Question to the Ministry of Justice:

What changes his Department plans to make to the operation of probation services during the covid-19 outbreak.

Probation is operating under an exceptional delivery model which prioritises public protection and offender management in the community.

Probation officers continue supervising in person those who pose the highest risk ensuring the monitoring of high-risk offenders remains as tough as it always is.

At the same time, we are supervising lower-risk offenders using more frequent video and telephone calls.

We have set up Homelessness Prevention Taskforces to support offenders who are being temporarily released from prison as part of efforts to keep prisons safe during this period. These teams are working with the police to carry out the relevant risk assessments, including checks on domestic abuse and safeguarding issues.