Written questions by Bedford.

How many Parental Orders were issued in 2025, 2024 and 2023.

The Ministry of Justice publishes regular data on parental orders in our quarterly Family Court statistics bulletin: Family Court Statistics Quarterly - GOV.UK.

How many civil servants in their Department were found to have broken the Civil Service Code in (a) 2024 and (b) 2025.

Civil Servants are appointed on merit on the basis of fair and open competition and are expected to carry out their role with dedication and a commitment to the Civil Service and its core values: integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality.The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

How many departmental employees were on performance management plans in (a) 2023, (b) 2024 and (c) 2025.

The Ministry of Justice is committed to thorough performance management and has in place robust processes to ensure that those who fall below the expected standards are supported to improve in a timely manner.The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.Those who cannot improve their performance, despite this additional support, may be dismissed.

What public consultation his Department has undertaken on planned changes to jury trials.

In developing his recommendations, Sir Brian Leveson and his expert advisers, including Professor David Ormerod, consulted with many external bodies involved in the Criminal Justice System including criminal legal organisations, charities, academics, and members of the judiciary.The Review conducted a call for evidence on GOV.UK, to ensure it heard as many perspectives as possible. A full list of those who engaged with the Review is at Annex C of Sir Brian’s report.In addition, 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 meeting regularly 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.

Whether his Department plans to review the sentencing guidelines for animal abuse.

Sentencing guidelines are developed and reviewed by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales, in fulfilment of its statutory duty to do so.In July 2023, the Council issued guidelines on animal cruelty, which provide the Court with guidance on factors that should be considered, which may affect the sentence given. They set out different levels of sentence based on the harm caused and how culpable the offender is. This is available on its website at: https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/offences/crown-court/item/animal-cruelty/.Whilst the Government has no current plans to ask the Council to consider reviewing the animal cruelty guidelines, it is open to individuals to approach the Council to ask that it does so.

What was the total cost to the public purse of quasi-autonomous non governmental organisations sponsored by her Department for (a) the financial years (i) 2023/24 and (ii) 2024/25 and (b) April 2025 to date.

The Ministry of Justice currently has seven Non-Departmental Public Bodies which have a vital role in the process of national government but are not part of a government department. Their combined expenditure was £303,943 million in the 2023/24 financial year, £318,032 million in 2024/25, and £56.130 million from April – June 2025.

Whether she plans to review the Sentencing Council's remit on young offenders convicted of (a) murder and (b) manslaughter.

The Government has no current plans to ask the Council to consider reviewing the guidelines in relation to this cohort.The law is clear that those who commit murder as children must receive a life sentence. There is no mandatory sentence for a child convicted of manslaughter, but the court may impose a life sentence, depending on the circumstances of the case.

If she plans to review the governance of the Sentencing Council.

The Lord Chancellor is currently undertaking a review of the Sentencing Council’s role and powers and has indicated that she will introduce reforms in future legislation, if considered necessary

How many permanent civil servants in her Department had their contract of employment terminated as a result of poor performance in the (a) 2022-23, (b) 2023-24 and (c) 2024-25 financial years.

The Department’s HR system shows the total number of permanent Civil Servants leaving the Ministry of Justice recorded as ‘Dismissal – Unsatisfactory Work Performance’, as 18 in the financial year 2022-2023, 27 in year 2023-2024, and 31 in year 2024-2025.

What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of HM Prison and Probation Service in Leicestershire.

We publish performance ratings regularly of the prison and probation service Leicestershire, which can be found at the following links: Prison Performance Ratings: 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK and Community Performance Annual, update to March 2024 - GOV.UK.This Government inherited prisons on the point of collapse and is taking action to ensure we never again run out of prison places.The previous Government left the probation service under real strain with current caseloads far too high. We are hiring 1,300 trainee probation officers by March 2026 in addition to the 1,050 already appointed last year. We are also investing in new technology to lift the administrative burden on probation officers so they can focus on what they do best – managing and rehabilitating offenders.Probation funding will increase by up to £700 million by the final year of the spending review – a 45% increase in the next three years. We will deliver thousands more tags, more staff, and more accommodation to ensure that offenders are tracked and monitored closely in the community.The Probation Service in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland was recently inspected by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP). The report of the inspection can be found at the following link: An inspection of probation services in: Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland PDU.Following the inspection, a revised Quality Improvement Plan has been drawn up, which takes account of HMIP’s recommendations. A development day has also been organised, with a focus on quality and management oversight, to ensure that all staff receive the training they need to carry out their demanding roles.

Whether she plans to review sentencing for (a) careless driving that leads to (i) serious injury and (ii) death and (b) other driving offences.

