Oral Answers to Questions

Faisal Rashid Excerpts

Tuesday 8th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Robert Buckland]

I hope that Members in this House and elsewhere feel that I have discharged my duties under my oath, and I will continue to do that. I will take whatever step I deem necessary to make sure that I am true to that oath, and to the rule of law.

[Faisal Rashid (Warrington South) (Lab)]

8. What progress he has made on reforming probation.

[The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (Lucy Frazer)]

We have already announced that we will strengthen probation by bringing back into the National Probation Service the supervision of offenders. In July, we published a draft operating blueprint.

[Faisal Rashid]

The former Justice Secretary’s decision in 2013 to privatise probation was set up to fail from the start. Now that a partial U-turn has been announced, can the Minister set out for the House the full cost, from start to finish, of the failed privatisation of probation services?

[Lucy Frazer]

We recognise that there is more we can do in relation to probation, which is why we are changing the system, but “Transforming Rehabilitation” brought 40,000 people back into supervision, and we are ensuring that the new procedure will work well.