Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the findings in the report entitled, The impact of Covid-19 on the voluntary sector in criminal justice, published by Clinks on 7 December 2020.

Clinks is the primary voluntary sector infrastructure body representing organisations working with offenders and their families. It is grant funded by the Ministry of Justice and HM Prison and Probation Service. Throughout the period of the pandemic, I have asked Clinks to provide regular information on the status and experience of their members and the wider sector. Many of the findings of the Clinks’ report have already been considered and, where possible, acted upon. The report will be used as part of the work to oversee recovery from the pandemic for prison and probation services, and as part of the exercise to learn lessons from the exceptional measures that continue to be needed to prevent the transmission of the virus.