Asked by: Lord Laming (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the report by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation Annual Report 2022: Serious Further Offences, published on 29 September, what steps they will take to prevent people under probation supervision from committing serious sexual or violent offences.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Serious further offences are rare. Fewer than 0.5% of offenders under statutory supervision are charged with a serious further offence, but we know that each offence will have a devastating impact on the victims and their families. We carry out a thorough review into each one to identify whether our practice needs to change for the better management of future cases.
Risk cannot be eliminated entirely. However, all offenders managed in the community on licence are subject to strict conditions, to enable the Probation Service to manage their risk effectively. Offenders who breach their licence conditions so as to exhibit increased risk are liable to be recalled to custody. Known sexual and violent offenders are managed under the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA). MAPPA are a statutory framework, in which the Police, Prison and Probation Services are required to work together to assess and manage offenders’ risks.
Efficient sharing of information between Police and Probation is key to keeping people safe. We have assigned £1.5 million per year to fund staff directly to access police domestic abuse information and a further £4 million to work with Children’s Services to access safeguarding information. In the 2021 Spending Review, we made permanent the additional £155 million per year for the new unified Probation Service that has been invested since 2020/21. This has helped us recruit a record-breaking 1007 trainee probation officers in 2020/21 and 1518 in 2021/22, with a further 1500 planned for 2022/23.
Asked by: Lord Laming (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the number of children in the care of English local authorities being placed in Scotland.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In England, the responsibility for ensuring a looked-after child or young person is in the appropriate placement rests with local authorities as they are best placed to understand the specific needs of individual children in their care. Local authorities have a duty to ensure sufficient appropriate provision for all of the children they look after.
The department recognises, however, that some local authorities sometimes find it difficult accessing the most appropriate accommodation, particularly for children with the most complex needs, and that children are sometimes placed in locations away from home, when they may be better served by a placement in their local area, were one available.
The lack of available and suitable placements for the most vulnerable children is something this government takes seriously. With that in mind, the government is taking significant steps to support local authorities to fulfil their statutory duties. Between now and 2025, £259 million will be made available to develop and expand the provision of both secure and open homes, to reduce out of area placements, to provide for children with complex needs, and to promote innovative practice to maintain placement stability or prevent children from entering the care system.
Recognising the urgency of action in placement sufficiency, and following the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, the department will also work with local authorities on recruiting more foster carers.
Asked by: Lord Laming (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Prison Reform Trust Prison: the facts, published on 15 July; and what steps they will take in response.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Prison Reform Trust’s report raises a number of issues on which encouraging progress is being made, including work on the Prisons White Paper commitments.
This includes addressing retention of prison officers, and from October 2016 to March 2022, the number of band 3-5 prison officers increased by over 4,000. The most recent pay award provides at least a 4% base pay increase for all prison staff between Operational Support Grade and Governors (Bands 2-11).
We are creating a more resilient estate by both building additional prison places and undertaking refurbishments. This means investing £3.8 billion to deliver 20,000 additional, modern prison places including 2,000 temporary prison places across England and Wales. We are also investing £37 million to deliver improvements to prison safety, as well as investing a further £120 million in tackling substance misuse over the next three years to get more offenders engaged in treatment.
In March, we completed our £100 million Security Investment Programme which will enable us to tackle efforts to undermine prison stability.
There is also a range of projects addressing the diversity of needs among the prison population. This includes developing further support for neurodivergent prisoners by introducing additional staff roles or screening tools as well as developing a strategy supporting older prisoners.
We are continuing to work with Governors across the estate to ensure we are restoring services effectively whilst addressing any backlogs created during the pandemic.
Asked by: Lord Laming (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many posts in the Department of Health and Social Care are filled by qualified (1) doctors, and (2) social workers.
Answered by Lord Kamall
There are 49 qualified doctors in Departmental posts. While there is no centralised record of the number of social workers in the Department, there are three qualified social workers in the Chief Social Worker’s office.
Asked by: Lord Laming (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the most senior post in the Department of Health and Social Care that is occupied by a qualified social worker with experience of working in local government.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Chief Social Worker for Adults, Lyn Romeo, is a qualified and registered social worker.
Asked by: Lord Laming (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that 5,279 children have been stripped and searched by Metropolitan Police Officers; and what steps they are taking to ensure that (1) such action was appropriate and essential, and (2) children’s safety and wellbeing is considered.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Conducting a strip search is an operational matter for the police. Strip search is one of the most intrusive powers available to the police and its use should not be a routine occurrence.
Any use of strip search should be carried out in accordance with the law and with full regard for the dignity and welfare of the individual being searched – particularly if the individual being searched is a child. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 Codes of Practice govern how the police should deploy this power.
If the police judge it operationally necessary to strip search a child, this must be carried out by officers of the same sex, in private and with an appropriate adult present unless both the child and the appropriate adult agree otherwise and in line with safeguarding procedures.
