Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to HM Prison Inspectorate's report entitled Independent, serious further offence review of Jordan McSweeney, published on 24 January 2023, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of that report on the level of (a) excessive workloads and (b) staffing vacancies in the Probation Service in the London region.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The Probation Service has accepted the recommendations from the HM Probation Inspectorate Report following the serious further offence review of Jordan McSweeney and has an action plan in place.
Following the successful unification of the Probation Service for England and Wales, the Probation Service received an additional annual funding of £155 million. We have significantly increased staff recruitment and have exceeded trainee Probation Officer recruitment targets for 2020/21 and 2021/22, recruiting 1,007 and 1,518 trainees in respective years. The target for 2022/2023 is a further 1,500 trainees.
We are strengthening probation officer numbers so that we can reduce caseloads and focus on strengthening the probation officer’s relationship with those they supervise, thereby providing more consistent management and delivery of sentence plans, as well as better assessment and management of risk.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much the Government has spent on providing bail outs to private probation companies in the last five years.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
There have been no Government bail outs to private probation companies in the past five years.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he will request a Royal Commission on the performance of the Probation Service.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The government does not intend to request a Royal Commission into the performance of the Probation Service. We are aware of the challenges faced by the service and are committed to driving improvements urgently.
On 26 June, the Probation Service was reformed to create a unified service that is responsible for managing all offenders which is being delivered through an additional investment of £155 million. This resource is being used to recruit and retain a strong and diverse workforce to address the high workloads and improve the overall performance of the Probation Service, as public protection is our highest priority.
The performance of the Probation Service is closely monitored by both internal and external scrutiny bodies including His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP) who provide independent scrutiny of Probation Services in England and Wales. They focus on the quality and impact of the Probation Service, providing authoritative and evidence-based judgements and guidance leading to improved outcomes for individuals and communities. The Probation Service also undergoes regular audits completed by His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service Operational and System Assurance Group. This regular scrutiny means that the issues are identified and swift action is taken to address them, for example record recruitment was achieved in 2021 with over 1,500 trainee probation officers enrolled, helping to fill recruitment vacancies.
Regular feedback on probation performance is received from HMIP who inspect every Probation Delivery Unit on a three-year cycle and provide thematic inspections on specific areas. HMIP also undertake reviews of serious further offences as directed by the Secretary of State for Justice, which provides greater impartiality on the performance and state of the Probation Service.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many probation officers have been employed by HM Prison and Probation Service in each year since 2010.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The quarterly HMPPS workforce statistics publication covers staffing information.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applicantions under the Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme have been made in the UK.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) will provide up to 20,000 women, children, and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK. The scheme does not have an application process. Instead, eligible people will be referred for resettlement to the UK through one of three referral pathways.
We are continuing the process to grant Indefinite Leave to Remain to all eligible individuals who arrived during the evacuation: officials have already registered over 13,000 applications for resettlement from Afghans in the UK, with biometric residence permits being issued accordingly. In the meantime, applicants remain eligible to work and access services under their continuing leave.
At November 4 2022, we had granted Indefinite Leave to Remain to 6,314 people under ACRS pathway 1.
Work is underway to assure information relating to all the individuals relocated under the ARAP and ACRS on case working systems. Once this work concludes, statistics on both schemes - including the number of people resettled under each - will be included in future editions of the Immigration Statistics.
More information on the number of grants of Indefinite Leave to Remain issued to Afghans resettling under the ARAP or ACRS can be viewed at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/afghan-resettlement-programme-operational-data/afghan-resettlement-programme-operational-data
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many successful applications under the Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme were made outside the UK.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) will provide up to 20,000 women, children, and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK. The scheme does not have an application process. Instead, eligible people will be referred for resettlement to the UK through one of three referral pathways.
We are continuing the process to grant Indefinite Leave to Remain to all eligible individuals who arrived during the evacuation: officials have already registered over 13,000 applications for resettlement from Afghans in the UK, with biometric residence permits being issued accordingly. In the meantime, applicants remain eligible to work and access services under their continuing leave.
At November 4 2022, we had granted Indefinite Leave to Remain to 6,314 people under ACRS pathway 1.
Work is underway to assure information relating to all the individuals relocated under the ARAP and ACRS on case working systems. Once this work concludes, statistics on both schemes - including the number of people resettled under each - will be included in future editions of the Immigration Statistics.
More information on the number of grants of Indefinite Leave to Remain issued to Afghans resettling under the ARAP or ACRS can be viewed at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/afghan-resettlement-programme-operational-data/afghan-resettlement-programme-operational-data
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications under the Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme have been made outside the UK.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) will provide up to 20,000 women, children, and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK. The scheme does not have an application process. Instead, eligible people will be referred for resettlement to the UK through one of three referral pathways.
We are continuing the process to grant Indefinite Leave to Remain to all eligible individuals who arrived during the evacuation: officials have already registered over 13,000 applications for resettlement from Afghans in the UK, with biometric residence permits being issued accordingly. In the meantime, applicants remain eligible to work and access services under their continuing leave.
At November 4 2022, we had granted Indefinite Leave to Remain to 6,314 people under ACRS pathway 1.
Work is underway to assure information relating to all the individuals relocated under the ARAP and ACRS on case working systems. Once this work concludes, statistics on both schemes - including the number of people resettled under each - will be included in future editions of the Immigration Statistics.
More information on the number of grants of Indefinite Leave to Remain issued to Afghans resettling under the ARAP or ACRS can be viewed at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/afghan-resettlement-programme-operational-data/afghan-resettlement-programme-operational-data
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many successful applications under the Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme were made in the UK.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) will provide up to 20,000 women, children, and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK. The scheme does not have an application process. Instead, eligible people will be referred for resettlement to the UK through one of three referral pathways.
We are continuing the process to grant Indefinite Leave to Remain to all eligible individuals who arrived during the evacuation: officials have already registered over 13,000 applications for resettlement from Afghans in the UK, with biometric residence permits being issued accordingly. In the meantime, applicants remain eligible to work and access services under their continuing leave.
At November 4 2022, we had granted Indefinite Leave to Remain to 6,314 people under ACRS pathway 1.
Work is underway to assure information relating to all the individuals relocated under the ARAP and ACRS on case working systems. Once this work concludes, statistics on both schemes - including the number of people resettled under each - will be included in future editions of the Immigration Statistics.
More information on the number of grants of Indefinite Leave to Remain issued to Afghans resettling under the ARAP or ACRS can be viewed at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/afghan-resettlement-programme-operational-data/afghan-resettlement-programme-operational-data
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what discussions he has had with local authorities on tackling the misuse of private car parking facilities.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published regularly.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the names of (a) Ministers (b) Members of Parliament and (c) Officials who referred firms onto expedited route for supplying personal protective equipment.
Answered by Will Quince
Details of the High Priority Lane were published on 17 November 2021. This list was updated on the 11 February 2022 and is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ppe-procurement-in-the-early-pandemic