Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department takes to ensure that recall decisions are (a) fair and (b) proportionate to public safety concerns.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government’s absolute focus is on public protection. Offenders on licence can be swiftly recalled to prison if they breach their licence conditions. The recall of an offender to custody is an important public protection measure, and successive thematic reviews conducted by HM Chief Inspector of Probation have found that the Probation Service is using recall appropriately.
Additionally, HMPPS has issued guidance to probation practitioners, to ensure all safe alternatives to recall are considered before a decision is taken to recall an offender.
Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to provide adequate mental health support for prisoners serving Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
It is right that Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences were abolished. We are committed to working at pace to support the progression of all those serving the IPP sentence, but not in a way that undermines public protection.
We are committed to improving outcomes for offenders with mental health needs, including IPP prisoners, and recognise the importance of providing the right interventions at the right time.
This is reflected in the National Partnership Agreement on Health and Social Care in England which was published in 2023 and which sets out a shared priority workplan to deliver safe, decent and effective care for offenders in prison and the community.
Health and justice partners have committed to providing an equivalent standard, range and quality of healthcare in prisons to that available in the community. If a prisoner has a severe mental health need to an extent that detention under the Mental Health Act 1983 may be appropriate, they will be referred and assessed by qualified clinicians to determine whether to transfer to a mental health hospital is warranted.
Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department takes to support the reintegration of released prisoners.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Effective reintegration of prison leavers is a core part of our efforts to reduce reoffending, as it aims to ensure that the elements proven to reduce reoffending are in place when an offender leaves prison.
This includes making sure someone has a home, family links where appropriate, access to healthcare, a job or further education, and/or access to benefits. For example, to support a smoother transition into the community, we are delivering our temporary accommodation service so all offenders leaving prison at risk of homelessness are offered up to 12 weeks of accommodation to provide a stable base on release. To help ensure prisoners are matched to jobs on release, Prison Employment Leads, Employment Hubs, ID and Banking Administrators and Employment Advisory Boards are in every resettlement prison.
We will also ensure that pre-release plans are created for those leaving custody, to ensure their needs are identified early, and individual robust plans are in place to address resettlement needs.
Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she plans to reform Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
It is right that Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences were abolished. We supported reforms to the IPP licence in the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 in opposition. They commenced on 1 November, which terminated the licence for around 1,800 IPP offenders in the community. The remaining reforms will be implemented on 1 February 2025.
The Government is determined to make further progress to support those serving the IPP sentence towards a safe and sustainable release, but not in a way that compromises public protection.
Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the report entitled, An inspection of North West Division National Probation Service, published by HM Inspectorate of Probation in February 2019, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) risk management plans in relation to domestic abuse and (b) the reporting to courts of plans are improved.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation found that the National Probation Service’s leadership team in the North West is focused on delivering a high-quality service. It assessed the work of the Division overall as “Good”.
The Inspectorate made eight recommendations for improvement, A programme of building improvement works has already been completed and an action plan has been drawn up to address the remaining recommendations. This was sent to the Inspectorate on 4 March.
Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps are being taken to reduce the number of agency staff employed by the Probation Service.
Answered by Rory Stewart
There were 3,352 FTE band 4 probation officers in post as at 31 December 2018. This figure shows a broadly stable trend with a small increase of 9 (0.3%) since 30 September 2018 and a small decrease of 17 (0.5%) compared to 31 December 2017. In the last year, 707 Probation Service Officers (PSO) were appointed, some of whom will be training to become qualified Probation Officers (PO).
As at December 2018, there were 544 FTE probation Officers in post in the North West Probation Service Division.
We are recruiting more staff into the National Probation Service to reduce the reliance on agency staff. Changes to the recruitment process and eligibility criteria for probation officers have been made resulting in increases in both the volume and diversity of probation officer applicants. A national campaign to recruit probation officers is currently underway and successful candidates will start in July 2019.
HMPPS does not publish data on numbers of vacancies.
Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress he has made on recruiting probation officers in (a) England and (b) North West; and how many vacancies there are in each of those areas.
Answered by Rory Stewart
There were 3,352 FTE band 4 probation officers in post as at 31 December 2018. This figure shows a broadly stable trend with a small increase of 9 (0.3%) since 30 September 2018 and a small decrease of 17 (0.5%) compared to 31 December 2017. In the last year, 707 Probation Service Officers (PSO) were appointed, some of whom will be training to become qualified Probation Officers (PO).
As at December 2018, there were 544 FTE probation Officers in post in the North West Probation Service Division.
We are recruiting more staff into the National Probation Service to reduce the reliance on agency staff. Changes to the recruitment process and eligibility criteria for probation officers have been made resulting in increases in both the volume and diversity of probation officer applicants. A national campaign to recruit probation officers is currently underway and successful candidates will start in July 2019.
HMPPS does not publish data on numbers of vacancies.
Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the report entitled, An inspection of North West Division National Probation Service, published by HM Inspectorate of Probation in February 2019, what steps he is taking to ensure that probation staff are trained on the policy requirements in relation to the use of remote technology.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation found that the National Probation Service’s leadership team in the North West is focused on delivering a high-quality service. It assessed the work of the Division overall as “Good”.
The Inspectorate made eight recommendations for improvement, A programme of building improvement works has already been completed and an action plan has been drawn up to address the remaining recommendations. This was sent to the Inspectorate on 4 March.
Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the report entitled, An inspection of North West Division National Probation Service, published by HM Inspectorate of Probation in February 2019, what steps is he taking to ensure that the premises in the North West used by the Probation Service are of an adequate standard.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation found that the National Probation Service’s leadership team in the North West is focused on delivering a high-quality service. It assessed the work of the Division overall as “Good”.
The Inspectorate made eight recommendations for improvement, A programme of building improvement works has already been completed and an action plan has been drawn up to address the remaining recommendations. This was sent to the Inspectorate on 4 March.
Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the report entitled, An inspection of North West Division National Probation Service, published by HM Inspectorate of Probation in February 2019, what steps is he taking to ensure that probation staff are able to use court staff facilities.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation found that the National Probation Service’s leadership team in the North West is focused on delivering a high-quality service. It assessed the work of the Division overall as “Good”.
The Inspectorate made eight recommendations for improvement, A programme of building improvement works has already been completed and an action plan has been drawn up to address the remaining recommendations. This was sent to the Inspectorate on 4 March.