Written questions by McMurdock.

Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the capacity of local authorities and voluntary sector organisations to design and deliver Social Outcomes Partnerships at scale.

DCMS is currently in the design stages of the Better Futures Fund and is currently consulting with Mayoral Strategic Authorities to assess their capacity for participation in delivery. We anticipate large-scale participation in social outcomes partnerships to commence in 2027 onwards, for which we will engage local commissioners via a dedicated capacity and capability building programme beforehand.The Better Futures Fund is not yet open for applications. The first phase of bidding is expected to invite bids in Summer 2026 for projects where all partners have a track record of successfully delivering social outcomes partnerships.The Better Futures Fund is part of a suite of combined measures outlined in the Child Poverty Strategy which support the government’s ambitions to tackle the structural and root causes of poverty for children, young people and their families. The Fund is being designed to fund projects that reduce the short or longer term impacts of poverty on the life chances and outcomes for children.The Better Futures Fund will primarily fund projects that deliver social outcomes partnerships. The exact proportion will be determined during the application stages.

How many prisoners have been released earlier than originally scheduled as a result of capacity pressures since 2024.

This Government inherited prisons days from collapse. We had no choice but to take decisive action to stop our prisons overflowing and keep the public safe.Without the changes this Government made, courts would have had to halt trials and the police cancel arrests, undermining public safety and leading to a disastrous impact on public confidence in the criminal justice system.We regularly publish data on release from prison, including on forms of early release – for example we publish SDS40 data alongside the quarterly Offender Management statistics: Standard Determinate Sentence (SDS40) release data - GOV.UK.Whilst measures like the SDS40 change provided the intended medium-term relief to the system, this was only ever a temporary change as a bridge to a more sustainable solution. That is why the Sentencing Act has now been passed, to ensure we never run out of prison space again and to deliver a more sustainable solution to the prison capacity crisis.

What assessment he has made of the primary causes of care home closures in England.

The Department does not collect data on the causes of care home closures in England. Adult social care services are provided through a largely outsourced market of commercial organisations and charities. Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the care needs of their populations, and to develop and build local market capacity.Care providers entering and exiting is a normal part of a functioning market, and local authorities should have appropriate contingency plans in place depending on the services being provided. Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities also have a temporary duty to ensure continuity of care in the event of business failure. This means that people continue to receive the care and support they need if their adult social care provider is no longer able to carry on delivering services.

What assessment he has made of the long-term adequacy of using early release measures to manage prison capacity.

This Government inherited prisons days from collapse. We had no choice but to take decisive action to stop our prisons overflowing and keep the public safe.Without the changes this Government made, courts would have had to halt trials and the police cancel arrests, undermining public safety and leading to a disastrous impact on public confidence in the criminal justice system.We regularly publish data on release from prison, including on forms of early release – for example we publish SDS40 data alongside the quarterly Offender Management statistics: Standard Determinate Sentence (SDS40) release data - GOV.UK.Whilst measures like the SDS40 change provided the intended medium-term relief to the system, this was only ever a temporary change as a bridge to a more sustainable solution. That is why the Sentencing Act has now been passed, to ensure we never run out of prison space again and to deliver a more sustainable solution to the prison capacity crisis.

What estimate he has made of the gap between projected prison demand and planned prison capacity.

On 29 January 2026, we published our second annual statement on prison capacity, which sets out the projected prison demand and planned prison capacity up to November 2032: Ministry of Justice – Annual Statement on Prison Capacity: 2025.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the capacity of the probation service to manage increased caseload.

The Probation Service continues to face capacity and workload pressures. The Probation Service uses the Workload Measurement Tool alongside other management information to support local and national oversight of workloads. This tool indicates the caseload per officer, which is one indicator of pressure, but it does not on its own provide a complete picture of probation capacity, as it does not take account of the complexity, risk level or intensity of individual cases, all of which have a significant impact on workload. The Government recognises the pressures created by increased demand and has taken steps to strengthen probation capacity, including sustained recruitment of probation officers, action to improve retention, the prioritisation of resources towards the highest risk cases, and reducing workloads through the Our Future Probation Service (OFPS) programme, which aims to reduce workloads by 25% by April 2027. Together, these measures are intended to help ensure the Probation Service can continue to protect the public while managing increased caseload pressures safely and effectively.

