Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the value of each contract made with community rehabilitation companies in the last 12 months.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
There have been no contracts made with Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) by the Ministry of Justice in the last 12 months. The contracts with CRCs were awarded in December 2014 and went live in February 2015.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the response by Baroness Buscombe on 24 January (HL Deb, col 429) concerning the review of the probation system, what the membership and terms of reference of that review will be.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
The Ministry of Justice is conducting an internal review of the probation system. The review is considering all aspects of the probation system and we are engaging with both Community Rehabilitation Companies and the National Probation Service. As with our plans for prisons, we want a simpler, clearer system with specific outcome measures such as getting offenders into apprenticeships and work. We will set out our plans for the probation system once the review is concluded in April.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the response by Baroness Buscombe on 24 January (HL Deb, col 429) concerning the review of the probation system, whether the review will include services provided before prisoner release by community rehabilitation companies.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
We are currently conducting a comprehensive review of the probation system. This is examining all aspects of the probation system, including resettlement services delivered by probation services in prisons to support offenders on release from custody. We will set out our plans after our review is concluded in April.
Asked by: Lord German (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the suitability of the current range of vocational qualifications offered to those serving prison sentences in England and Wales.
Answered by Lord Faulks
The Secretary of State for Justice announced on 8th September a review of the quality of education in prisons, chaired by Dame Sally Coates. The review will examine the scope, quality and effectiveness of current provision. It will consider the scope and range of the current curricula and identify the most effective teaching and delivery models. Stakeholders are being consulted and a Call for Evidence has been issued. The review is expected to report in the spring of 2016. A copy of the terms of reference can be found at gov.uk
The Welsh Government provides prison education funding to NOMS in Wales to commission services and these are aligned to the Welsh Government’s learning and skills outcome requirements. Vocational courses represent more than 80% of the prisoner education in prisons in Wales and take account of offender needs and labour market information to increase prisoners’ employment opportunities on release.