Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the report by HM Inspectorate of Probation into Merseyside Community Rehabilitation Company that rated that Community Rehabilitation Company as inadequate.

The HM Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP) report into Merseyside Community Rehabilitation Company, published on 26 September 2018, awarded the service a rating of ‘requires improvement’. The Ministry of Justice takes seriously the findings of HMIP in relation to Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) and will work with the provider to ensure that an appropriate plan is in place to address the identified areas for improvement.

We have been clear that overall CRC performance must improve, and are taking decisive action to stabilise and improve the delivery of probation services, including by investing £22m per year to enhance ‘Through The Gate’ services and introducing minimum standards so that all providers offer monthly face-to-face meetings with offenders during the first 12 months of supervision.

In September we concluded a public consultation on proposals to end current CRC contracts early and introduce new arrangements for delivering probation services that will better integrate public, private and third sector probation providers, and better support probation staff who have a key role to play in reducing re-offending and protecting the public. We will bring forward more detailed plans early next year.