Ministry of Justice

The Female Offender Strategy recognises the importance of early intervention and initiatives that divert women away from the criminal justice system and into support services that address their vulnerabilities and the underlying causes of offending. It also acknowledges that women’s services such as women’s centres play a key role in providing holistic support to vulnerable and complex needs women in or at risk of contact with the criminal justice system.

The Ministry of Justice’s Data Lab report “Women’s Centres throughout England” (May 2015) https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/427388/womens-centres-report.pdf found that women’s centres can help to reduce reoffending by between 1 and 9 percentage points. Since publication of the Strategy, the Ministry of Justice has invested £9.5 million in women’s community sector organisations, including women’s centres.

The cost of support can be difficult to calculate because the type and scope of provision provided by women centres varies widely.

The Government is legislating in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill to reform the out of court disposal framework, which includes conditional cautions, to ensure that, in future, all out of court disposals have conditions aimed at rehabilitation, reparation or punishment. They will provide an opportunity for intervention and support to offenders at an earlier stage, diverting them into rehabilitative services to help reduce escalation of offending and address complex needs. Community services for women, including those provided by women’s centres, can also be an important resource for the police as an alternative to prosecution.

It is not possible to identify offenders who have been given a conditional caution followed by support from a women’s centre based on the data we collect. As a result, we cannot provide the associated proven reoffending rates.

The Home Office and Ministry of Justice do not collect data on re-arrests. The Home Office collects and publishes data on the number of notifiable arrests made by police forces in England and Wales. These data are published as part of the ‘Police Powers and Procedures’ statistical collection, available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales’

The 12-month proven reoffending rates for women released from a short custodial sentence between October to December 2019 are provided in the table below. This is broken down by custodial sentence length.

1. A proven reoffence is defined as any offence committed in a 12-month follow-up period that resulted in a court conviction or caution in this timeframe or a further six-month waiting period (to allow time for cases to progress through the courts).
2. Offenders with prison sentence lengths of one day are excluded.

Taken from tables C1a and C2a accessible here https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1028660/proven-reoffending-oct19-dec19-3-monthly_-_Final.ods

The Ministry of Justice is responsible for criminal law policy in England and Wales and the UK’s human rights framework. Any human right abuse which is a criminal offence committed in the UK could be prosecuted the same way as any criminal offence and the nationality or residence status of the defendant is irrelevant. Support for such prosecutions is of course a matter primarily for the Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales and the Ministry of Justice does not hold that information. If the abuses are criminal offences committed abroad the jurisdiction of our courts will depend on the nature of the offence and whether the relevant statute provides for it to have extraterritorial effect. Again, support for such prosecutions would be a matter for the Crown Prosecution service in England and Wales and its equivalent bodies elsewhere in the UK. Assistance via international police cooperation or Mutual Legal Assistance in such cases is a matter for the Home Office. International matters generally and the International Criminal Court are the responsibility of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

The Government recognises the good work done by volunteers who support bereaved families and others who attend coroners’ courts. However, extending support services - such as the Coroners Courts Support Service - to cover all 85 coroner areas remains subject to affordability.

The Ministry of Justice collects annual data on coroners’ inquests which is then used to inform policy making. An annual statistical bulletin is published on the GOV.UK website at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/coroners-statistics-2020. Coroner statistics for 2021 will be published on 12 May 2022.

The Government recognises the good work done by volunteers who support bereaved families and others who attend coroners’ courts. However, extending support services - such as the Coroners Courts Support Service - to cover all 85 coroner areas remains subject to affordability.

The Ministry of Justice collects annual data on coroners’ inquests which is then used to inform policy making. An annual statistical bulletin is published on the GOV.UK website at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/coroners-statistics-2020. Coroner statistics for 2021 will be published on 12 May 2022.

The National statistics overview: Prison population projections: 2021 to 2026 are used to plan changes across the prison estate to respond to changes to the demand for prison places. Detailed plans, including the locations and future decommissioning, of the 2000 prison places funded through Spending Review 2021 are currently being drawn up. Work underway includes site feasibility studies, this will influence the location of these places.

The Ministry of Justice holds data on sentences covering the period requested and this can be viewed in the attached table.

The Ministry of Justice holds data on sentences covering the period requested and this can be viewed in the attached table.

The information requested is provided in the attached table.