Safety on our roads is an absolute priority for this Government. That is why the Department for Transport is committed to delivering a new Road Safety Strategy – the first in over a decade. They will set out next steps on this in due course.Provisions in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 increased the maximum penalty from 14 years’ imprisonment to life for the offences of causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs, and causing death by dangerous driving. These measures came into force on 28 June 2022 and apply to offences committed on or after that date.The Sentencing Council has reflected these changes in the sentencing guidelines and the starting point for cases falling into the highest level of seriousness is now 12 years’ imprisonment, a significant increase from the previous 8 years’ starting point. The sentence range for the most serious instances is now 8 to 18 years’ imprisonment.Although the starting points and sentence ranges for this offence have increased, the courts still retain the discretion to impose a life sentence where the seriousness of the offence is such that they consider it more appropriate and proportionate.We continue to work alongside the Department for Transport to ensure sentencing law for driving offences is appropriate.

What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of Money Claim Online in delivering civil remedies for small claims legal disputes.

Money Claim Online (MCOL) has provided claimants with an electronic means by which to make money claims online since 2002. Including claims made by bulk users, the system handles over 1 million claims per annum.As part of HMCTS Reform programme, HMCTS has created a new digital service – Online Civil Money Claims (OCMC) – which enables users to issue, respond to and manage a claim digitally, including the ability to settle a claim without court intervention and uploading evidence for hearings. OCMC has been available since 2018 and handles around 120,000 claims per year. The OCMC service was recently evaluated with the findings published and available on the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/modern-justice-for-all-our-online-civil-money-claims-reformed-service-helps-more-people-settle-disputes-away-from-the-courtroom.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of District Judges in hearing civil litigation cases.

I refer the honourable Member to the Department’s evidence to the Justice Select Committee into the work of the County Court, which explained the current capacity for civil cases: Work of the County Court - Committees - UK Parliament.

Whether she has made an estimate of the number of criminals erroneously released as part of the early release scheme.

On 10 September 2024, the Government took the necessary and unavoidable step to move certain release points from 50% to 40%, with an initial tranche of eligible offenders released on this date, and a second tranche released on 22 October 2024.There was an issue with a repealed Breach of Restraining Order offence. We took action and as a result, we returned all 37 offenders to prison who had been released in error owing to this issue.We have published data on how many offenders were released on the first day of both initial SDS40 release tranches (1,889 prisoners for Tranche 1, and 1,223 prisoners for Tranche 2). The number of people who have been released in error since September 2024 forms a subset of releases in error data which is scheduled for future publication. In accordance with the requirements of the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, we may not give any early indication of the contents of these statistical reports. Annual totals for releases in error are published each July in the HMPPS Annual Digest, available via Prison and Probation Performance Statistics - GOV.UK.

What estimate she has made of the potential savings to the public purse of abolishing the Sentencing Council for England and Wales.

The budget allocated to the Sentencing Council for 2024/25 is £1.92 million. The savings of abolishing any public body would though depend on a number of factors e.g. wind-up costs, and we do not have a detailed assessment of these factors in relation to the Sentencing Council.

Whether they have made an estimate of the potential impact of abolishing diversity, equity and inclusion roles in their Department on annual staffing costs.

The delivery of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) activity and staffing requirements is decided by Departments as the employer.Civil Service Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Expenditure guidance, published under the previous Government in May 2024, states:Internal Efficiency Measures18. Internal measures are important to promote efficient and effective EDI practice, which aligns to Government priorities. To ensure EDI spend in the Civil Service is commensurate with agreed organisational priorities the following measures must be considered:c. Incorporate standalone EDI staffing roles into broader HR: The responsibility for EDI delivery should be embedded into HR professionals’ broader accountabilities. The CS D&I Strategy frames an approach where diversity and inclusion is not an end in itself, but an integral means of delivering better outcomes for our citizens.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of leaving the European Convention on Human Rights, in the context of average times taken to extradite foreign national offenders.

This Government is deporting eligible Foreign National Offenders as fast as possible. We have removed 21% more foreign national offenders during the period July 2024 to January 2025 compared with the equivalent period in 2023-24, under the previous Government.

Whether her Department is using AI software in responding to written parliamentary questions.

The Ministry of Justice has not used AI software in responding to written parliamentary questions.

How many foreign nationals have been convicted of a crime in Mid Leicestershire constituency in the last five years.

It is not possible to identify an offender’s nationality from the centrally collated convictions data. This information may be held on court records: however, to identify the nationality of people convicted of specific crimes at constituency level would require the examination of individual court records. This would incur disproportionate costs. Latest numbers of foreign national offenders in prison broken down by nationality can be found in our quarterly release: Offender management statistics quarterly - GOV.UK Foreign national offenders who commit crime should be in no doubt that the law will be enforced and, where appropriate, we will work with the Home Office to pursue their deportation. This government has already removed 23% more FNOs from July 2024 to January 2025 compared to the same period in 2023.

How many Pension Credit decisions have been appealed since 29 July 2024; and what the success rate was of those appeals.

Information about appeals to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) (SSCS) is published at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics.From 29 July to 30 September 2024 (the latest period for which statistics have been published), the Tribunal received 40 Pension Credit appeals. As of 30 September 2024, (the latest publication) none of those cases had been disposed of, as appeals need time to work their way through the Tribunals system. These disposals will be counted in future quarterly publications.