Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he made of the adequacy of the use of out-of-court disposals to support individuals with health vulnerabilities.

In October 2021, the Ministry of Justice commissioned RAND Europe, Get the Data, and Skills for Justice to conduct a study on how Police use Out of Court Disposals (OOCDs) to support adults with health vulnerabilities. The study aimed to improve the use of OOCDs with conditions attached which address mental health and other health related vulnerabilities and improve data collection methods to monitor their use and enable potential further research in the future to explore their effectiveness.

Evidence from this study is helping inform policy and practice to support effective working between Police, NHS, and other service providers. The research report will be published on GOV.UK. Additionally, based on learning from the study, several police practice guides will also be published.

For youth offenders, Youth Offending Teams should be involved throughout the OOCD process and include specialists who can support children with health vulnerabilities. In April 2023, we introduced ten new Youth Justice Key Performance Indicators which include, for the first time, data on OOCDs, mental health and emotional wellbeing, and substance misuse. The Youth Justice Board have committed to publishing initial findings in Spring 2025.