Tag: Ministry of Justice

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 17 April 2025.

The Lord Chancellor has approved the reappointment of Mark Rawlinson as the Ministry of Justice Lead Non-Executive Director for  12 months from 4 March 2025 to 3 March 2026.

The Lead Non-Executive Director is a senior figure from outside the department who brings expertise and skills from outside of the department. They:

• support the Secretary of State in their role as Chair of the Board
• give guidance and advice to MOJ leaders and ministers
• support and challenge management on the department’s strategic direction
• provide support in monitoring and reviewing progress

The appointment of the Lead Non-Executive Director is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments and the reappointment process complies with the Cabinet Office Governance Code on Public Appointments.

Biography

Mark Rawlinson was first appointed Ministry of Justice Lead Non-Executive Board Member on 4 June 2018.

Mark has over 30 years of commercial experience as an adviser – from 2016 to 2021 as Chairman of UK Investment Banking at Morgan Stanley and prior to that as a corporate partner for 25 years at international law firm, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 15 April 2025.

The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State has approved the extension of the tenure of Rohan Sivanandan as a member of the Board of Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass).

The Secretary of State has approved the extension of tenure of Rohan Sivanandan as a member of the Board of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) from 1 July to 31 December 2025.

Rohan Sivanandan

Rohan Sivanandan worked as an economist and senior executive in the private sector before moving into the education field. He has held a number of board, non-executive and trustee positions. Currently, he is: a non-executive director for Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust where he chairs the Workforce and Education committee; a lay member of the Independent Reconfiguration Panel which provides advice to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care; an independent member of the Greater London Authority on Mayoral appointments; an investigation panel member for the Nursing and Midwifery Council and; a panel chair of NHS Mental Health Act hearings.

Rohan did not declare any political activity.

Cafcass is the statutory body that safeguards and promotes the welfare of children in Family Court proceedings.

Appointments to the Cafcass Board are made by the Secretary of State for Justice. Appointments are regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments and recruitment processes comply with the Governance Code on Public Appointments.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 1 April 2025.

The government will introduce new legislation to stop Sentencing Council’s guidelines coming into effect.

• The Lord Chancellor will today introduce legislation to stop guidelines coming into effect that single out differential treatment of ethnic minority offenders in sentencing
• Parliament will debate the legislation, and it will become law as quickly as possible

New sentencing guidelines that would mean differential treatment for different races and religions will be blocked under new legislation set to be introduced today, the Lord Chancellor has announced.

The government will work with Parliament to fast-track this legislation, which will clarify that guidance relating to sentencing reports should not single out specific cohorts for differential treatment when it comes to ordering Pre-Sentencing Reports, which help judges make decisions on sentencing.

This follows formal objections raised by the Lord Chancellor to the Sentencing Council regarding sections of the guidelines due to come into effect on 1 April.

The Lord Chancellor, Shabana Mahmood said:

These guidelines create a justice system where outcomes could be influenced by race, culture or religion.

This differential treatment is unacceptable – equality before the law is the backbone of public confidence in our justice system.

I will change the law to ensure fairness for all in our courts, and I’m grateful to the Sentencing Council for delaying implementation while Parliament considers the Bill.

The Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence Reports) Bill will be introduced into the House of Commons tomorrow, and the Government will seek to get Royal Assent as quickly as possible.

Further Information

• Lord Chancellor letter to the Sentencing Council: 20 March 2025
• The measures in the Bill will extend and apply to England and Wales only.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 1 April 2025.

Victims can attend the parole hearings of their perpetrators from today (1 April) as part of the Government’s Plan for Change.

For the first time, victims from across England and Wales will be able to apply to observe private Parole Board hearings held to decide if a prisoner is safe to be released.

It will let victims see first-hand how offenders are held accountable for their crimes, their subsequent behaviour in prison and their work to prove they can live law-abiding lives if released.

A pilot in the South West of England and Greater Manchester found victims were reassured to see the level of scrutiny that prisoners are put under before any decision to release them is made.