Innovation and Technology, whether she plans to require online platforms to publish data on the volume of fraudulent advertisements detected and removed.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology does not hold data relating to the number of fraudulent or scam adverts on social media or other regulated services.There are mechanisms in the Online Safety Act that allow Ofcom to collect information from categorised services on the incidence and dissemination of illegal content, which would include fraudulent advertising content. Ofcom is required under the Act to publish annual transparency reports.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the risk of artificial intelligence increasing the scale and sophistication of online fraud.

AI has huge potential benefits, but can also bring new risks, including new opportunities for criminals. The OSA lists fraud as a priority offence and regulates AI-generated media in the same way as ‘real’ content, placing the same obligations on services to protect users. The Online Safety Act (OSA) lists certain fraud offences as ‘priority offences’, meaning regulated services must prevent users encountering fraudulent content, swiftly remove it if it appears, and mitigate and manage the risk of their services facilitating fraud. This would include, where appropriate, the use of emerging technologies to stifle criminal abuse of networks. To support compliance, Ofcom issues Codes of Practice advising services on how to be compliant with their regulatory obligations. We expect these Codes to evolve over time to include new technologies.

What estimate his Department has made of future demand for care home beds over the next ten years.

Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the needs of their population. That is why, under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care market and to commission a range of high-quality, sustainable, and person-centred care and support services to meet the diverse needs of all local people.In performing that duty, a local authority must have regard to current and likely future demand for such services and consider how providers might meet that demand.

What assessment he has made of the potential risk to public safety posed by prisoners who escape custody and remain at large for over 30 days.

Public protection is our top priority. The number of escapes from prison establishments and prisoner escorts is very low. If a prisoner escapes or absconds, the police are immediately notified and are responsible for locating the offender. Those who escape or abscond face serious consequences including, in the case of absconders, being returned to closed prison conditions, where they may serve up to two additional years. Escapees face an additional sentence of imprisonment for which there is no statutory maximum term. Prisoners whose release is subject to a decision of the Parole Board are likely to spend a longer period in custody before the Board will agree to their release.

Pursuant to her Department’s press release entitled New UK–Nigeria partnership to speed up removals, what formal agreements underpin the new UK–Nigeria migration partnership announced on 19 March 2026; and whether copies will be published.

On 18 March 2026, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood signed a UK-Nigeria Migration Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Nigerian Interior Minister, the Hon. Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.Under the terms of the MOU, the Home Office will be able to facilitate returns using a UK Letter travel document. This will ensure that we are able to swiftly conduct the return of those that no longer have a right to be in the UK. Home Office officials will work closely with the Nigerian authorities to monitor implementation.MOUs are not legally binding but are routine mechanisms used to manage activity between the UK and foreign governments.The Home Office publishes statistics on returns from the UK in the Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release.Foreign national offender (FNO) returns from the UK to Nigeria are published in Table Ret_D04 of the Returns detailed datasets with the most recent figures covering the period up to the end of December 2025.The Home Office does not publish statistics on visa overstayer returns for any nationality. In addition, Nigeria does not appear in the nationality breakdown for failed asylum seeker (asylum related) returns as only the highest 10 nationalities are published.These publication limitations apply only to those specific return categories and do not affect the published data on foreign national offender returns to Nigeria.

Pursuant to her Department’s press release entitled New UK–Nigeria partnership to speed up removals, how many additional Nigerian nationals above the current 1,150 annual returns rate has she estimated will be removed as a result of this agreement.

On 18 March 2026, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood signed a UK-Nigeria Migration Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Nigerian Interior Minister, the Hon. Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.Under the terms of the MOU, the Home Office will be able to facilitate returns using a UK Letter travel document. This will ensure that we are able to swiftly conduct the return of those that no longer have a right to be in the UK. Home Office officials will work closely with the Nigerian authorities to monitor implementation.MOUs are not legally binding but are routine mechanisms used to manage activity between the UK and foreign governments.The Home Office publishes statistics on returns from the UK in the Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release.Foreign national offender (FNO) returns from the UK to Nigeria are published in Table Ret_D04 of the Returns detailed datasets with the most recent figures covering the period up to the end of December 2025.The Home Office does not publish statistics on visa overstayer returns for any nationality. In addition, Nigeria does not appear in the nationality breakdown for failed asylum seeker (asylum related) returns as only the highest 10 nationalities are published.These publication limitations apply only to those specific return categories and do not affect the published data on foreign national offender returns to Nigeria.

