Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of probation work following the merging of the National Probation Service and Community Rehabilitation Companies will be the subject of competitive tendering.

As set out in our strategic response to the consultation ‘Strengthening Probation, Building Confidence’ we intend that, subject to further market engagement, responsibility for the delivery of Unpaid Work, Accredited Programmes, as well the rehabilitation support delivered to offenders as part of a Rehabilitation Activity Requirement, or to support their resettlement following release from prison will be delivered through contracts with private and voluntary sector organisations under our plans for the future of probation services. Our current estimate of the total value of these contracts is up to £280m per year.