It is hoped, therefore, that these changes will provide more victims with a greater understanding of the decisions made by the Parole Board while ensuring they feel more involved in the process.

Minister for Victims and Violence Against Women and Girls, Alex Davies-Jones, said:

For too long, victims have been locked out of the parole system.

As part of our Plan for Change, we are now giving victims the right to see how offenders are challenged when up for parole.

This Government is improving our justice system to ensure it serves victims better.

Even when the Parole Board makes the decision to release an offender on licence, they are then supervised by the Probation Service and subject to strict conditions, such as curfews and exclusion zones that prevent them approaching their victims. Offenders face going back to prison if they break the rules.

The Parole Board is an independent body that carries out risk assessments on prisoners to determine whether they can be safely released into the community on licence conditions or moved to an open prison.

Victims who are part of the Victim Contact Scheme will apply to the Parole Board to attend hearings with the help of their victim liaison officer and those who are successful in applying will observe remotely so they don’t have to sit with the perpetrator.

They will then be provided with in-person support during the hearing and victims will be directed towards additional support following the proceedings, such as counselling, if necessary.

Anna, a victim who attended a parole hearing as part of the pilot, said:

Observing the hearing was a surprisingly positive process for us. It has helped us to draw a line under the whole chapter and move on.

Witnessing the level of care taken by the Parole Board instilled in me genuine confidence regarding how the offender will be managed upon release.

Before the parole hearing, I had some unanswered questions. Observing the hearing helped me answer many of these.

The Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales, Baroness Newlove, said:

As someone who has been through the parole process, I welcome this national rollout. This is a vital step towards lifting the lid on a system that has long felt closed off to victims, helping them feel more meaningfully involved rather than bystanders to proceedings.

As the rollout begins, it is crucial that victims are provided with all the information they need to make an informed choice about whether to apply – and to understand what to expect if their application is successful- alongside access to guidance and support at every stage of the parole hearing process. Open justice should always be encouraged, but victim welfare must remain paramount.

This latest reform to the Parole Board process follows new measures which will be implemented later this year to introduce a Ministerial check on the release of the most dangerous offenders.

This power will give Ministers better oversight of the release of the most serious offenders by allowing them to refer certain cases directly to the High Court for a second check.

Further Guidance:

• Victims will not be able to observe the entire hearing, as certain evidence must be heard in private, such as that relating to risk management.
• The pilot began in September 2022 in the South-West Probation Region and was expanded to Greater Manchester in September 2023.
• The Government’s ‘Understand Your Rights’ Victims’ Code campaign raises awareness of the Victims’ Code and highlights that it is there for every victim, whatever the crime. The campaign directs users to understand their rights at Your rights as a victim of crime – Victim and Witness Information

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 28 March 2025.

“Public safety must never be put at risk again by the failure to have enough prison places”, Lord Chancellor Shabana Mahmood said as she opened a new nearly 1,500-place prison in Yorkshire.

• Major milestone in plan for 14,000 more prison places nationwide by 2031
• New prison designed to cut crime and get offenders into work
• Part of government’s Plan for Change to create safer streets

HMP Millsike is the first of four new jails to be built as part of the Plan for Change to create 14,000 extra prison places by 2031. This extra capacity will help put more violent offenders behind bars, make streets safer and ensure the country never runs out of cells again.

Last summer, the government inherited a prisons system days away from collapse which would have left police unable to take dangerous criminals off the streets.

Ms Mahmood said the opening marked another milestone in her work to get a grip of the prisons crisis that has dominated her first nine months in post.

As a Category C prison, HMP Millsike has been designed with a clear aim – cutting crime. It includes 24 workshops and training facilities aimed at getting offenders into work on release and away from crime for good so fewer people become victims in the future.

Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Shabana Mahmood, said:

This Government is fixing the broken prison system we inherited, delivering the cells needed to take the most dangerous criminals off our streets.

HMP Millsike sets the standard for the jails of the future, with cutting crime built into its very fabric. It is a huge step in our plan to add 14,000 extra prison places by 2031.

