The hon. Gentleman is right: drugs are rife in too many of our prisons and that problem has been very difficult to challenge, both for the previous Government and no doubt for us as well. We have to crack down on the supply of drugs into our prisons, which is why we are expanding the use of no-fly zones. The hon. Gentleman will know that scanners have already been used, but hardened criminals are increasingly moving on to using drones instead. We will crack down on supply but we also need to look at demand and getting more of our prisoners off drugs while they are in prison.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) issued a formal apology to Mr Hedges on 31 August 2023 in accordance with the recommendations set out following an investigation by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, which upheld aspects of his complaint. Supporting British nationals when they need help abroad remains an enduring priority of the FCDO.

The Drug Recovery Prison (DRP) at HMP Holme House is jointly run and funded by the MoJ/HMPPS and NHS England/Improvement (the body responsible for overseeing NHS trusts and independent healthcare providers). The DRP aims to create a whole prison approach to tackle the supply of drugs into prison, together with creating an environment where prisoners have access to the full range of health services that meet individual needs and are given support to lead a drug free life while they are in custody and also following their release into the community.

The DRP pilot began in April 2017 and ended in March 2020. The DRP was mentioned in part one of Dame Carol Black’s Review of Drugs as an example of good practice. MoJ/HMPPS and NHSE have though continued to fund the work of the DRP as part of business as usual funding.

The pilot will be subject to three evaluations. A process evaluation is currently being finalised and will be published in Autumn 2021. Following this, economic and impact evaluations of pilot will be conducted and will be published in 2023/24 (the lag in the impact and economic evaluations is due to the delay in the 1-year reoffending statistics becoming available). Findings from the evaluations of the pilot will help to inform future health and justice interventions across the prison estate.

Employment is a significant factor in reducing reoffending. Secure and sustained employment for people released from prison starts with getting the right education in prison and we are creating a Prisoner Education Service focussed on work-based training and skills.

The Sentencing White Paper also sets out proposals for changes to rehabilitation periods – shortening the time in which prison leavers have to declare criminal records to prospective employers. For the first time, some custodial sentences of over 4 years will become spent as part of criminal records checks for non-sensitive roles in addition to significant reductions to the rehabilitation periods for sentences under 4 years.

These proposals, along with recently approved legislation to change the rules governing disclosure for sensitive roles by removing the multiple convictions rule and the disclosure of youth cautions, reprimands and warnings, will help those who have offended in the past access employment.

I am interested to hear the example that the right hon. Gentleman gives in the Northern Irish prison that he represents. The Through the Gates service, which deals with employment, housing and benefit support, is crucial if we are to reduce reoffending, and the Government are investing an extra £22 million a year in prisons in England and Wales. I am working actively with my colleagues in the Department for Work and Pensions to improve early access to universal credit.

Prison population projection data for England and Wales from July 2018 to March 2023, is regularly published by the department and is available online at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-population-projections-ns

Prison population statistics and workforce statistics are regularly published. Population statistics can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly. HM Prison and Probation workforce statistics (which contains staffing figures in public sector prisons but not in privately managed prisons) are published quarterly. The latest publication can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/her-majestys-prison-and-probation-service-workforce-quarterly-march-2018

Below is a table showing the average number of Prison Officers present in Public Sector Prisons, alongside annual average prison population figures. The population data was based on the 12 month end prison populations apart form for 2008 and 2009. Due to technical problems relating to the supply of data for statistical purposes, month end population data was not available for the period from July 2009 to February 2010, so data for the last Friday of the month has been used instead (except for December 2009, where the 18 December was used). In relation to the workforce data the figures include Band 3-4 / Prison Officer (incl specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officer and Band 5 / Custodial Managers working in public sector prisons. It should be noted that as with all HR databases, extracts are taken at a fixed point in time to ensure consistency of reporting. However, the database itself is dynamic and where updates to the database are made late, subsequent to the taking of the extract, these updates will not be reflected in figures produced by the extract. For this reason, HR data are unlikely to be precisely accurate.

Prison officer numbers are at their highest in five years, which is vital to ensuring prisons are safe, secure and decent. We now have over 3,500 additional staff in post compared to October 2016. The recruitment drive will continue until we reach required levels across the prison estate, ensuring prisons can fulfil their purpose - protecting the public, reducing reoffending and crucially, rehabilitating offenders.

​Our close relationship with the Government of India means we discuss a wide range of matters, including religious tolerance and minority rights. However, we are unable to intervene in Indian legal proceedings. An appeal hearing remains at the prerogative of the Indian authorities.

That is absolutely true. An enormous number of programmes have huge success in reducing reoffending. For example, in Brixton prison, the Clink programme has reduced reoffending by 43%, but we can do much more to learn the lessons and have a proper standardised document that takes what works elsewhere and drives it through the entire system.

The Government is aware of reports regarding Pastor Victor Bet Tamraz, Amin Afshar Naderi and Hadi Asgari. The Government notes the worrying trend of harassment of Christians in Iran and strongly condemns any mistreatment of religious minorities in the country. We regularly raise our concerns about the human rights situation in Iran both in London and Tehran. We call on Iran to cease harassment of religious minorities and fulfil its international and domestic obligations to allow freedom of religion to all Iranians.

As we have throughout this case, we continue to raise the case with the Indian authorities at all levels. The case was most recently raised by the Prime Minister with Indian Prime Minister Modi at the G20 in Hamburg last week.

We understand the impact the separation of six families is having and how the wait for a verdict is increasing the stress and financial strain on them. We make that point when we raise the case with the Indian authorities. However, we cannot interfere in what is an ongoing legal process, just as we would not allow another country to interfere in an ongoing court case in the United Kingdom.

While we await a verdict our High Commission in India remains in close contact with the men's legal team in India and in the UK, and our focus continues to be on the men's welfare and the support we can provide to their families.

I look forward to meeting my counterparts from all over the United Kingdom and discussing these critical issues, because this is a challenge that we all face.

I will certainly seek to learn from that best practice. If the hon. Gentleman would be kind enough to write to me with details of the good work going on in the prison in his constituency, I will certainly look at that.

A persons entitlement to the contributory state pension is dependent on the national insurance contributions they have paid or had credited to them over their working life (from the age of 16 up to the year before they reach state pension age) which builds up qualifying years. This will also be the case for the new single tier pension, but with a requirement to have a minimum number of qualifying years.

A person who has served a long prison sentence during their working life is likely to have a below average entitlement to contributory state pension. However, pension credit is available where the person's (and partner's) income from all sources is inadequate.

The Offender Management Statistics Quarterly Bulletin published on 30 January 2014 provides details of recent trends in the prison population. The bulletin can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/276074/omsq-q3-2013.pdf

The ‘Story of the Prison Population 1993 to 2012’ is an in-depth look at the prison population over this period and the major factors contributing to the changes. It can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/218185/story-prison-population.pdf

Since 2010, those who break the law are now more likely to go to prison, and they go to prison for longer.

Information is not held on prisoners' country of origin, but we do hold information on prisoners' self-declared nationality. The following table shows the number of remand and sentenced prisoners by nationality as at 30 June in each of the last five years.