Andrew Snowden MP: written questions
4 Jul 2025–3 Jul 2026
How these years work
Our reporting years run from 4 July to 3 July, starting with the 2024 general election. They are not official parliamentary sessions. Office costs keep IPSA’s April–March financial years. Records may cover only part of a year; a missing record does not mean no work was done.
Read what this MP said, asked and contributed in Parliament.
91 published records · newest first.
Written questions
JuriesMinistry of JusticeTabled 25 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 13267More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reduce unnecessary waiting times for jurors attending court.
Answer: Jurors are integral to the efficient, effective and fair running of the Crown Court system. The Ministry of Justice and HM Courts and Tribunals Service recognise the importance of making optimal use of jurors’ time, and of minimising unnecessary or avoida...
Answered 1 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordJuries: AllowancesMinistry of JusticeTabled 25 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 13266More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of jury service loss-of-earnings allowances in meeting the cost of living of jurors.
Answer: Jury service is an important civic duty, and the Government is committed to ensuring jurors feel supported throughout their service. All support for jurors is kept under review to ensure that it remains appropriate and accessible. Where jury service is li...
Answered 1 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordChild Arrangements OrdersMinistry of JusticeTabled 25 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 13265More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether guidance issued to family courts on child arrangements includes consideration of a child's routines, friendships, extracurricular activities and educational commitments.
Answer: The Family Court considers the welfare of the child to be paramount in any decisions regarding child arrangements. In determining the child’s welfare needs, the court will consider a wide range of factors relevant to the child’s best interests as set out ...
Answered 2 Jul 2026
Original Parliament recordYouth Justice: StandardsMinistry of JusticeTabled 18 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 11242More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that youth justice services have adequate resources and capacity to deliver diversionary interventions at scale.
Answer: This Government has committed to investing £15.4 million per year in the Turnaround programme until March 2029, to support Youth Justice Services (YJS) across England and Wales to intervene earlier with children on the cusp of entering the youth justice s...
Answered 26 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordYouth JusticeMinistry of JusticeTabled 18 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 11241More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of regional disparities in the proportion of diversionary outcomes for children in the youth justice system.
Answer: The Youth Justice Board’s recent statistical release, ‘The use of diversionary outcomes in England and Wales 2025’, includes the first official assessment of regional variation in youth diversionary outcomes. This confirmed the ‘postcode lottery’ in youth...
Answered 26 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordMinistry of Justice: Translation ServicesMinistry of JusticeTabled 18 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 11238More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many staff in his Department are employed wholly or primarily to support the provision of multilingual communications and services; and what is the cost to the public purse of such staff.
Answer: The information requested is not held centrally. The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.The Ministry of Justice does not centrally record whether staff are employed wholly or primarily to support the provision of multili...
Answered 26 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordDefamation: Social MediaMinistry of JusticeTabled 9 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 8313More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of current libel laws in the context of social media.
Answer: Defamation – which covers both libel and slander – concerns the publication of material that adversely affects a person’s reputation. Individuals who believe they have been defamed online can bring a claim under the tort of defamation, provided it meets t...
Answered 15 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordPrisons: MeatMinistry of JusticeTabled 1 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 5768More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy to ban meat products from prison catering services which have been produced using non-stunned slaughter.
Answer: The Government encourages the highest standards of animal welfare at slaughter and would prefer all animals to be stunned before slaughter, but we respect the rights of Jews and Muslims to eat meat prepared in accordance with their religious beliefs.The N...
Answered 9 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordPrisons: OvercrowdingMinistry of JusticeTabled 1 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 5748More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners are currently held in cells operating above certified normal accommodation; and what proportion of the adult male closed estate is operating above 100% of certified normal accommodation.
Answer: Crowding data is published regularly in HMPPS’s Annual Digest, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmpps-annual-digest-april-2024-to-march-2025.The most recent data for the 12 months ending March 2025 shows:The crowding rate in prison...
Answered 8 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordPrison AccommodationMinistry of JusticeTabled 1 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 5747More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answers of 29 May 2026 to Questions 2824 and 2825 on Prisons: Overcrowding, at what annual rate his Department projects delivering the remaining c.10,900 places required to meet the 14,000-place t
Answer: As set out in the December 2024 10-Year Prison Capacity Strategy, we are committed to delivering an additional 14,000 prison places and have delivered c.3,100 since July 2024. We remain on track to meet our commitment by 2031.Projections for the annual ra...
Answered 9 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordPrisons: Body ArmourMinistry of JusticeTabled 1 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 5746More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of issuing protective body armour to 514 named prison staff.
Answer: The 4,499 front-line officers (uniformed Bands 3 – 5) who are employed across the long-term high security estate are among the up to 10,000 prison staff who will receive protective body armour as part of the additional provision we have announced. The pro...
Answered 9 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordPrison Officers: Body Armour and Stun GunsMinistry of JusticeTabled 1 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 5744More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 29 May 2026 to Question 1123 on Prison Officers: Body Armour and Stun Guns, how many frontline prison officers are employed in roles classified as high-risk for the purposes of the prote
Answer: The 4,499 front-line officers (uniformed Bands 3 – 5) who are employed across the long-term high security estate are among the up to 10,000 prison staff who will receive protective body armour as part of the additional provision we have announced. The pro...