But building jails only takes us so far in ending this crisis, which is why we’re also reviewing sentencing so we can always lock up dangerous offenders and make our streets safer.

The prison is the size of 39 football pitches and comes fitted top-to-bottom with security technology to combat the drugs, drones and phones that have plagued prisons in recent years and risked the safety of frontline officers.

This includes reinforced barless windows to deter drone activity, hundreds of CCTV cameras, and X-ray body scanners to spot and stop contraband entering the prison.

The prison will be operated by Mitie Care and Custody and will have education and workplace training provider PeoplePlus on site to give offenders the tools they need to find work on release and stay on the straight and narrow.

The construction of the prison alone generated nearly 800 jobs and around 600 will be created now it is in full operation, providing an economic boost to Yorkshire.

With the country still using many of its Victorian prisons, HMP Millsike has been built to also stand the test of time. Its use of modern materials and fittings will keep running and repairs costs to a minimum for taxpayers.

Russell Trent, Managing Director, Mitie Care & Custody said:

We are a proud partner to the MoJ, focused on building safer communities.

As a resettlement prison, our focus is on rehabilitation and restoration centred on future orientation to break the cycle of reoffending. We want our prisoners to leave HMP Millsike qualified, employable and equipped for life in the outside world. Everything from the building design to the technology, education and training opportunities has been engineered to create an environment where people leave ready to integrate and contribute to society.

Stuart Togwell, group managing director at Kier Construction said:

Using our significant experience in the justice sector, Kier has delivered a state-of-the-art, carbon-efficient facility designed to support rehabilitation, which has also provided new jobs, economic investment and skills development for the surrounding communities.

HMP Millsike supports the government’s commitment to increasing prison capacity and reducing reoffending, and joins our growing portfolio of prison redevelopment and build projects awarded in recent years.

Its opening is a major milestone in the government’s 10-year prison capacity strategy published in December. This plan includes 6,400 places through new houseblocks and 6,500 places via new prisons. One thousand rapid deployment cells will be rolled out across the estate while more than 1,000 existing cells will be refurbished.

The government started the 700-place expansion at HMP Highpoint in Suffolk earlier this month, and a new houseblock providing nearly 460 places at HMP Rye Hill in Northamptonshire recently received its first prisoners.

It follows a £2.3 billion investment to deliver these prison builds, with a further £500 million going towards vital building maintenance across prisons and the probation service. The strategy will work alongside the Independent Sentencing Review to ensure the most serious offenders can always be sent to prison to protect the public.

Background information

• Situated on land next to the existing HMP Full Sutton, HMP Millsike has been named after Millsike Beck, a local stream that runs adjacent to the new jail, firmly embedding the prison into its local community.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 12 March 2025.

Greater use of AI and technology in legal services will spur economic growth thanks to a new Government investment as part of the Plan for Change today (12 March 2025).

Greater use of AI and technology in legal services will spur economic growth thanks to a new Government investment as part of the Plan for Change today (12 March 2025).

The £1.5m funding boost announced by Justice Minister Sarah Sackman will help further the UK’s leading position in the international legal services market.

In a speech to legal professionals she announced the LawtechUK programme will receive a £1.5m investment which will help startups to attract further private investment.

Since 2023, LawtechUK has directly supported over 176 startups to grow and the legal services sector is now estimated to provide over 300,000 jobs in the UK. Their activity connects businesses with investors, builds relationships between technology companies and law firms, and offers showcasing opportunities at key international and domestic events.

One recent example is Lexverify which created an advanced AI tool that helps saves lawyers time and money by providing real-time risk prevention for legal, compliance, and cybersecurity issues.

Courts and Legal Services Minister, Sarah Sackman KC MP, said:

Britain is leading the world in Lawtech. We are innovating and making legal services faster, cheaper and more accessible. Our Lawtech sector is changing how we work, and opening up access to justice for working people, at lower costs.

Lawtech is powering the future of the UK economy by helping people resolve disputes faster.

