Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans his Department has to issue an updated Restorative Justice Action Plan for the Criminal Justice System given the last action plan elapsed in 2018.

We are committed to supporting restorative justice as a way to help victims cope and, as far as possible, recover from the impact of crime. However, it should only take place when both the victim and the offender agree, and it is considered safe. That is why, under the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime (‘the Victims’ Code’), all victims must be told about the option of restorative justice and how to access it, should it be appropriate.

On 25 May 2022, we published our response to the ‘Delivering justice for victims’ consultation and a draft Victims Bill, which sets out how we intend to enshrine the Victims’ Code in legislation, sending a clear signal that the justice system must deliver these entitlements for victims. We are also working with criminal justice agencies, Police and Crime Commissioners and Local Criminal Justice Boards to develop a set of metrics to ensure consistent monitoring of compliance with the Code and improve the delivery of its entitlements.

We want to make sure that restorative justice services target the most appropriate cases, where we have clear evidence for the benefits of that approach. We provide Police and Crime Commissioners with grant funding for victim support services, including restorative justice services. We are increasing our funding for victim and witness support services to £192 million by 2024/25, more than quadruple the level in 2009/10. In order to improve local partnership working regarding restorative justice services, work is underway by Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service to identify the factors supporting quality practice and to test effective, evidence-based access to, and delivery of, MoJ-funded restorative justice work. I continue to carefully consider the recommendations of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Restorative Justice, which included a recommendation to refresh the action plan, and will respond in due course.