Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the impact of missed probation appointments by high-risk offenders on public safety; and what steps she is taking to ensure consistent enforcement of breach protocols.

The Probation service was left on its knees after 14 years of Conservative Government. The Probation Service that this Government inherited from the previous administration has struggled under increased workloads. It was a service that the previous Conservative Government privatised and then partly renationalised putting our Probation Service officers, who do vital work every single day, under significant strain.

This Lord Chancellor has recently announced a number of changes to the probation service to prioritise where they focus and ensure more time can be spent managing high risk offenders.

A primary aim of the probation service is to protect the public through the supervision and rehabilitation of offenders. Those assessed as posing a high risk of serious harm are subject to increased levels of oversight and are a priority focus for the Probation Service, as reaffirmed by the Lord Chancellor in her speech on 12 February.

Probation supervision appointments are essential for the monitoring and the management of offenders.Any failure to comply could indicate an increased risk of harm and will result in swift enforcement action in line with HM Prison & Probation Service enforcement policy, this could include sanctions on the offender and even recall to prison. The Probation service employs a case management system to track and manage attendance alongside which Probation regional Performance and Quality teams work to ensure that the expected enforcement standards are consistently applied.