Asked by: Lord Laming (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the profits declared by companies providing children’s care homes; and what steps they are taking to prevent tax-payer funded care home providers from making excessive profits in future.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched a market study in March 2021 exploring the lack of availability and increasing costs in children’s social care provision, including children’s homes, and fostering. It examines concerns around high prices paid by local authorities and inadequate supply of appropriate placements for children. The interim report was published on 22 October 2021 and noted that some relevant parties had expressed concerns around the level of profits made by large private sector providers of children’s homes. It considers the profit levels to be a symptom of the underlying problem of insufficient supply of appropriate places and the difficulties local authorities have in engaging effectively in this market.
The full report, including any recommendations, will be published by the 11 March 2022.
In addition to the CMA market study, the independent children’s social care review is taking a fundamental look at the needs, experiences, and outcomes of those supported by children’s social care, and what is needed to make a real difference. The review is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reform systems and services, with the aim of better supporting, protecting, and improving the outcomes of vulnerable children and young people.
The government will respond to both sets of recommendations after the respective reviews have concluded.
Asked by: Lord Laming (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Barran on 9 November (HL3490), what assessment they have made of (1) the effects on children in care of waiting for the final report of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) before taking steps to address the issues identified in the interim report, and (2) the interim report's finding that some children in care are being housed in unsuitable accommodation; and what steps they intend to take, if any, to address issues identified by the CMA's interim report before the final report is completed.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The interim report from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is welcome but we are not waiting for the final report before acting. Every child in care deserves to live in accommodation that meets their needs and keeps them safe. Councils are responsible for providing suitable, safe accommodation for vulnerable children in their care. As part of the Spending Review, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced investment of £259 million to help them meet this duty, by increasing the number of places in open and secure children’s homes. This builds on work that has already started to maintain capacity and expand provision in existing secure children’s homes, alongside new capital funding to help councils create new homes. We have also consulted on national minimum standards for any unregulated provision accommodating 16 or 17 year olds
The government is also undertaking a widescale review of children’s social care, taking a fundamental look at the needs, experiences, and outcomes of the children it supports, and what is needed to make a real difference. The review will be bold, broad, and independently led, taking a fundamental look across children’s social care, with the aim of better supporting, protecting and improving the outcomes of vulnerable children and young people. The review will be evidenced based and bring together a broad range of expertise.
The department is engaging with the CMA and the independent review of social care, and will respond to both sets of recommendations when available.
Asked by: Lord Laming (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take in response to the report of the Competition and Markets Authority Children’s Social Care Market study, published on 22 October.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched a market study in March 2021 examining the lack of availability and increasing costs in children’s social care provision, including children’s homes and fostering. The CMA will examine concerns around high prices paid by local authorities and inadequate supply of appropriate placements for children. Its interim report was published on 22 October and its full report, including any recommendations, will be published by 11 March 2022.
The department welcomes the findings from the CMA’s interim report but will wait for the final report and recommendations before setting out our response.
Asked by: Lord Laming (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to help the almost 500 children under the age of 18 held in youth detention to recover from the effects of being locked up for 23 hours per day over the past year.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
During the pandemic our priority has been to protect children in custody and the staff who support them. While the measures we have put in place have been successful in doing this, they have also necessarily, but regrettably, resulted in more limited regimes for young people, who now spend on average around five hours out of room each day in our under 18 Young Offender Institutions (YOIs).
Following the national restrictions announced in January, we have been able to maintain ‘face to face’ education and social visits in the youth estate (to take place virtually where possible). Average daily time out of room for children in YOIs has been largely increasing month on month since July and as of April, the daily average figure was the highest since March 2020, the start of the pandemic.
We have continued to support regular phone calls with additional free phone credit and access to video calls to help children keep in touch with their families. We have also continued ‘SECURE STAIRS’ - a trauma-informed framework of integrated care jointly led by the NHS and the Youth Custody Service (YCS). This provides the foundations as to how the YCS works with children and has adapted its approach to meet the needs of children at this time. We have regularly communicated with staff and children to ensure they are aware and understand the reasoning as to why such measures have had to occur, with HM Inspectorate of Prisons acknowledging positive communication from managers in their published scrutiny visit reports.
Given the uncertainty this period has presented, it has also been encouraging to see that levels of self-harm have fallen during the COVID-19 period, as reflected in latest published statistics (with the annualised rate of self-harming per 100 children and young people in the three months to December 2020 falling by 56% compared to the same period last year).
We are also carrying out work to ensure that lessons learned from the COVID-19 period are taken into account going forwards, and the YCS has commissioned a programme of research, in collaboration with academics, to evaluate and learn lessons from the impact and response to COVID-19 with the results used to further inform recovery planning.