Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the positive impact of face-to-face meetings between ex-offenders and National Probation Service officials; how many such meetings there have been, in England and Wales, in each of the last 12 months; and what steps they intend to take to (1) reduce supervision by telephone, and (2) increase face-to-face meetings, for ex-offenders.

The impact of face-to-face meetings between ex-offenders and National Probation Service (NPS) officials is not formally assessed. Both NPS and Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) staff use their professional judgement to determine the required frequency and most appropriate form of supervision.

Remote supervision should not be used as the only means by which an offender is supervised, which is why we have recently amended CRC contracts to ensure all offenders under supervision in the community are offered face-to-face contact with their Responsible Officer at least once a month. Data on this measure will be published on 24 April 2019.