Sentencing is a matter for the independent judiciary. The Female Offender Strategy set out the Government’s vision of fewer women offending and reoffending; fewer women in custody, especially on short-term sentences, with a greater proportion of women managed in the community successfully; and where prison is necessary, better conditions for those in custody.

The expansion of the women’s prison estate to deliver new trauma-informed and gender specific facilities is still at a relatively early feasibility planning stage. The initial site list under consideration is: HMP Drake Hall, HMP Eastwood Park, HMP Foston Hall, HMP Send and HMP Styal. All proposed sites are existing women’s prisons. The exact numbers and mix of new open and closed facilities are being finalised. This is a huge opportunity to shift the landscape of the estate by creating more open places which are needed.

The Ministry of Justice has not made a detailed assessment of possible savings of moving from prison to community support illustrated by the case study on page 87 of the Justice Select Committee’s report. However, the Female Offender Strategy, published in June 2018, noted that Government had estimated that female offenders cost the public purse approximately £1.7bn in 2015/16, including estimated police costs of c.£1bn. This excluded wider social costs, such as the cost of intergenerational offending. The Government recognises that community sentences offer the opportunity to support women to effectively address the underlying causes of offending behaviour and to secure and maintain stable accommodation. We have several initiatives underway that are looking to encourage use of robust community sentences as an alternative to custody for women, including Problem Solving Courts, Community Sentence Treatment Requirements, Electronic Monitoring and a Pre-Sentence Report pilot, as well as our plans to open a first Residential Women’s Centre in Wales.

Following Dame Sally Coates’ 2016 review, the budget for prison education was moved from the Department for Education (DfE) to the Ministry of Justice. This was in response to the core recommendation to give prison governors more flexibility and control over the curriculum so that they could better meet the learning needs of their prisoners. To address further recommendations, we introduced assessment on entry for English, maths and learning difficulties and disabilities, and boosted the capability of prisons to engage with employers through the creation of the New Futures Network (NFN). We expect to further improve the infrastructure for learning through the Government’s commitment to invest £200 million a year by 2024-25 to tackle reoffending and meet the manifesto commitment of delivering a new Prisoner Education Service. We have already started to trial innovation such as specialist education roles, as well as invest in digital tools to support prisoners with additional learning needs, such as trialling the use of reader pens.

The Ministry of Justice has published information on prosecutions and convictions for the driving offences listed in the questions, up to December 2020, in the ‘Principle offence proceedings and outcomes by Home Office offence code’ data tool, available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/987731/HO-code-tool-principal-offence-2020.xlsx

79342

Select ‘80701’ in the offence code filter of the pivot table.

In the Police Force Area (PFA) filter:

• For London alone, select ‘City of London’ and ‘Metropolitan Police’
• For England alone, select all PFAs except for Dyfed-Powys, Gwent, North Wales and South Wales

The number of convictions will populate row 33.

79343

Select ‘00412’ in the offence code filter of the pivot table.

In the Police Force Area (PFA) filter:

• For London alone, select ‘City of London’ and ‘Metropolitan Police’
• For England alone, select all PFAs except for Dyfed-Powys, Gwent, North Wales and South Wales

The number of convictions will populate row 33.

The Home Office are responsible for collecting data on charges relating to crimes recorded by the Police. These can be found in the Home Office outcomes open data tables, available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables

79517

Select offence codes ‘00417’ and ‘00409’ in the offence code filter

In the Police Force Area (PFA) filter:

• For London alone, select ‘City of London’ and ‘Metropolitan Police’
• For England alone, select all PFAs except for Dyfed-Powys, Gwent, North Wales and South Wales

The number of prosecutions and convictions will populate rows 32 and 33 respectively.

The Ministry of Justice has published information on prosecutions and convictions for the driving offences listed in the questions, up to December 2020, in the ‘Principle offence proceedings and outcomes by Home Office offence code’ data tool, available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/987731/HO-code-tool-principal-offence-2020.xlsx

79342

Select ‘80701’ in the offence code filter of the pivot table.

In the Police Force Area (PFA) filter:

• For London alone, select ‘City of London’ and ‘Metropolitan Police’
• For England alone, select all PFAs except for Dyfed-Powys, Gwent, North Wales and South Wales

The number of convictions will populate row 33.

79343

Select ‘00412’ in the offence code filter of the pivot table.

