Rebecca Paul MP: written questions 2025
152 published records · newest first.
Written questions
HMP/YOI Downview: Sexual OffencesMinistry of JusticeTabled 17 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 91837More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many sexual assaults of female prisoners by biologically male prisoners took place in HMP Downview in (a) 2016, (b) 2017, (c) 2018 and (d) 2019.
Answer: There were no recorded sexual assaults of female prisoners by biologically male prisoners at HMP & YOI Downview, during the specified periods.
Answered 20 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordPrisoners: Transgender PeopleMinistry of JusticeTabled 17 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 91829More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what decisions his Department has made on the (a) scope and (b) timeline of the review of transgender prisoner policy following the Supreme Court judgment in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers.
Answer: We are reviewing transgender prisoner policy following the For Women Scotland Supreme Court ruling. Alongside this, the Office for Equality and Opportunity is currently reviewing the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s draft updated Code of Practice on...
Answered 20 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordYoung Offender Institutions: Transgender PeopleMinistry of JusticeTabled 17 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 91828More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what criteria his Department uses to determine placement of transgender young people within the Children and Young People's Estate.
Answer: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 4 November 2025 to Question 85613.
Answered 20 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordNHS: FinesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 13 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 90832More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of issuing penalty charge notices as a deterrent against improper claims of free NHS prescriptions.
Answer: From November 2024 to October 2025, the NHS Business Service Authority issued 47,058 penalty charge notices (PCNs) to people who claimed a medical exemption but were found to have no exemption in place when checked. Of these, 21,328 were eased, for variou...
Answered 5 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordChronic Illnesses: PrescriptionsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 13 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 90831More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the requirement to obtain a medical exemption certificate before being eligible to claim free prescriptions on people with chronic
Answer: The Department has made no assessment.The exemption certificate provides the patient with evidence to demonstrate to dispensers that they are entitled to have the National Health Service cover the cost of their prescriptions. The exemption certificate req...
Answered 4 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordPrescriptions: Fees and ChargesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 13 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 90830More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS penalty charges for incorrectly claimed free prescriptions have been issued to individuals who qualified for but did not hold NHS medical exemption certificates in the last 12 months.
Answer: From November 2024 to October 2025, the NHS Business Service Authority issued 47,058 penalty charge notices (PCNs) to people who claimed a medical exemption but were found to have no exemption in place when checked. Of these, 21,328 were eased, for variou...
Answered 5 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordChildcareDepartment for EducationTabled 13 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 90810More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential merit of allowing nannies to offer funded hours under the Free Childcare for Working Parents programme.
Answer: It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change. Nannies are an unregulated part of the sector...
Answered 24 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordHMP/YOI DownviewMinistry of JusticeTabled 10 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 89041More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to page 8 of the Independent Monitoring Board's report entitled Annual report of the Independent Monitoring Board at HMP/YOI Downview, published on 3 September 2025, when he plans to respond to the
Answer: My noble friend Lord Timpson wrote to the Chair of the IMB on 27 October 2025, setting out the Ministry of Justice’s response to the report. It can be accessed at: Downview 2024-25 annual report - ministerial response - Independent Monitoring Boards.
Answered 18 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordMental Health Services: Prisons and Young Offender InstitutionsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 27 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 85614More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Independent Monitoring Board's report entitled Annual report of the Independent Monitoring Board at HMP/YOI Downview, published on 3 September 2025, what steps he is taking to
Answer: NHS England commissions prison health care services for HMP/YOI Downview and every other prison and young offenders institution in England. Every prison has onsite health care services including primary care, mental health, dentistry, and substance misuse...
Answered 6 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordPrisons and Young Offender Institutions: Transgender PeopleMinistry of JusticeTabled 27 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 85613More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Independent Monitoring Board's report entitled Annual report of the Independent Monitoring Board at HMP/YOI Downview, published on 3 September 2025, what steps he is taking to safeguard biol
Answer: Prisoners on E Wing are held separately from other prisoners at HMP & YOI Downview. They may only access the regime of the wider prison if risk assessed as being safe to do so, and under the supervision of prison staff.Transgender prisoners at all pri...
Answered 4 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordOffences against Children: SurreyDepartment for EducationTabled 27 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 85612More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has had discussions with (a) Surrey County Council and (b) Surrey Police on child safeguarding following the conviction of Stephen Ireland.
Answer: Child sexual abuse is an abhorrent crime that no child should ever have to endure. We recognise the lifelong impact it can have on victims and survivors and remain committed to strengthening our response to this abuse.The department holds regular meetings...
Answered 4 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordChildren in Care: GenderDepartment for EducationTabled 27 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 85611More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Policy Exchange report entitled In absentia parentis, published on 24 August 2025, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that local authorities have up-to-date safeguarding policie
Answer: Local authorities and social care practitioners are required to support children in a way that meets their needs and best interests. This support will look different on an individual case basis. In considering their safeguarding policies and how best to s...
Answered 8 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordChildren in Care: GenderDepartment for EducationTabled 27 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 85610More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Policy Exchange report entitled In absentia parentis, published on 24 August 2025, the Cass Review's final report, published in April 2024, and the Supreme Court judgement in the case of F
Answer: Local authorities and social care practitioners are required to support children in a way that meets their needs and best interests. This support will look different on an individual case basis. In considering their safeguarding policies and how best to s...
