to justice.

The Government is committed to the biggest expansion of legal aid in a generation as part of the Hillsborough Law and are investing millions on reforming the courts system through unlimited sitting days and better maintaining courts to deliver a world-class justice system.Funding from an Interest on Lawyers’ Client Accounts (ILCA) scheme will play a crucial role in achieving these priorities from 2028/9 onwards.The Government has published a consultation on ILCA that closed on 9 March 2026, including how income from such a scheme might be invested. We will carefully consider all responses and provide an official response.

What offences will be reclassified by the Courts and Tribunals Bill.

The Courts and Tribunals Bill does not reclassify offences - it changes allocation and mode of trial arrangements within the existing classification framework.

What offences will be eligible for trial without jury by the Crown Court Bench Division proposal in the Courts and Tribunals Bill.

The Courts and Tribunals Bill introduces judge-only trials for triable either-way offences where the courts assess that the likely custodial sentence, applying the relevant sentencing guidelines to the alleged facts and any appropriate representations, is three years imprisonment or less. Indictable-only offences are excluded and will not be eligible for this mode of trial, described as the Crown Court Bench Division.