In the Police Force Area (PFA) filter:

• For London alone, select ‘City of London’ and ‘Metropolitan Police’
• For England alone, select all PFAs except for Dyfed-Powys, Gwent, North Wales and South Wales

The number of convictions will populate row 33.

The Home Office are responsible for collecting data on charges relating to crimes recorded by the Police. These can be found in the Home Office outcomes open data tables, available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables

79517

Select offence codes ‘00417’ and ‘00409’ in the offence code filter

In the Police Force Area (PFA) filter:

• For London alone, select ‘City of London’ and ‘Metropolitan Police’
• For England alone, select all PFAs except for Dyfed-Powys, Gwent, North Wales and South Wales

The number of prosecutions and convictions will populate rows 32 and 33 respectively.

The Ministry of Justice has published information on prosecutions and convictions for the driving offences listed in the questions, up to December 2020, in the ‘Principle offence proceedings and outcomes by Home Office offence code’ data tool, available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/987731/HO-code-tool-principal-offence-2020.xlsx

79342

Select ‘80701’ in the offence code filter of the pivot table.

In the Police Force Area (PFA) filter:

• For London alone, select ‘City of London’ and ‘Metropolitan Police’
• For England alone, select all PFAs except for Dyfed-Powys, Gwent, North Wales and South Wales

The number of convictions will populate row 33.

79343

Select ‘00412’ in the offence code filter of the pivot table.

In the Police Force Area (PFA) filter:

• For London alone, select ‘City of London’ and ‘Metropolitan Police’
• For England alone, select all PFAs except for Dyfed-Powys, Gwent, North Wales and South Wales

The number of convictions will populate row 33.

The Home Office are responsible for collecting data on charges relating to crimes recorded by the Police. These can be found in the Home Office outcomes open data tables, available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables

79517

Select offence codes ‘00417’ and ‘00409’ in the offence code filter

In the Police Force Area (PFA) filter:

• For London alone, select ‘City of London’ and ‘Metropolitan Police’
• For England alone, select all PFAs except for Dyfed-Powys, Gwent, North Wales and South Wales

The number of prosecutions and convictions will populate rows 32 and 33 respectively.

The number of prosecutions for offences relating to the supply of illegal, unregulated or black market gambling services are provided in the attached table and published in the ‘Principal offence proceedings and outcomes by Home Office offence code data tool’, available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/987731/HO-code-tool-principal-offence-2020.xlsx

The specific offences selected are listed below:

• 10646 - Provision of facilities for gambling unless authorised by an operating licence or covered by a specific exception
• 10647 - Use of premises for gambling without a licence
• 10660 - Offences connected to gaming machines: making machine available for use; manufacture, supply etc. linked to machines.

Ex gratia offers are discretionary, and the Ministry of Justice is required to consider all the relevant information before making a decision on an individual case. Correspondence relating to this specific case is currently being considered.

This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

On 20 September the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) published a new policy on pregnancy, Mother and Baby Units and maternal separation from children up to the age of two in women’s prisons, which contains a range of reforms for improving the care of pregnant women. The policy requires increased local and central data collection on self-declared pregnant women in our care, to ensure individuals are receiving the relevant support and to ensure policy is more informed.

We publish some of this data in the HMPPS Annual Digest of statistical information. We published the first of these on 29 July 2021, which showed that during the period July 2020-April 2021 an average of 26 women self-declared as pregnant each week.

This is a dynamic area of policy and we will continue to consider our central data collection as it develops.

Data for the number of civils servants employed by the Ministry of Justice by NUTS1 UK region as at 31 March 2021 are available at the following website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/civil-service-statistics-2021

Data for the number of civils servants (headcount) employed by the Ministry of Justice by NUTS1 UK region as at 1 June 2021 and 1 September 2021 is provided in Table 1 below.

To align with published data an end of month position has been provided.

Table 1 - Ministry of Justice (including executive agency) payroll staff in post by NUTS1 region

Staff are assigned to a NUTS 1 region based on their HR Location Postcode in the department's HR database.

Those with an Unknown region have either a blank or invalid HR Location Postcode in the department's HR database

In the week commencing 15 November 2021, there were six red sites situated in England, and none appointed for Wales. These were Kent, Buckingham and Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, Hertfordshire and HM Prison North Sea Camp.