Answered 8 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordHMP/YOI Downview: Sexual OffencesMinistry of JusticeTabled 27 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 85609More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on whether any female prisoners held at HMP Downview have been sexually assaulted by biological male prisoners.
Answer: Prisoners on E Wing are held separately from other prisoners at HMP & YOI Downview. They may only access the regime of the wider prison if risk assessed as being safe to do so, and under the supervision of prison staff.Transgender prisoners at all pri...
Answered 4 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordHMP/YOI Downview: Sexual OffencesMinistry of JusticeTabled 27 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 85608More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many sexual assaults of female prisoners by biological male prisoners have taken place in HMP Downview in (a) 2023, (b) 2024 and (c) 2025.
Answer: Prisoners on E Wing are held separately from other prisoners at HMP & YOI Downview. They may only access the regime of the wider prison if risk assessed as being safe to do so, and under the supervision of prison staff.Transgender prisoners at all pri...
Answered 4 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordPrisoners: Transgender PeopleMinistry of JusticeTabled 27 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 85607More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the HMPPS Offender Equalities Annual Report 2022-2023, published on 30 November 2023, how many of the 225 transgender prisoners who reported their legal gender as male were convicted of a sexual
Answer: Of the 225 transgender prisoners who reported their legal gender as male, 126 had been convicted of a sexual offence: this includes both contact and non-contact sexual offences. Offence data were not available for ten individuals.HMPPS’s allocation policy...
Answered 4 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordPrescriptions: WomenDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 27 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 85606More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to provide additional support for women who face additional prescription costs due to (a) menorrhagia and (b) other menstrual issues caused by (i) miscarriage and (ii)
Answer: There are no plans to review the support available to women facing these issues.A maternity exemption certificate can be applied for as soon as a healthcare professional has confirmed that the patient is pregnant or has given birth, including still-birth,...
Answered 26 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordClinical TrialsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 15 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 905923More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the status of the proposed PATHWAYS clinical trial.
Answer: Better quality evidence is critical if the NHS is to support young people suffering from gender incongruence, so we are supporting a programme of research, recommended by the Cass Review, including the PATHWAYS study. The health and wellbeing of the child...
Answered 21 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordHMP/YOI Downview: Prisoner EscapesMinistry of JusticeTabled 15 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 82591More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of staff training and management at HMP Downview, in the context of the security breach involving an unauthorised prisoner departure in October 2025.
Answer: There has been one instance in the last 24 months of a prisoner at HMP/YOI Downview leaving the secure perimeter without formal authorisation. Swift action was taken by other staff to correct the breach.The Prison Group Director has commissioned an invest...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordHMP/YOI Downview: Prisoner EscapesMinistry of JusticeTabled 15 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 82590More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the security breach in October 2025 involving an unauthorised prisoner departure at HMP Downview involved a prisoner housed in the prison’s E Wing.
Answer: The incident referred to did not involve a prisoner on E Wing, and does not affect the management of the unit.
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordHMP/YOI Downview: Prisoner EscapesMinistry of JusticeTabled 15 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 82589More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of whether HMP Downview is capable of effectively keeping the female prisoners safe from the biological male prisoners sharing the same facilities and services, in the cont
Answer: The incident referred to did not involve a prisoner on E Wing, and does not affect the management of the unit.
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordHMP/YOI Downview: Prisoner EscapesMinistry of JusticeTabled 15 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 82588More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department will take steps to review systems of prisoner management in place at HMP Downview in the context of the security breach involving an unauthorised prisoner departure in October 2025.
Answer: There has been one instance in the last 24 months of a prisoner at HMP/YOI Downview leaving the secure perimeter without formal authorisation. Swift action was taken by other staff to correct the breach.The Prison Group Director has commissioned an invest...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordHMP/YOI Downview: Prisoner EscapesMinistry of JusticeTabled 15 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 82587More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions in the last 24 months have prisoners at HMP Downview left the secure perimeter without formal authorisation.
Answer: There has been one instance in the last 24 months of a prisoner at HMP/YOI Downview leaving the secure perimeter without formal authorisation. Swift action was taken by other staff to correct the breach.The Prison Group Director has commissioned an invest...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordVisas: ApplicationsHome OfficeTabled 15 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 77389More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps her Department has taken to ensure the security of data submitted by third parties in support of visa applications.
Answer: UK Visa and Immigration’s commercial partners provide administrative services on behalf of the UK Government to support in processing visa applications. The UK Government visa decision making systems are entirely separate from commercial partner solutions...
Answered 17 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordCrimes of Violence: WomenDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 15 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 77388More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the recommendations on surrogacy in the report by the UN Special Rapporteur for Violence Against Women and Girls entitl
Answer: The UN Special Rapporteur’s report is framed within the context of Violence Against Women and Girls and recommends banning surrogacy in all forms.The United Kingdom Government supports surrogacy as an option for family formation, for people unable to carr...
Answered 22 Oct 2025
Original Parliament record
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