Lawtech UK is a government-backed initiative to drive digital transformation in the legal services industry, which is already worth £37 billion to the UK economy every year.

Since 2019, £6 million has been invested in the programme, supporting the lawtech sector’s rapid growth as it attracts record private investment of over £139 million and transforms how legal services are delivered. Another LawTechUK beneficiary, Office and Dragons, developed software that eliminates wasted time on repetitive legal tasks, achieving over 85%-time savings on administrative work.

Over half of the participants in LawtechUK’s education programmes come from outside London and the South-East, ensuring the benefits of legal technology reach across the country.

The Ministry of Justice also delivers the GREAT Legal Services campaign which promotes the strength of UK legal services and the UK as a legal centre to the global market.

The campaign showcases UK lawtech companies internationally and helps build relationships with potential business partners. It has taken delegations of UK firms to take part in events in the US, Australia and Singapore, and will be returning to the US later this month for a programme of activity around the Legalweek conference in New York and Chicago.

Since April 1, 2023, LawTechUK has been delivered by CodeBase and Legal Geek.

Jon Hope, SVP at CodeBase, said:

Building on the success of the past two years, we are excited to extend LawtechUK into its third year.

Together with our delivery partners, Legal Geek, we remain committed to driving innovation and transformation in the legal industry.

We are proud of the impact LawtechUK has already made and look forward to continuing to shape the future of the legal sector.

Beth Fellner, Director at Legal Geek, said:

Legal Geek and our delivery partner, CodeBase, have delivered a high impact programme of activity over the last two years.

We are ready to build on this work during a third year and continue to drive digital transformation in the legal sector across the UK.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 7 March 2025.

More dangerous criminals will be taken off the streets thanks to a 700-place expansion which will turn a Suffolk jail into the UK’s largest public sector prison.

The three new, four-storey houseblocks at HMP Highpoint will boost its capacity by more than 50 percent– and is the latest step in Government action to create safer streets.

The houseblocks will include innovative workshops and teaching facilities to train prisoners with skills to secure a job on release and turn their backs on crime for good. The new cells will be fully operational by summer 2027.

The construction is a significant milestone in the Government’s plan to deliver 14,000 more prison places by 2031 to lock up dangerous offenders and keep the public safe.

Minister for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending, Lord James Timpson said:

This government is fixing the broken prison system it inherited – wasting no time in getting shovels in the ground to deliver the spaces needed to protect the public.

These new houseblocks have been designed with a laser-focus on cutting crime and are a major step in our plan to deliver 14,000 more prison places by 2031.

But we cannot simply build our way out of this crisis, which is why we’re also reviewing sentencing so we can lock up dangerous offenders, cut crime and make our streets safer.

HMP Highpoint Prison Governor Nigel Smith said:

The expansion at Highpoint will provide much-needed prisoner places in our region.

The new accommodation will provide a safe and secure environment for us to rehabilitate prisoners and get them ready for release.

We are pleased that the construction work has officially begun and we look forward to working with our contractors to get things delivered.

The build will be delivered by Wates Group, a leading family-owned development, building and property maintenance company. Once completed Highpoint will be the largest public sector prison in terms of land size in North-West Europe and the largest in the UK based on prisoner population.

It will help provide an economic boost to East Anglia with hundreds of jobs created during construction and over 200 permanent jobs at the prison once built. Construction alone will bring investment into local businesses with 30% of materials/subcontractors coming from within a 50-mile radius.

Phil Shortman, Regional Managing Director at Wates said:

We are proud to be involved in the major programme of delivering much-needed prison spaces.

Through the construction of this project, around 2,000 building components have been crafted in prison workshops, providing meaningful employment opportunities, helping develop valuable skills and supporting brighter futures.

We look forward to continuing our collaboration with the government delivering additional prison capacity with a focus on rehabilitation, sustainability and social value for the local community.

The development is part of the government’s 10-year prison capacity strategy published in December. It includes 6,400 places through new houseblocks and 6,500 places via new prisons. One thousand rapid deployment cells will be rolled out across the estate while more than 1,000 existing cells will be refurbished.