The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) operates free legal advice surgeries in Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs) in England. Individuals who are detained are entitled to receive up to 30 minutes of advice regardless of financial eligibility or the merits of their case. There is no restriction on the number of surgeries an individual may attend. If an individual who is detained requires substantive advice on a matter which is in scope of legal aid, full legal advice can be provided if the statutory legal aid means and merits criteria are met.

In order to provide access to the Detention Duty Advice Scheme (DDAS) services for women held at Derwentside Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) from 1 January 2022, existing Providers at Yarl’s Wood IRC will be invited to express interest in providing an additional 6 months of interim provision at Derwentside.

Under the contingency arrangements, 2 surgeries per week are planned for Derwentside DDAS. Appointments will be available as soon as women are held at the centre.

Following a change of operations in line with Government advice on social distancing, the LAA DDAS is currently operating by phone in IRCs. Detained individuals who wish to access this service are asked to advise centre staff, who will notify the duty solicitor under the scheme. The duty solicitor will contact the individual directly.

Shipping containers are used at some Community Payback sites, primarily as storage facilities. Staff working at sites with shipping containers will also have access to a Probation building in their region for office and welfare facilities.

Following unification of the service in June 2021, we are continuing to review the Community Payback estate, this includes assessing what sites are used for, the facilities available, and any storage amenities on site, including the number of shipping containers.

At this stage we are not able to provide an exact breakdown of the number of shipping containers currently on Community Payback sites.

The attached tables show the number of first receptions of women aged 18-24 from 2011 to 2020, by establishment.

The Female Offender Strategy set out the Government’s vision of fewer women offending and reoffending; fewer women in custody, especially on short-term sentences, with a greater proportion of women managed in the community successfully; and where prison is necessary, better conditions for those in custody.

Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) provided front-line probation services for medium-low risk offenders from 2015 to June 2021. All front-line probation services transferred to the Probation Service on 26 June, in addition to assets that were required for the operation of services under the Unified Model.

CRCs will have had sub-contracting arrangements for their back-office operations, including shipping container installation and maintenance. These contractual relationships were between the CRC and their contractors.

During the lifetime of the contracts, CRCs were not obligated to provide an annual breakdown of spend on their back-office operations to the Authority and we, therefore, do not hold this data.

The Ministry of Justice does not collect data on the number of deprivation of liberty orders in relation to individuals in care who were under 16 years old.

Applications for deprivation of liberty orders can be made by local authorities when they need to accommodate a child in a non-secure placement. Cafcass – the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service – collect the data on these applications from local authorities and 164 deprivation of liberty applications were made in the period 1 July – 31 October 2021.

All Community Payback facilities on site, including shipping containers, are subject to risk assessments. These assessments consider all foreseeable hazards and reduce the risk of harm to a reasonable level.

Shipping containers are primarily used as tool stores and our existing risk assessments outline the health and safety concerns associated with depots and tool stores.

Following unification of the Probation Service, HMPPS is developing a generic risk assessment for all Community Payback units, alongside a safe working practice document to detail the procedures for using the unit.

The unified Probation Service assumed responsibility for the delivery of Community Payback in June 2021, providing significant opportunities for reform. The Target Operating Model outlines our ambition for Community Payback, including initiatives to improve delivery, increase placement quality and better meet the needs of offenders.

As part of these reforms, the Government is relaunching Community Payback to ensure offenders are visibly and publicly making reparations for their crimes by undertaking work that benefits their local areas. We are investing an additional £93m in Community Payback over the next three years to bolster delivery and facilitate the relaunch.

This work has commenced through our first national agreement (with the Canal and River Trust) which previews a new strategic approach to delivering high quality placements at scale, the introduction of a statutory duty to consult on Community Payback in the PCSC Bill and the piloting of a digital assessment.

Wider changes to Community Payback outlined in the Target Operating Model are part of a long-term investment in Probation services and will be implemented gradually.

Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) have developed the ‘women’s estate specialist training’ (WEST) course. Its modular content is threaded throughout the apprenticeship foundation programme to offer a distinct and dedicated course, underpinned by a trauma informed approach. This forms part of the nine-week foundation period for new prison officers destined to work within the women’s estate. The first dedicated WEST course has been scheduled to take place in January 2022. This course also contains a module which focuses on young women in custody. Existing staff in the women’s estate are able to access information through ‘myLearning’ which includes the Young Adults page which is designed to be an accessible resource for all staff to understand better the needs of this age group in custody.

