| Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Ministry of Justice | |
| Seat | Westminster, London |
| Appointer | The Monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister |
| Term length | At His Majesty's pleasure |
| Website | www |
The Minister of State for Prisons, Probationand Reducing Reoffending (or simply Prisons Minister) is a mid-level ministerial office in the Ministry of Justice. [1]
On 5 July 2024 James Timpson was appointed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The minister currently has responsibility of the following policy areas: [2]
The minister also provides support on Global Britain and the promotion of legal services.
| Name | Portrait | Took office | Left office | Political party | Prime Minister | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position created out of Minister of State for Home Affairs Minister of State for Prisons | |||||||
| Ann Widdecombe MP for Maidstone |  | 28 February 1995 | 2 May 1997 | Conservative | John Major (ll) | ||
| Joyce Quin MP for Gateshead East and Washington West |  | 2 May 1997 | 28 July 1998 | Labour | Tony Blair (I) | ||
| The Lord Williams of Mostyn | 28 July 1998 | 28 July 1999 | |||||
| Charles Clarke MP for Norwich South |  | July 1999 | June 2001 | ||||
| Keith Bradley MP for Manchester, Withington |  | June 2001 | May 2002 | Tony Blair (II) | |||
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Prisons and Probation | |||||||
| Hilary Benn MP for Leeds Central |  | 29 May 2002 | 13 May 2003 | Labour | Tony Blair (II) | ||
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Criminal Justice, Race and Victims | |||||||
| Fiona Mactaggart MP for Slough |  | 13 June 2003 | 5 May 2006 | Labour | Tony Blair (II+III) | ||
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Prisons and Probation Services | |||||||
| Gerry Sutcliffe MP for Bradford South |  | 5 May 2006 | 29 June 2007 | Labour | Tony Blair (III) | ||
| Minister of State for Justice and Equalities | |||||||
| Maria Eagle MP for Liverpool Garston |  | 2 July 2007 | 6 May 2010 | Labour | Gordon Brown (I) | ||
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Prisons and Youth Justice | |||||||
| Crispin Blunt MP for Reigate, Surrey |  | 6 May 2010 | 4 September 2012 | Conservative | David Cameron (Coalition) | ||
| Jeremy Wright MP for Kenilworth and Southam |  | 6 September 2012 | 15 July 2014 | ||||
| Andrew Selous MP for South West Bedfordshire |  | 16 July 2014 | 16 July 2016 | ||||
| David Cameron (II) | |||||||
| Sam Gyimah MP for East Surrey |  | 17 July 2016 | 9 January 2018 | Theresa May (I) | |||
| Theresa May (II) | |||||||
| Minister of State for Prisons | |||||||
| Rory Stewart MP for Penrith and The Border |  | 9 January 2018 | 1 May 2019 | Conservative | Theresa May (II) | ||
| Robert Buckland MP for South Swindon |  | 9 May 2019 | 24 July 2019 | ||||
| Minister of State for Prisons and Probation | |||||||
| Lucy Frazer MP for South East Cambridgeshire |  | 25 July 2019 | 4 March 2021 | Conservative | Boris Johnson (I) | ||
| Boris Johnson (II) | |||||||
| Alex Chalk MP for Cheltenham |  | 4 March 2021 | 10 September 2021 | ||||
| Lucy Frazer MP for South East Cambridgeshire | | 10 September 2021 | 16 September 2021 | ||||
| Victoria Atkins MP for Louth and Horncastle |  | 16 September 2021 | 6 July 2022 | ||||
| Stuart Andrew MP for Pudsey |  | 8 July 2022 | 7 September 2022 | ||||
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Prisons and Probation | |||||||
| Rob Butler MP for Aylesbury |  | 20 September 2022 | 27 October 2022 | Conservative | Liz Truss (I) | ||
| Minister of State for Prisons, Parole and Probation | |||||||
| Damian Hinds MP for East Hampshire |  | 27 October 2022 | 13 November 2023 | Conservative | Rishi Sunak (I) | ||
| Edward Argar MP for Charnwood |  | 14 November 2023 | 5 July 2024 | ||||
| Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending | |||||||
| The Lord Timpson Member of the House of Lords |  | 5 July 2024 | Incumbent | Labour | Keir Starmer (I) | ||
The United Kingdom has three distinct legal systems with a separate prison system in each: one for both England and Wales, one for Scotland, and one for Northern Ireland. As of June 2023, the United Kingdom has the highest per-capita incarceration rate in Western Europe, at 159 people per 100,000 in England and Wales; 162 people per 100,000 in Scotland; 97 people per 100,000 in Northern Ireland; and the largest prison population in Western Europe. The average cost per prison place was £46,696 in England and Wales (2021/22), £46,892 in Scotland (2021/22), and £47,927 in Northern Ireland (2022/23).
The Home Office (HO), also known as the Home Department, is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for immigration, security, and law and order. As such, it is responsible for policing in England and Wales, fire and rescue services in England, Border Force, visas and immigration, and the Security Service (MI5). It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs, counterterrorism, and immigration. It was formerly responsible for His Majesty's Prison Service and the National Probation Service, but these have been transferred to the Ministry of Justice.