Answered 9 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordSentencing: Young OffendersMinistry of JusticeTabled 29 May 2026AnsweredUIN 5253More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the answer on 29 July 2026 to question 3142 on youth reoffending rates, what comparative assessment he has made of the reoffending rate for (a) short custodial sentences, (b) longer custodial sentence
Answer: Evidence from Ministry of Justice research using matched statistical analysis suggests that custodial sentences for children are associated with higher reoffending rates than either Referral Orders or Youth Rehabilitation Orders (and where custodial sente...
Answered 8 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordCourts: Digital TechnologyMinistry of JusticeTabled 29 May 2026AnsweredUIN 4609More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress he has made on court digitisation; and what steps he is taking to ensure data processing is secure and accurate.
Answer: The HMCTS Reform Programme, which concluded in March 2025, delivered twelve digital services across the civil, family and tribunal jurisdictions and fully implemented the Common Platform across all 226 criminal courts in England and Wales.Use of these ser...
Answered 8 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordPrisons: OvercrowdingMinistry of JusticeTabled 29 May 2026AnsweredUIN 4608More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment has been made of trends in the level of prison overcrowding.
Answer: Crowding data is published regularly in HMPPS’s Annual Digest, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmpps-annual-digest-april-2024-to-march-2025.The most recent data for the 12 months ending March 2025 shows:The crowding rate in prison...
Answered 8 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordPrisons: Mental Health ServicesMinistry of JusticeTabled 20 May 2026AnsweredUIN 3589More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on mental health provision in prisons.
Answer: The Deputy Prime Minister met with the previous Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in February where they discussed improving health outcomes for people in prison and on probation as a shared challenge across the Ministry of Justice, Department...
Answered 1 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordYouth Justice: Information SharingMinistry of JusticeTabled 19 May 2026AnsweredUIN 3143More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to improve information-sharing between agencies involved in youth safeguarding and justice.
Answer: The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 introduces an information sharing duty that requires safeguarding partners – Children’s Social Care, health, schools and early years, policing, and justice – to share information relevant to a child’s safety a...
Answered 29 May 2026
Original Parliament recordSentencing: Young OffendersMinistry of JusticeTabled 19 May 2026AnsweredUIN 3142More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of short custodial sentences on youth reoffending rates.
Answer: More than two-thirds of children released from custodial sentences of twelve months or less in 2023/24 went on to reoffend within a year. They provide limited time for rehabilitation and can disrupt education, family ties, and support networks, which are ...
Answered 29 May 2026
Original Parliament recordYoung Offenders: Crime PreventionMinistry of JusticeTabled 19 May 2026AnsweredUIN 3137More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what metrics will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of early intervention programmes in preventing youth offending.
Answer: Individual early intervention programmes are evaluated using metrics most relevant to delivery and intended outcomes. The Ministry of Justice’s Turnaround programme, which was rolled out in 2022, closely monitors data including on numbers of children prog...
Answered 29 May 2026
Original Parliament recordYouth Justice: FinanceMinistry of JusticeTabled 19 May 2026AnsweredUIN 3135More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how the additional £46 million investment in the Turnaround programme will be allocated across local authority areas.
Answer: In February 2026 the Ministry of Justice announced multi-year funding of £46 million until March 2029 for the Turnaround programme, having already invested £71 million between 2022 to 2026. The additional £46 million will be allocated to local authority a...
Answered 29 May 2026
Original Parliament recordHate Crime: WomenMinistry of JusticeTabled 18 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2338More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of misogynistic online content on youth offending behaviour.
Answer: Tackling violence against women and girls is a core priority for this Government and we are committed to halving it within a decade.This Government is concerned by the growth and scale of online harms, including misogynistic content, and the role that dig...
Answered 27 May 2026
Original Parliament recordGender Based Violence: Youth JusticeMinistry of JusticeTabled 18 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2337More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure youth justice reforms adequately address violence against women and girls.
Answer: Tackling violence against women and girls is a core priority for this Government and we are committed to halving it within a decade.This Government is concerned by the growth and scale of online harms, including misogynistic content, and the role that dig...
Answered 27 May 2026
Original Parliament recordParenting OrdersMinistry of JusticeTabled 18 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2336More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the proposed expansion of Parenting Orders will include the introduction of additional powers for courts.
Answer: We want to ensure parents work effectively with Youth Justice Services to prevent offending and support the rehabilitation of children in the justice system. To this end, we are exploring options to drive forward the effective use of parenting orders as a...
Answered 27 May 2026
Original Parliament recordCourts: Young OffendersMinistry of JusticeTabled 18 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2335More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in which areas his Department plans to pilot Youth Intervention Courts.
Answer: On 18 May 2026, the Ministry of Justice launched an Expression of Interest process to identify potential sites for our Youth Intervention Court pilot.In Autumn 2026, a Statutory Instrument will be brought forward to grant the youth court in our proposed p...
Answered 27 May 2026
Original Parliament recordYoung OffendersMinistry of JusticeTabled 18 May 2026AnsweredUIN 2334More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposed Youth Intervention Courts on rates of youth reoffending.
Answer: On 18 May 2026, the Ministry of Justice launched an Expression of Interest process to identify potential sites for our Youth Intervention Court pilot.In Autumn 2026, a Statutory Instrument will be brought forward to grant the youth court in our proposed p...
Answered 27 May 2026
Original Parliament record
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4 Jul 2025–3 Jul 2026. One record per UIN and tabled date; the named department is not a measure of answer quality.
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