As of 12th November, there were 65 prisoners in the HM Prison and Probation Service Women’s estate who were aged between 18 and 20. Of these, fewer than five were sharing a cell with another prisoner who was aged 21 or over.

There is not a process by which formal assessment is made of the published data that is referenced, rather the issues highlighted are monitored on an ongoing basis through operational management and plans around recruitment and retention.

The workload of Probation Officers is monitored through the Workload Measurement Tool (WMT) which considers the workloads of case holding Probation Practitioners. This reflects the current levels of staffing on an ongoing basis. The output of this is considered at both the operational and strategic level to support decision making. This tool prioritises public protection in how it operates affording the most time to cases with high levels of risk and need.

In response to known pressures in staffing across the country and in the identified areas, in 2020/21, we recruited a record 1,007 trainee probation officers. We are further increasing our recruitment to unprecedented levels, with a target 1,500 trainee Probation Officers being recruited this financial year (2021/2022).

In April 2021 we published the first national Recruitment and Retention Strategy for the Probation Service which identified several key areas of focus.

The Probation Service is committed to increasing recruitment to fill Probation Officer vacancies, particularly in areas with significant local employment market challenges.

In 2020/21, we recruited a record 1,007 trainee probation officers. We are further increasing our recruitment to unprecedented levels, with a target 1500 trainee Probation Officers being recruited this financial year (2021/2022).

As outlined in the Recruitment and Retention Strategy, our focus is addressing recruitment and retention challenges within the Probation Service, particularly for those Probation Delivery Units (PDUs) with the highest average Probation Officer vacancy rates over a 12-month period.

We have identified 6 common drivers of attrition across those regions where it is more challenging to recruit and retain probation officers. These drivers include:

o Pay and benefits

o Newly Qualified Officers’ (NQO) attrition

o High caseloads

o Lack of career progression

o Wellbeing

o Bullying, Harassment and Discrimination

Work is currently underway to address all drivers of attrition, including options to retain NQOs in their qualifying regions for a period post qualification and a targeted recruitment campaign to reduce probation officer vacancy rates in Kent, Surrey & Sussex (KSS), in an effort to fill 35 probation officer vacancies.

From centrally held Ministry of Justice data, it is not possible to identify how many offences under the Modern Slavery Act were prosecuted or convicted in connection with child criminal exploitation. The Ministry of Justice has published information on prosecutions for offences under the Modern Slavery Act in the ‘Outcomes by Offence’ data tool, available below, but these do not identify the age of the victim:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/987715/outcomes-by-offence-2020.xlsx

• Use the ‘Offence’ filter to select ‘106 Modern Slavery’.

Offences involving child criminal exploitation will be recorded in court data under their legal offence title.

Information to identify the age and specific offence may be held on court record but to identify them would require a manual search of court records and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The Lord Chancellor has a duty to ensure that legal aid is made available in accordance with the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (2012), for cases where the relevant criteria, such as the financial eligibility of the applicant and/or the degree of legal merit in their case, is met, where applicable.

The Ministry of Justice works within HM Treasury allocations as shown in the Main and Supplementary Estimates (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-main-estimates) each year. However, the nature of Legal Aid funding means that it is demand led, and as such the MoJ ensures sufficient allocation is made to cover the incurred costs.

Spend on legal aid since 2010 can be viewed at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/legal-aid-statistics, which currently shows expenditure up to and including June 2021.

As the Deputy Prime Minister has set out, we will overhaul the Human Rights Act (HRA) to end its abuse by dangerous criminals and restore common sense to our justice system. In line with our manifesto commitment we will make sure it meets the needs of the society it serves and commands public support.

The Government established the Independent Human Rights Act Review to examine the framework of the HRA, how it is operating in practice and whether any change is required. We have received the Panel’s report and are carefully considering its conclusions. We will publish the Panel’s report in due course and consult on any proposed legislative changes.

On 8 November, the Government announced an Inquiry into the offences committed by David Fuller in Tunbridge Wells, and that we would be reviewing the existing penalty available for the offence of sexual penetration of a corpse. These reviews may highlight issues relating to the coverage of the existing offences that deal with desecration, and we will consider any changes to the law in light of their findings.

