Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending

Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending
File:Coat of arms of the United Kingdom (2022, lesser arms).svg Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
File:James Timpson Official Cabinet Portrait, July 2024 (cropped).jpg Incumbent The Lord Timpson since 5 July 2024
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.gov.uk/government/ministers/minister-of-state--147

The Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending (or simply Prisons Minister) is a mid-level ministerial office in the Ministry of Justice.

On 5 July 2024 James Timpson was appointed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Responsibilities

The minister currently has responsibility of the following policy areas:

• Prison operations, policy, reform and industrial relations
• Probation policy and operations
• Youth justice
• Parole
• Offender health
• Offender Cohorts
• Extremism
• Home Detention Curfew (HDC)
• Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL) schemes
• Drugs
• Reducing reoffending
• Female offenders
• Foreign National Offenders

The minister also provides support on Global Britain and the promotion of legal services.

List of ministers for prisons

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	File:Annewidde.jpg	28 February 1995	2 May 1997	Conservative		John Major (ll)
	Joyce Quin MP for Gateshead East and Washington West	File:Official portrait of Baroness Quin crop 2, 2019.jpg	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	File:Charles Clarke (cropped).jpg	July 1999	June 2001
	Keith Bradley MP for Manchester, Withington	File:Official portrait of Lord Bradley crop 2.jpg	June 2001	May 2002			Tony Blair (II)
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Prisons and Probation
	Hilary Benn MP for Leeds Central	File:Official portrait of Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP crop 2.jpg	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	File:Fiona McTaggart MP for Slough.jpg	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	File:Gerry Sutcliffe.jpg	5 May 2006	29 June 2007	Labour		Tony Blair (III)
Minister of State for Justice and Equalities
	Maria Eagle MP for Liverpool Garston	File:Official portrait of Maria Eagle MP crop 2.jpg	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	File:Official portrait of Crispin Blunt MP crop 2.jpg	6 May 2010	4 September 2012	Conservative		David Cameron (Coalition)
	Jeremy Wright MP for Kenilworth and Southam	File:Jeremy Wright MP.jpg	6 September 2012	15 July 2014
	Andrew Selous MP for South West Bedfordshire	File:Official portrait of Andrew Selous MP crop 2.jpg	16 July 2014	16 July 2016
							David Cameron (II)
	Sam Gyimah MP for East Surrey	File:Official portrait of Mr Sam Gyimah crop 2.jpg	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	File:Official portrait of Rory Stewart crop 2.jpg	9 January 2018	1 May 2019	Conservative		Theresa May (II)
	Robert Buckland MP for South Swindon	File:Official portrait of Rt Hon Robert Buckland MP crop 2.jpg	9 May 2019	24 July 2019
Minister of State for Prisons and Probation
	Lucy Frazer MP for South East Cambridgeshire	File:Official portrait of Lucy Frazer MP crop 2.jpg	25 July 2019	4 March 2021	Conservative		Boris Johnson (I)
							Boris Johnson (II)
	Alex Chalk MP for Cheltenham	File:Official portrait of Alex Chalk MP crop 2.jpg	4 March 2021	10 September 2021
	Lucy Frazer MP for South East Cambridgeshire	File:Official portrait of Lucy Frazer MP crop 2.jpg	10 September 2021	16 September 2021
	Victoria Atkins MP for Louth and Horncastle	File:Official portrait of Victoria Atkins MP crop 2.jpg	16 September 2021	6 July 2022
	Stuart Andrew MP for Pudsey	File:Official portrait of Stuart Andrew crop 2, 2021.jpg	8 July 2022	7 September 2022
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Prisons and Probation
	Rob Butler MP for Aylesbury	File:Official portrait of Rob Butler crop 2.jpg	20 September 2022	27 October 2022	Conservative		Liz Truss (I)
Minister of State for Prisons, Parole and Probation
	Damian Hinds MP for East Hampshire	File:Official portrait of Damian Hinds MP crop 2.jpg	27 October 2022	13 November 2023	Conservative		Rishi Sunak (I)
	Edward Argar MP for Charnwood	File:Edward Argar Official Cabinet Portrait, September 2022 (cropped).jpg	14 November 2023	5 July 2024
Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending
	The Lord Timpson Member of the House of Lords	File:James Timpson Official Cabinet Portrait, July 2024 (cropped).jpg	5 July 2024	Incumbent	Labour		Keir Starmer (I)

See also

• Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom)
• His Majesty's Prison Service