Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Yuan Yang and Catherine McKinnell

Tuesday 10th November 2026 Commons Chamber

[Catherine McKinnell]

The hon. Gentleman is brave to highlight the record that his Government left, which is a backlog of repairs and a shortage of places. That is why we are working on delivering the largest prison expansion programme since the Victorian era. We are bringing forward £110 million of existing budgets so that we can deliver additional places faster. We are working to repair the perilous state in which the previous Government left some of our prison estate, and ensuring that we manage offenders in the community through an increased Probation Service, which the Conservatives also decimated.

[Yuan Yang (Earley and Woodley) (Lab)]

9. What steps he is taking to help tackle recidivism.

[Luke Taylor (Sutton and Cheam) (LD)]

19. What steps he is taking to improve programmes that reduce reoffending.

[The Minister for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending (Catherine McKinnell)]

Reducing offending is vital for cutting crime and improving public safety, which is why we are working with partners across Government to improve outcomes through better access to treatment, education, employment and accommodation. We are also investing in probation and expanding intensive supervision courts for prolific offenders.

[Yuan Yang]

This week is the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers’ annual Respect Week to raise awareness of the impacts of retail crime. From working with Thames Valley police in my patch, I know that a significant proportion of shoplifting is done by a small number of shoplifters who are repeat offenders and is often linked to substance abuse. Local Reading charities like Change Grow Live do great work to combat that. What more can the Department do to support that work and tackle the cycle of reoffending?

[Catherine McKinnell]

My hon. Friend raises an important point: around 60% of crimes are committed by 9% of offenders. Prolific offending is clearly a challenge that we need to address. That is why we are expanding intensive supervision courts, which combine intensive rehabilitative sentences with close judicial oversight to reduce repeated offending and ensure punishment that works, as well as investing in rehabilitation. Reducing reoffending and relieving our prison capacity challenge is a key focus for us.

School Accountability and Intervention

Debate between Yuan Yang and Catherine McKinnell

Monday 3rd February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Catherine McKinnell]

I will answer the right hon. Gentleman’s three questions in reverse order. On the first, I think parents are perfectly capable of understanding a more complex report card than one word. I also disagree with his characterisation of the changes. We are very much about harnessing all the great things that academies have achieved, including the great reforms, improvements and innovations that they have pioneered. We want to spread that right across our school system. The purpose of the report cards is to shine a light on all that great practice so that it can be spread more widely, and to shine a particular spotlight on where improvement is needed, to deliver it as quickly as possible. How Ofsted will deliver is a matter for Ofsted, and if he wishes to respond to its consultation, I am sure his views would be welcome.

[Yuan Yang (Earley and Woodley) (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for her remarks, particularly about the funding for regional improvement teams in schools. Two weeks ago, my constituents in Shinfield and Whitley received the devastating news that their local secondary school, Oakbank, had received its worst ever Ofsted report. Parents and former staff at that school have asked me how the Anthem schools trust, which has failed not just schools in my constituency but several others in recent years, can be held to account. Will the Minister set out how the new accountability framework will put in place safeguards against failing multi-academy trusts?

[Catherine McKinnell]

I share my hon. Friend’s concerns. I do not know the details of the specific school, but a school judged by Ofsted to require special measures will still receive structural intervention. If it is a maintained school, it will become an academy. If it is already an academy, which I believe this school is, it will be transferred to a new and stronger trust. In the shorter term, while the RISE teams are focusing on stuck schools and on building their capacity, a school requiring significant improvement will, by default, continue to receive structural intervention. We propose that from September 2026 a school in that category will receive mandatory targeted intervention from RISE. Schools will be supported much more quickly to drive those improved outcomes for children, without having to wait for structural intervention.