Pursuant to her Department’s press release entitled New UK–Nigeria partnership to speed up removals, what mechanisms are in place to monitor compliance by Nigerian authorities with the terms of the agreement.

On 18 March 2026, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood signed a UK-Nigeria Migration Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Nigerian Interior Minister, the Hon. Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.Under the terms of the MOU, the Home Office will be able to facilitate returns using a UK Letter travel document. This will ensure that we are able to swiftly conduct the return of those that no longer have a right to be in the UK. Home Office officials will work closely with the Nigerian authorities to monitor implementation.MOUs are not legally binding but are routine mechanisms used to manage activity between the UK and foreign governments.The Home Office publishes statistics on returns from the UK in the Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release.Foreign national offender (FNO) returns from the UK to Nigeria are published in Table Ret_D04 of the Returns detailed datasets with the most recent figures covering the period up to the end of December 2025.The Home Office does not publish statistics on visa overstayer returns for any nationality. In addition, Nigeria does not appear in the nationality breakdown for failed asylum seeker (asylum related) returns as only the highest 10 nationalities are published.These publication limitations apply only to those specific return categories and do not affect the published data on foreign national offender returns to Nigeria.

With reference to her Department’s press release entitled New UK–Nigeria partnership to speed up removals, published on 19 March 2026, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of that agreement on the time taken to remove individuals with no right to remain.

On 18 March 2026, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood signed a UK-Nigeria Migration Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Nigerian Interior Minister, the Hon. Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.Under the terms of the MOU, the Home Office will be able to facilitate returns using a UK Letter travel document. This will ensure that we are able to swiftly conduct the return of those that no longer have a right to be in the UK. Home Office officials will work closely with the Nigerian authorities to monitor implementation.MOUs are not legally binding but are routine mechanisms used to manage activity between the UK and foreign governments.The Home Office publishes statistics on returns from the UK in the Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release.Foreign national offender (FNO) returns from the UK to Nigeria are published in Table Ret_D04 of the Returns detailed datasets with the most recent figures covering the period up to the end of December 2025.The Home Office does not publish statistics on visa overstayer returns for any nationality. In addition, Nigeria does not appear in the nationality breakdown for failed asylum seeker (asylum related) returns as only the highest 10 nationalities are published.These publication limitations apply only to those specific return categories and do not affect the published data on foreign national offender returns to Nigeria.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of whether further primary legislation is required to address online fraud facilitated by the use of large technology platforms.

The Online Safety Act (OSA) lists certain fraud offences as ‘priority offences’, meaning regulated services must prevent users encountering fraudulent content, swiftly remove it if it appears, and mitigate and manage the risk of their services facilitating fraud. Ofcom, the independent regulator, has robust powers to act where services are failing in these responsibilities. Measures under the OSA to specifically tackle fraudulent advertising are still being implemented. In the summer, Ofcom aim to publish a register of categorised services and to launch a consultation on additional duties for those designated as Category 1 or 2A to tackle paid-for fraudulent advertising.

Innovation and Technology, whether her Department collects data on the number of fraud cases linked to specific online platforms such as social media platforms.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology does not hold data relating to the number of fraudulent or scam adverts on social media or other regulated services.There are mechanisms in the Online Safety Act that allow Ofcom to collect information from categorised services on the incidence and dissemination of illegal content, which would include fraudulent advertising content. Ofcom is required under the Act to publish annual transparency reports.

With reference to her Department’s press release entitled New UK–Nigeria partnership to speed up removals, published on 19 March 2026, what proportion of individuals returned to Nigeria are (a) visa overstayers, (b) failed asylum seekers and (c) foreign national offenders.