Christopher Stephen Grayling, Baron Grayling,, is a British politician and author who served as Secretary of State for Justice from 2012 to 2015, Leader of the House of Commons from 2015 to 2016 and Secretary of State for Transport from 2016 until 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Epsom and Ewell from 2001 to 2024. Before entering politics, Grayling worked in the television and film industry.
His Majesty's Prison Service (HMPS) is a part of HM Prison and Probation Service, which is the part of His Majesty's Government charged with managing most of the prisons within England and Wales.
The Probation Service for England and Wales is a statutory criminal justice service, mainly responsible for the supervision of offenders in the community and the provision of reports to the criminal courts to assist them in their sentencing duties. It was established in its current form by the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act in April 2001, but has existed since 1907 as a set of area-based services interacting at arm's length with central government.
The Department of Corrections is the public service department of New Zealand charged with managing the New Zealand corrections system. This includes the operations of the 18 prisons in New Zealand and services run by Probation. Corrections' role and functions were defined and clarified with the passing of the Corrections Act 2004. In early 2006, Corrections officially adopted the Māori name Ara Poutama Aotearoa.
His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) responsible for the correctional services in England and Wales. It was created in 2004 as the National Offender Management Service(NOMS) by combining parts of both of the headquarters of the National Probation Service and His Majesty's Prison Service with some existing Home Office functions. In 2017, some of the agency's functions transferred to the Ministry of Justice and it received a new name.
Drug courts are problem-solving courts that take a public health approach to criminal offending using a specialized model in which the judiciary, prosecution, defense bar, probation, law enforcement, mental health, social service, and treatment communities work together to help addicted offenders into long-term recovery. Instead of punishment, their purpose is to address one of the underlying drivers of crime and, in the process, reduce the use of imprisonment, potentially leading to substantial cost-savings. Drug courts aim to do this by incentivizing or mandating offenders into addiction treatment combined with frequent drug testing and regular monitoring by the judge.
A probation or parole officer is an official appointed or sworn to investigate, report on, and supervise the conduct of convicted offenders on probation or those released from incarceration to community supervision such as parole. Most probation and parole officers are employed by the government of the jurisdiction in which they operate, although some are employed by private companies that provide contracted services to the government.
The Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs, commonly referred to as the Justice Secretary, is a position in the Scottish Government Cabinet. The Cabinet Secretary has overall responsibility for law and order in Scotland. The current Cabinet Secretary for Justice is Angela Constance, who was appointed in March 2023.
Nacro is a social justice charity based in England and Wales. Established in 1966 from the previous National Association of Discharged Prisoners’ Aid Societies, it became the largest criminal justice-related charity in England and Wales. In the 1970s Nacro also became involved in policy discussions with the British Government, particularly with the Home Office, which has responsibility for prisons and probation services. Since 2011, its strategy has focused on extending its high-level influence at government level, with commissioners, policy makers and practitioners, and increasing its partnership work.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is headed by the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor. Its stated priorities are to reduce re-offending and protect the public, to provide access to justice, to increase confidence in the justice system, and to uphold people's civil liberties. The Secretary of State is the minister responsible to Parliament for the judiciary, the court system, prisons, and probation in England and Wales, with some additional UK-wide responsibilities, e.g., the UK Supreme Court and judicial appointments by the Crown. The department is also responsible for areas of constitutional policy not transferred in 2010 to the Deputy Prime Minister, human rights law, and information rights law across the UK.
The Ministry of Justice is an executive department of the New Zealand Government, responsible for supporting the judiciary and the administration of justice within New Zealand. It develops justice policy and provides advice to ministers, Cabinet, and other justice sector agencies. Its main functions are to help reduce crime and build safer communities; increase trust in the justice system; and maintain the integrity of New Zealand's constitutional arrangements.
Lancashire Probation Trust is a criminal justice agency responsible for punishing and rehabilitating offenders in Lancashire, England.
His Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP) is a statutory body and independent UK inspectorate funded by the Ministry of Justice, formed in 1936.
Humberside Probation Trust was a criminal justice agency. Humberside was one of 35 probation trusts within England and Wales that were part of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) and a department of the Ministry of Justice.
Alexander John Gervase Chalk is a British politician and barrister who served as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice from April 2023 to July 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Cheltenham from 2015 to 2024. Chalk has previously served in other positions in the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Defence, and as Solicitor General for England and Wales. Chalk lost his seat to the Liberal Democrats in the 2024 general election.
Neal Hazel is a British criminologist and social policy analyst who is best known for his research on youth justice and on family support. He is Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Salford and is the former Her Majesty's Deputy Chief Inspector of Probation for England and Wales.
Transforming Rehabilitation (TR) was the name given to a white paper issued by the UK Ministry of Justice in May 2013, and to a programme of work from 2013 to 2016 to enact the strategy outlined in the paper. TR is concerned with the supervision and rehabilitation of offenders in England and Wales.
Prisoner reentry is the process by which prisoners who have been released return to the community. Many types of programs have been implemented with the goal of reducing recidivism and have been found to be effective for this purpose. Consideration for the conditions of the communities formerly incarcerated individuals are re-entering, which are often disadvantaged, is a fundamental part of successful re-entry.
