Every parliamentary written question tabled by Shivani Raja this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 1–10 of 10 · Ministry of Justice
Whether his Department has made an assessment of the barriers faced by attorneys holding pre-digital powers of attorney who have disabilities or caring responsibilities that prevent them from providing physical documentation to third parties on request.
Awaiting answer.
What steps his Department is taking to enable Enduring Powers of Attorney and Lasting Powers of Attorney created before 2016 to be registered on the digital LPA verification service; and what timeline he expects for that work to be completed.
Awaiting answer.
How many registered powers of attorney are currently ineligible for inclusion on the digital lasting power of attorney verification service due to being created before 2016; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of that matter on attorneys seeking to act on behalf of donors.
Awaiting answer.
What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of bail conditions in reducing reoffending and protecting the public in cases involving persons under the age of 18 accused of violent offences.
The Government is clear that when the courts are considering bail for children charged with violent offences, public protection should always be the foremost priority, alongside reducing the risk of offending. For children, there is the option of imposing Bail Intensive Support and Supervision which includes high levels of contact, monitoring, structured activity and in some cases electronic tags.While evidence specifically on the effectiveness of different bail conditions on reducing offending or protection of the public is limited, there is evidence on the factors that reduce the chances of a child offending. The key principles of lowering the risk of offending include therapeutic rather than punitive responses, and family-based interventions that draw on community support and address wider needs, such as education and health. A strong and robust bail package is expected to address these key principles to ensure public safety.
What assessment he has made of the adequacy of current sentencing guidelines for individuals convicted of grooming and coercing children as part of criminal drug activities.
Sentencing guidelines are developed by the Sentencing Council, in fulfilment of its statutory duty to do so. In 2021, the Council issued a comprehensive package of revised sentencing guidelines for drugs offences. The guidelines include an aggravating factor “Exploitation of children and/or vulnerable persons to assist in drug-related activity”, the presence of which increases the seriousness of an offence and can merit a more severe sentence.Further information is available on the Council’s website: https://sentencingcouncil.org.uk/guidelines/crown-court/.
What proportion of the prison population is made up of foreign national offenders; and how many foreign national offenders have been removed from the UK in the last 12 months.
As of 31 December 2025, Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) made up 12% of the prison population of England and Wales. This is the latest available published data and can be found at Table 1_Q_11 in the attached link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6978d8c475d4437096552064/prison-population-31-Dec-2025.ods The Home Office are responsible for the removal of FNOs, and their latest published data shows that between 1 February 2025 and 31 January 2026 there were 5,689 FNOs removed of which 3,044 were removed under the Early Removal Scheme. The full data can be found here: Returns from the UK between 1 December 2022 and 31 January 2026 - GOV.UK All Foreign National Offenders who receive a prison sentence in the UK are referred for deportation at the earliest opportunity and will be barred from ever returning to the UK. Deportations of foreign national offenders including murderers and rapists are up 32%, with more than 8,700 deported since this Government came into power.
How many individuals convicted of sexual offences have been sentenced to immediate custody during the current Parliament; and what percentage of all individuals convicted of sexual offences received an immediate custodial sentence during that same period.
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on convictions and sentences for a variety of offences, including sexual offences, in the Outcomes by Offences data tool. The tool can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal justice statistics - GOV.UK. The data can be filtered by ‘month’ and ‘year’.
What steps her Department is taking to ensure bodies of deceased individuals are released promptly to families from minority religious communities.
Since 9 September 2024, all deaths in any health setting that are not investigated by a coroner will be reviewed by NHS medical examiners. NHS England has published the National Medical Examiner’s guidance which stipulates that arrangements at each medical examiner office should reflect local health priorities and the needs of communities, particularly if there is regular demand for urgent release of bodies at weekends and public holidays. Urgent release may be required to facilitate organ and tissue donation, or to fulfil religious practices and other needs of local communities.The Royal College of Pathologists provides mandatory face-to-face training for medical examiners, which includes contributions from the Board of Deputies of British Jews and Gardens of Peace in which they explain the importance of rapid scrutiny to facilitate burial as soon as possible. The e-learning modules for medical examiners also include faith considerations.For deaths which are investigated by the coroner, the Chief Coroner has issued a suite of Guidance to assist coroners with the law and their legal duties, and to provide advice on policy and practice. The Chief Coroner’s Guidance No.28 on Decision Making and Expedited Decisions is intended to be a practical guide to assist coroners in situations where a bereaved family has made a request to the coroner for urgent consideration of the death of a loved one and/or early release of their body; or where the coroner or coroner’s officers otherwise become aware of features of a particular death which may justify treating it as especially urgent.
What steps she is taking to ensure that the bodies of deceased people from minority religious communities whose faith practices require burial within a specific timeframe are released promptly to their families.
Since 9 September 2024, all deaths in any health setting that are not investigated by a coroner will be reviewed by NHS medical examiners. NHS England has published the National Medical Examiner’s guidance which stipulates that arrangements at each medical examiner office should reflect local health priorities and the needs of communities, particularly if there is regular demand for urgent release of bodies at weekends and public holidays. Urgent release may be required to facilitate organ and tissue donation, or to fulfil religious practices and other needs of local communities.The Royal College of Pathologists provides mandatory face-to-face training for medical examiners, which includes contributions from the Board of Deputies of British Jews and Gardens of Peace in which they explain the importance of rapid scrutiny to facilitate burial as soon as possible. The e-learning modules for medical examiners also include faith considerations.For deaths which are investigated by the coroner, the Chief Coroner has issued a suite of Guidance to assist coroners with the law and their legal duties, and to provide advice on policy and practice. The Chief Coroner’s Guidance No.28 on Decision Making and Expedited Decisions is intended to be a practical guide to assist coroners in situations where a bereaved family has made a request to the coroner for urgent consideration of the death of a loved one and/or early release of their body; or where the coroner or coroner’s officers otherwise become aware of features of a particular death which may justify treating it as especially urgent.
What steps her Department is taking to (a) ensure that current prison expansion plans are sufficient to meet projected demand and (b) prevent potential overcrowding in prisons serving Leicester and the surrounding areas.
Our 10-year Prison Capacity strategy published on 11 December sets out plans to deliver 14,000 prison places the previous Government promised but failed to deliver. It also sets out our plans to maintain the places in our estate to ensure we have sufficient accommodation and explore the acquisition of land should we need to build more prison places. This will include a new 1,700-place prison in Leicestershire (next to HMP Gartree), in addition to HMP Fosse Way in Leicester which opened in 2023. We have also launched an Independent Sentencing Review, chaired by former Lord Chancellor, David Gauke. The Review’s aim is to ensure we are never again left in a position that this Government was, where we have more prisoners than places available.