On 18 March 2026, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood signed a UK-Nigeria Migration Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Nigerian Interior Minister, the Hon. Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.Under the terms of the MOU, the Home Office will be able to facilitate returns using a UK Letter travel document. This will ensure that we are able to swiftly conduct the return of those that no longer have a right to be in the UK. Home Office officials will work closely with the Nigerian authorities to monitor implementation.MOUs are not legally binding but are routine mechanisms used to manage activity between the UK and foreign governments.The Home Office publishes statistics on returns from the UK in the Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release.Foreign national offender (FNO) returns from the UK to Nigeria are published in Table Ret_D04 of the Returns detailed datasets with the most recent figures covering the period up to the end of December 2025.The Home Office does not publish statistics on visa overstayer returns for any nationality. In addition, Nigeria does not appear in the nationality breakdown for failed asylum seeker (asylum related) returns as only the highest 10 nationalities are published.These publication limitations apply only to those specific return categories and do not affect the published data on foreign national offender returns to Nigeria.

Pursuant to her Department’s press release entitled New UK–Nigeria partnership to speed up removals, whether the agreement with Nigeria constitutes a legally binding treaty.

On 18 March 2026, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood signed a UK-Nigeria Migration Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Nigerian Interior Minister, the Hon. Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.Under the terms of the MOU, the Home Office will be able to facilitate returns using a UK Letter travel document. This will ensure that we are able to swiftly conduct the return of those that no longer have a right to be in the UK. Home Office officials will work closely with the Nigerian authorities to monitor implementation.MOUs are not legally binding but are routine mechanisms used to manage activity between the UK and foreign governments.The Home Office publishes statistics on returns from the UK in the Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release.Foreign national offender (FNO) returns from the UK to Nigeria are published in Table Ret_D04 of the Returns detailed datasets with the most recent figures covering the period up to the end of December 2025.The Home Office does not publish statistics on visa overstayer returns for any nationality. In addition, Nigeria does not appear in the nationality breakdown for failed asylum seeker (asylum related) returns as only the highest 10 nationalities are published.These publication limitations apply only to those specific return categories and do not affect the published data on foreign national offender returns to Nigeria.

What steps he is taking to help ensure that prison staffing levels are sufficient to maintain security.

Effective prison security is a prerequisite for the safe and stable regimes required to promote prisoner rehabilitation, and sufficient levels of skilled frontline staff are fundamental to delivering secure and rehabilitative prison regimes. Against a challenging labour market, we have recruitment campaigns at all prisons where there are current or projected needs, and provide enhanced support to the prisons in the most challenging parts of the estate. HMPPS offers several routes to become a prison officer, including: A ‘Prison Officer Alumni’ scheme, which encourages former officers to return to the Service, bringing back their previous experience.Advance into Justice scheme, which helps Armed Forces leavers, veterans, and their spouses into Prison Officer roles.First Deployment: new recruits will apply to a national campaign and will be allocated to a ‘home’ prison but will be deployed to a different site for the first 23 months of service, with additional financial incentives.The Operational Support Grades to prison officer fast-track scheme, giving individuals the chance to use their previous experience in prisons and take the next step in their career through a streamlined process. To help improve Prison Officer retention, HMPPS has created a retention strategy which is linked to wider activities around employee experience, employee lifecycle and staff engagement at work. As of December 2025, the resignation rate for Band 3-5 Prison Officers was the lowest it has been in the last four years.We have specialist staff and equipment to stop the smuggling of contraband in prisons – such as drugs, weapons and mobile phones – which can fuel violence and create instability.We remain committed to ensuring prisons are sufficiently resourced and that we retain and build levels of experience, both of which are fundamental to delivering quality outcomes in prisons.

Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that online platforms deploy all available technologies to prevent fraud at scale.

AI has huge potential benefits, but can also bring new risks, including new opportunities for criminals. The OSA lists fraud as a priority offence and regulates AI-generated media in the same way as ‘real’ content, placing the same obligations on services to protect users. The Online Safety Act (OSA) lists certain fraud offences as ‘priority offences’, meaning regulated services must prevent users encountering fraudulent content, swiftly remove it if it appears, and mitigate and manage the risk of their services facilitating fraud. This would include, where appropriate, the use of emerging technologies to stifle criminal abuse of networks. To support compliance, Ofcom issues Codes of Practice advising services on how to be compliant with their regulatory obligations. We expect these Codes to evolve over time to include new technologies.