There are currently no plans to resume the use of triple cells at HMP Belmarsh.

HMPPS continually monitors the anticipated population and capacity of the prison estate and will always ensure that there is sufficient space to hold those committed to custody from the courts.

The Ministry of Justice is currently preparing an action plan which will be published in due course in response to the HMIP inspection report on HMYOI Cookham Wood. The plan will set out steps being taken to address the issues identified including those to reduce violence and providing children with more access to education.

The Ministry of Justice is currently preparing an action plan which will be published in due course in response to the HMIP inspection report on HMYOI Cookham Wood. The plan will set out steps being taken to address the issues identified including those to reduce violence and providing children with more access to education.

The Ministry of Justice is currently preparing an action plan which will be published in due course in response to the HMIP inspection report on HMYOI Cookham Wood. The plan will set out steps being taken to address the issues identified including those to reduce violence and providing children with more access to education.

Operational guidance on the use of rigid bar handcuffs, and the HM Prison and Probation Service policy on the use of force state that any use of handcuffs is considered a use of force, and must only be used when necessary, reasonable and proportionate to the seriousness of the circumstances. Following the use of rigid bar handcuffs, staff must complete a statement to justify their decision.

Use of rigid bar handcuffs must be discussed at a subsequent local Use of Force committee meeting and lessons learned shared with all staff. This can include, for example, discussions on alternatives which may have de-escalated the situation and any further training that may be required.

The Ministry of Justice welcomes the joint thematic inspection and will be providing a formal response and supporting action plan in the new year.

Working with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England we will be increasing the availability of Primary Care Mental Health Treatment Requirements to cover at least 50% of all courts by 2023. We are also preparing to launch a campaign with sentencers and court staff to raise awareness of MHTRs where they are available and to promote their use.

The Secretary of State’s statutory guidance to (MAPPA) responsible authorities has a dedicated chapter on mentally-disordered offenders, emphasising the importance of information sharing with and by medical practitioners, to inform risk assessment and risk management. The guidance is available at https://mappa.justice.gov.uk/MAPPA/view?objectID=5682416.

Officials have also undertaken significant work to build awareness on the part of medical practitioners of the role of MAPPA and of their part in the effective delivery of these arrangements in individual cases.

The MoJ welcomes the joint thematic inspection of the criminal justice journey for individuals with mental health needs and disorders and will be providing a formal response and supporting action plan with HMPPS, DHSC and NHSE/I in the new year.

The Government is committed to tackling the causes of reoffending to keep our communities safe. We know there is a link between homelessness and reoffending; offenders without settled accommodation are around 50 percent more likely to reoffend. As part of the Beating Crime plan, MoJ have delivered a new transitional accommodation service for offenders leaving prison at risk of homelessness. Launched initially in five probation regions this July it is offering up to 12 weeks temporary accommodation and support to prison leavers to facilitate them into settled accommodation.

My department is supporting efforts to ensure those with mental health needs are referred to community services for assessment and treatment in a timely fashion through such work as the NHS’ RECONNECT scheme which provides a care after prison custody service to support patients through all healthcare pathways including mental health. Integrated Offender Management (IOM) schemes include clear pathways to support mental health services to help address the root cause of criminal behaviour. By facilitating offenders’ access to these services, we are helping them turn their back on crime.

The MoJ welcomes the joint thematic inspection of the criminal justice journey for individuals with mental health needs and disorders and will be providing a formal response and supporting action plan with HMPPS, DHSC and NHSE/I in the new year.

The Government is committed to tackling the causes of reoffending to keep our communities safe. We know there is a link between homelessness and reoffending; offenders without settled accommodation are around 50 percent more likely to reoffend. As part of the Beating Crime plan, MoJ have delivered a new transitional accommodation service for offenders leaving prison at risk of homelessness. Launched initially in five probation regions this July it is offering up to 12 weeks temporary accommodation and support to prison leavers to facilitate them into settled accommodation.

My department is supporting efforts to ensure those with mental health needs are referred to community services for assessment and treatment in a timely fashion through such work as the NHS’ RECONNECT scheme which provides a care after prison custody service to support patients through all healthcare pathways including mental health. Integrated Offender Management (IOM) schemes include clear pathways to support mental health services to help address the root cause of criminal behaviour. By facilitating offenders’ access to these services, we are helping them turn their back on crime.