Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to reduce reoffending rates in Sherwood Forest constituency.

This Government is committed to reducing reoffending by giving people the tools they need to turn their backs on crime. To do that, we will increase prisoners’ access to purposeful activity, including education and employment, which we know can reduce reoffending by up to 9 percentage points.

For example, we have recruited specialist education and employment roles in prisons to support and prepare prisoners for work on release. This includes Prison Employment Leads who match prisoners to jobs, and Neurodiversity Support Managers to help neurodiverse offenders to access education, skills and work opportunities. Both roles are currently in place at HMP Nottingham and HMP Ranby, two prisons close to Sherwood Forest constituency.

We are determined to help ensure our hard-working probation staff can continue to deliver high-quality supervision and focus their time on those cases which need most attention including for offenders who reside in the Sherwood Forrest constituency. Operationally, we are focusing probation officer time and energy on the higher risk individuals they have to supervise outside of prison to ensure that the public continue to be protected. We have also committed to bring in at least 1,000 new trainee probation officers across the 2024/25 financial year, allowing for greater oversight and management of offenders once they leave prisons.