Oral Answers to Questions

Tony Vaughan Excerpts

Tuesday 19th May 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lammy]

I can confirm to the Chair of the Select Committee that the family mediation voucher scheme will be extended for another year, giving separating families £500 towards their mediation costs to help them solve issues with childcare and finances without going to court. I will look carefully at the permanency of those arrangements.

[Tony Vaughan (Folkestone and Hythe) (Lab)]

2. What steps he is taking to help reduce levels of reoffending.

[Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale) (LD)]

10. What steps he is taking to help reduce levels of reoffending.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Jake Richards)]

The Government are giving offenders the tools to move away from a life of crime. We are led by the evidence when addressing needs such as housing, employment and substance misuse treatment and support in order to develop personal skills and behaviours. We are also investing £700 million in probation and expanding intensive supervision courts for prolific offenders.

[Tony Vaughan]

Reach Out and Recover Kent, a brilliant organisation that I met in Folkestone over the weekend, helps people, including ex-offenders, to recover and stay away from addiction so they can gain skills and work to reintegrate into society. However, Ministry of Justice figures show that at the six-month post-release point, the reoffending rate is twice as high for unemployed adults as for those in employment. What are the Government doing to ensure that more ex-offenders in my constituency get tailored and timely support, particularly for addiction, to get them back into work and enable them to leave offending behind them once and for all?