A 1,500-capacity prison in Yorkshire, HMP Millsike, will be opened in the coming weeks. The government is investing £2.3 billion to deliver these prison builds, while a further £500 million will go towards vital building maintenance across prisons and the probation service.

The strategy will work alongside the Independent Sentencing Review to ensure the most serious offenders can always be sent to prison to protect the public.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 5 March 2025.

Victims will receive swifter justice as the Government announces record funding for the Crown Court. New investment will see the courts sitting at the highest allocation since records began as part of its Plan for Change to make streets safer.

The Lord Chancellor, Shabana Mahmood, confirmed today (Wednesday, 5 March) that Crown Court judges will sit for a collective 110,000 days in the next financial year – 4,000 more than was initially allocated the previous year.

The increase will mean more hearings at the Crown Court in the coming year, helping victims see justice faster than they otherwise would have done, and is part of the Government’s decisive action to repair the justice system it inherited and improve the experience of victims. However, more radical change is needed to stop the backlog of cases continuing to increase.

Sir Brian Leveson is midway through a review commissioned by the Lord Chancellor to consider bold and ambitious reforms to address the ongoing crisis in the courts.  The court backlog has grown significantly since the pandemic and reached a record high of 73,000 in the year ending September 2024.

Only reform to how the criminal courts operate can bring that number down. This is part of the Government’s wider work, including the Independent Sentencing Review, to restore confidence in the justice system and put it on a more sustainable footing after inheriting a prison estate on the point of collapse.

The increase comes as the Government also boosts court maintenance and building funding from £120 million last year to £148.5 million this year. The increase will fund vital repairs across the court and tribunal estate.

The announcement will also boost the number of days the Immigration and Asylum Tribunal will be sitting to near maximum capacity, helping to speed up asylum claims. The builds on the Government’s work to restore order to the immigration system so that every part – border security, case processing, appeals and returns – operates efficiently.

Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Shabana Mahmood, said:

This Government inherited a record and rising courts backlog, with justice delayed and denied for far too many victims. Bearing down on that backlog is an essential element of our Plan for Change, bringing offenders to justice to keep our streets safe.

Funding a record number of sitting days is a critical first step. But there is more that we must and we will do. I have asked Sir Brian Leveson to consider radical reforms to deliver the swifter justice that victims deserve.

The investment in court maintenance and capital projects will help fund security improvements and fix leaking roofs and out-of-order lifts. Repairs includes the RAAC remedial works at Harrow Crown Court – bringing back into operation an entire court, with eight courtrooms, that has been closed since August 2023.

The boost in capital funding will also help fund the next generation of court buildings across the country. Some of the projects which will receive funding as a result include the new 30-hearing room tribunal centre being built at Newgate Street in London, the 18-hearing rooms at the City of London Courts, and a County and Family Court in Reading.

Minister for Courts and Legal Services, Sarah Sackman KC, said:

The crumbling state of the courtrooms we inherited illustrate why public confidence in our justice system has ebbed away. That is why we’re boosting funding for vital repair work so our courts are, once again, fit for purpose, safe and welcoming places.

This money will also help ensure we maintain and increase court capacity so more trials and tribunals can take place.

At the end of last year, the Government launched a review of potential once-in-a-generation reform of the criminal court system to tackle the backlog. Sir Brian Leveson is conducting a review to identify major reforms which can help bring swifter justice for victims and reduce the backlog.

The plans form part of the Government’s commitment to safer streets by reducing the court backlog, speeding up hearings for victims and defendants, and rebuilding public confidence in the criminal justice system.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 4 March 2025.

Vulnerable girls sentenced to youth custody will no longer be placed in Young Offender Institutions (YOIs).

Ministers have acted immediately to end the practice of placing girls in young offender institutions following recommendations from Susannah Hancock’s independent review into the placement and care of girls in youth custody.

The review published today highlights the complex mental and physical health issues these girls often face, with self-harm at a concerning level.

