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Written question asked by Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour) on Monday, 23 June 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 25 June 2025. It was answered by Nicholas Dakin (Labour) on Tuesday, 1 July 2025 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.


Prisons: Chess

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2025 to Question 58502, how many prisons currently hold regular chess activity sessions.

Answer

The Ministry of Justice is aware of research that is in progress in relation to regular chess sessions across the prison estate. To date, no formal assessment has been made of any effect on re-offending.

As chess is not a structured physical activity, it is not included in the management information that is collected centrally. To determine how many prisons hold regular chess sessions, it would be necessary to consult each individual establishment, and this could not be done without incurring disproportionate cost.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
62024
Session
2024-26
Related items
Prisons: Sports
Thursday, 12 June 2025
Written questions
House of Commons
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Prisons Chess
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk