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Question follow-through · 100744

Prison Sentences

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of government guidance regarding the statutory time limit of six months for summary offences.

answeredMinistry of Justice

About this written question

A written question asks a government minister for information in writing. Parliament publishes the question and any answer.

Answering body
Ministry of Justice
Tabled
16 Dec 2025
Target answer date
18 Dec 2025
Answer
23 Dec 2025 · 7 calendar days after tabling

Elapsed calendar days describe the record timeline, not whether Parliament considers an answer on time.

More questions by this MP on Justice and policing

Shared topic keywords suggest a connection; they do not establish a follow-up.

Votes on this topic

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Recorded timeline

  1. 16 Dec 2025

    Question tabled

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of government guidance regarding the statutory time limit of six months for summary offences.

  2. 18 Dec 2025

    Target answer date

    Date supplied by the official written-questions record.

  3. 23 Dec 2025

    Answer published

    Proceedings for summary-only offences must be commenced within six months of the date of the offence. The Government is satisfied that that this time limit, as set out in Section 127 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980, is an important safeguard which ens...

Open official record

Official data retrieved 28 Sept 2026.

Later records

Possible follow-up questions

Strong links require the same MP, department and exact heading. Other same-department questions are shown as unreviewed candidates, not as confirmed follow-ups. No debate link is asserted unless a stable source relationship exists.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Prisoners on Remand

12 Jan 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his Department plans to do about the number of prisoners spending time on remand exceeding the Custody Time Limit of 6 months.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Armed Forces: Disclosure of Information

4 Feb 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on the effectiveness of introducing a statutory duty of candour on the military.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Armed Forces: Disclosure of Information

4 Feb 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of introducing a statutory duty of candour on (a) military intelligence and (b) Special Forces.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Intelligence Services: Disclosure of Information

4 Feb 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what representations he has received from counterparts in Five Eyes countries that do not have a statutory duty of candour.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Legal Aid Scheme

4 Feb 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to Answer of 22 December 2025 to Question 100065 on Legal Aid Scheme, how many legal aid providers have left the market in total since 23 April 2025.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Legal Aid Scheme

4 Feb 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many legal aid cases there were in each month since 23 April 2025.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Legal Aid Agency: Cybersecurity

4 Feb 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Written Statement of 22 January 2026 on Response to Legal Aid Agency cyber attack, HCWS1265, how much funding will be allocated to the transformation programme for Legal Aid Agency digital s

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Legal Aid Agency: Cybercrime

4 Feb 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress has been made by law enforcement on apprehending those responsible for the Legal Aid Agency cyber attack.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Prisons: Visits

4 Feb 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which faith-based (a) charities and (b) organisations are permitted to visit prisons.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Prisons: Discrimination

4 Feb 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many charges were laid under Prison rule 51 relating specifically to aggravation towards a protected characteristic of (a) race, (b) religion and (c) belief in the last year where data exists; and how many of

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Forced Marriage

4 Feb 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many illegal marriages have been recorded in each year since 2010, broken down by local authority area.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Legal Systems: Islam

4 Feb 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Sharia law courts have operated in the UK in each year since 2010 and broken down by local authority area.