WESTMINSTER RADAR
Search
My MPs
Menu

Question follow-through · 119804

Prisons: Costs

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of trends in the cost of imprisonment in England and Wales.

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
10 Mar 2026
Target answer date
12 Mar 2026
Answer
17 Mar 2026 · 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

These Commons divisions share a topic label. The question did not necessarily lead to a vote.

Recorded timeline

  1. 10 Mar 2026

    Question tabled

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of trends in the cost of imprisonment in England and Wales.

  2. 12 Mar 2026

    Target answer date

    Date supplied by the official written-questions record.

  3. 17 Mar 2026

    Answer published

    The cost of running prisons has generally increased over the past decade, with particularly sharp changes during the Covid-19 period. Analysis of the published Prison Unit Costs series shows that average running costs per place have risen by around 5% per...

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

Crown Court

13 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of available courtrooms currently sitting in the Crown Court estate, and whether additional courtrooms could be brought into use.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Crown Court: Staff

13 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps is he taking to help ensure there are sufficient a) prosecutors, b) defence barristers and c) court staff to increase the number of Crown Court trials.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Crown Court: Judges

13 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to expand the number of judges authorised to sit in the Crown Court to address the backlog in criminal cases.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Sentencing: Gender

18 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to Answer of 16 March 2026 to Question 119800 on Sentencing: Gender, what the evidential basis is for the conclusion that female offenders are typically lower risk to the public than male offenders.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Family Courts: Essex

19 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to his Department’s press release entitled Children to get swifter justice as new family court approach expands nationally, published on 17 March 2026, how many Child Focused Courts are planned to operat

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Family Courts

19 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to his Department’s press release entitled Children to get swifter justice as new family court approach expands nationally, published on 17 March 2026, whether Child Focused Courts will represent additio

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Family Courts

19 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to his Department’s press release entitled Children to get swifter justice as new family court approach expands nationally, published on 17 March 2026, whether the earlier identification of risks to chil

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Family Courts: Essex

19 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to his Department’s press release entitled Children to get swifter justice as new family court approach expands nationally, published on 17 March 2026, when the first Child Focused Court is expected to o

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Family Courts

19 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to his Department’s press release entitled Children to get swifter justice as new family court approach expands nationally, published on 17 March 2026, whether Child Focused Courts will provide additiona

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Family Courts

19 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to his Department’s press release entitled Children to get swifter justice as new family court approach expands nationally, published on 17 March 2026, how many additional (a) judges, (b) magistrates, an

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Family Courts

19 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to his Department’s press release entitled Children to get swifter justice as new family court approach expands nationally, published on 17 March 2026, what training will be provided to judges and magist

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Family Courts

19 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to his Department’s press release entitled Children to get swifter justice as new family court approach expands nationally, published on 17 March 2026, what assessment he has made of the potential impact