Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, regarding plans for the UK's first secure school for children aged 12 to 17, what further onward support will be available for these young people and their families as they leave the school.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Oasis Restore, the provider of the UK’s first secure school, has developed a comprehensive package of continuing support for children as they leave the school, and for their families. Its Family Strategy – a live document, which will be developed iteratively, with the voices of children and families – outlines how the school intends to support and engage families and carers.
Children returning to the community will be supported by the school and their Youth Offending Teams to ensure that key provisions, such as education and training, health provision, housing, and finance, are in place for release. Where appropriate, the school will use the temporary release scheme to prepare a child for return to the community.
When children transition to alternative youth detention accommodation, Oasis Restore will work closely with the receiving establishment to share information, for effective planning and support. Staff will support children and families with the transition, particularly to understand the new setting and what support is available.
Through Oasis Community Learning, the school will be able to access education and training opportunities, as well as housing and mentorship, for children returning to the community.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Annual Report of the Independent Monitoring Board at HMP/YOI Feltham, published on 12 March; and in particular, the finding that violence in classrooms and workshops has made young prisoners reluctant to attend education and rehabilitation sessions.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
We are grateful to the Independent Monitoring Board for its report, and for the vital work its members undertake to monitor the welfare of prisoners, to ensure that they are properly cared for. The report comments on the impact of staffing challenges affecting the regime at both HM/YOI Feltham A (young people under 18) and HMP/YOI Feltham B (adults and young adults over 18), as well as on the suitability of the education programmes available.
Since the end of the period covered by the Independent Monitoring Board’s report (1 September 2022- 31 August 2023), the staffing position at Feltham A has improved, and it now has the resources in place to provide a safe and productive regime for young people, with increased time-out-of-room.
The Youth Custody Service (YCS) has commissioned a resource review across all four public sector young offender institutions, to explore opportunities to make better use of the staff available in the current operating environment. This includes looking at the balance between management and frontline supervisory staff. The first review was at Feltham A in 2023, and a delivery plan following this review will be implemented shortly. The YCS will monitor the impact of this on service delivery. Support is also being provided at Feltham A to aid staff retention; sickness absence monitoring, with appropriate support, is a feature of regular management oversight.
The report of an Independent Review of Progress at Feltham B, conducted by HM Inspectorate of Prisons in January 2024, found that the prison had made reasonable progress in relation to encouraging positive behaviour. In addition, following a resource and risk assessment review, improved arrangements for purposeful activity are being put in place, to support the aim of reducing re-offending and increasing readiness for work, to help prisoners to gain employment upon release.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that support provided to prison leavers to secure available housing and potential job opportunities is coordinated.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
Effective resettlement of prison leavers is a core part of our efforts to reduce re-offending. This includes making sure someone has a home and access to employment.
Community Probation Practitioners coordinate the overall rehabilitation of an offender, supported by Pre-Release Teams who provide immediate resettlement and pre-release support for all people in prison, including for accommodation and employment. This coordination continues once the individual has left prison for the duration of their license period.
In prisons, we have rolled out Employment Hubs where Prison Employment Leads work alongside DWP Prison Work Coaches to provide a joined-up approach to preparing for employment. Accommodation support and assistance includes completion of accommodation and housing benefit applications, and support and guidance to ensure continuation of an existing tenancy.
To further improve coordination and the overall offering we are introducing Resettlement Passports, which will bring together key information and services that an individual needs in one place to resettle into the community, such as bank accounts, CV’s and identity documents to prove the right to work and rent.
The proportion of prison leavers who were employed six months after release has more than doubled in the two years to March 2023, from 14% to over 30%, and the proportion of prison leavers who were homeless or rough sleeping upon release decreased from 16% to 11%, between 2019-20 and 2022-23.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the positive impact of face-to-face meetings between ex-offenders and National Probation Service officials; how many such meetings there have been, in England and Wales, in each of the last 12 months; and what steps they intend to take to (1) reduce supervision by telephone, and (2) increase face-to-face meetings, for ex-offenders.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The impact of face-to-face meetings between ex-offenders and National Probation Service (NPS) officials is not formally assessed. Both NPS and Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) staff use their professional judgement to determine the required frequency and most appropriate form of supervision.
Remote supervision should not be used as the only means by which an offender is supervised, which is why we have recently amended CRC contracts to ensure all offenders under supervision in the community are offered face-to-face contact with their Responsible Officer at least once a month. Data on this measure will be published on 24 April 2019.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have been prosecuted for the use of hand-held mobile devices while driving in the past 12 months.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
In 2016, the most recent period for which figures are available, 12,853 defendants were proceeded against at magistrates courts in England and Wales for using or causing others to use a handheld mobile phone whilst driving.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of prisoners given sentences lasting less than 12 months are allocated accommodation upon their release.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
This information is not available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what sanctions are imposed on prison providers when targets for education are not met.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The current contractual arrangements enable the National Offender Management Service to impose sanctions upon education providers, including withholding payment, if they do not deliver learning to prisoners or are subject to a poor Ofsted inspection.
Through the Prison Safety and Reform white paper, the Government has set out its proposals to deliver major reforms to the prison system to cut reoffending and help reduce crime. The Justice Secretary has been clear that she wants prisons to be places of safety and reform, helping get offenders off drugs and giving them basic education skills they need to find work on release.
As part of these reforms we will be raising standards, including measuring an individual’s educational attainment, empowering prison governors to take decisions over how best to support their prisoner cohort, while holding them to account on an agreed set of standards.