It comes as recent figures show girls are involved in more than half the self-harm incidents across the youth estate in England and Wales, despite accounting for less than two percent of the children in custody.

The intervention will ensure girls are always placed in settings more suited to their needs such as Secure Schools or Secure Children’s Homes.

The decision was informed by feedback from hardworking staff and the vulnerable children in their care. The review found that despite tireless efforts of staff involved in their care, YOIs cannot offer the therapeutic, trauma-informed support these girls need.

Minister for Youth Justice Sir Nic Dakin said:

Girls in custody are often victims themselves with complex mental health and emotional needs.

Ending their placement in YOIs for good is a first step in drastically improving the support they receive to turn their lives around.

I am grateful to Susannah Hancock for her recommendations, and we will set out our response to each one in due course.

Girls have not been placed in HMYOI Wetherby, the only YOI accepting girls, for several months. This has now been made a permanent decision.

Susannah Hancock was appointed by the government in November 2024 to conduct an independent review into the placement of girls in the children and young people’s secure estate.

The report acknowledges the scope of the challenge at hand, and the department will now consider the full range of its recommendations and develop a long-term action plan in response.

Susannah Hancock said:

I am pleased that the government has acted swiftly in accepting the first recommendation in my review and that girls will no longer be placed in YOIs.

This is an important step forward towards ensuring that all girls in custody receive appropriate levels of support, care and therapeutic interventions to address their physical, mental health and emotional needs.

I look forward to hearing the government’s response to the wider review recommendations and to seeing professionals come together to help make positive changes for these girls.

Stephanie Roberts-Bibby, Chief Executive of the Youth Justice Board said:

We welcome the recommendations from Susannah Hancock’s independent review into girls in custody and we are pleased that the Minister has agreed to the immediate removal of girls in young offender institutions.

It is our position, informed by the evidence, that girls should only be placed in secure settings in exceptional circumstances, and when this happens, they should be held in places that are designed to meet their needs. Children in the youth justice system are overwhelmingly boys, and as a result girls’ needs and vulnerabilities can be overlooked, resulting in them encountering poorer experiences and outcomes.

The Youth Custody Service can place girls in different settings across the youth custody estate, including secure children’s homes, the new secure school and Oakhill Secure Training Centre. Girls were previously placed at HMYOI Wetherby following the closure of Rainsbrook Secure Training Centre, but today’s decision removes this placement option permanently.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 3 March 2025.

Foreign national offenders (FNOs) will be deported quicker thanks to a new £5 million government investment in prisons across England and Wales.

Foreign national offenders (FNOs) will be deported quicker thanks to a new £5 million government investment in prisons across England and Wales.

The money will fund the deployment of specialist frontline staff to 80 jails with one clear mission – speeding up the removal of prisoners who have no right to be in this country.

The new crack squad will also support the Home Office to identify and manage those going through the immigration process, ensuring cases are progressed as quickly as possible.

FNOs make up around 12 percent of the total prison population and deporting them sooner will help save taxpayers’ millions while easing the capacity crisis inherited by the new government.

The move is expected to further bolster efforts which have seen 23 per cent more FNOs removed since July 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.

Minister for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending, James Timpson, said:

It cannot be right for British taxpayers to foot the bill for jailing foreign criminals who have brought misery to our communities.

Under this Government removals are up by nearly a quarter. We’re now taking action to ensure this is done swifter, easing pressure on overcrowded prisons and on the public purse.

This is part of our Plan for Change – fixing the broken prison system we inherited and keeping our streets safe.

The investment will create 82 specialist roles to oversee removals from jails. They will be in post and fully operational by 1 April.

Further information

• HM Prison and Probation Service work with the Home Office to remove thousands of FNOs via the Early Removal Scheme (where they can be deported up to 18 months before the end of their custodial sentence) and via transferring FNOs to serve their sentences in their home country
• Since July 2024, we have removed 2,580 foreign criminals, a 23 per cent increase on the same period 12 months prior