Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much funding his Department has allocated to maintain probation services in (a) Liverpool City Region and (b) the North West in each year since 2010.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Public Protection remains the number one priority in the probation system. With this in mind we continue to manage our high risk and complex cases face to face, as far as possible. Last summer, the Probation Roadmap to Recovery was published, which has since been revised to align with the Prime Minister’s National Roadmap. It sets out the aims for delivery in the coming weeks and months and outlines when we will lift national pauses, rather than mandate when services will be re-introduced.
A four-year estates strategy will see £131m of funding allocated to the refurbishment of existing sites and creation of 65 new sites across England and Wales. As part of the Probation Reform Programme 191 sites which are currently used by Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) will be transferred to the National Probation Service.
As part of the Probation Reform Programme, the estates strategy for Liverpool City region and the North West has been reviewed. The probation contact centre in St Helens closed in March 2021 as a result of the Probation Reform Programme estates strategy review. Staff and supervised individuals subsequently moved to Probation contact centres in Knowsley and Prescot. Changes to the estate have not affected the existing partnerships arrangements that are in place between the National Probation Service and key stakeholders/partners in St Helens. Currently there are no plans to increase the number of Probation contact centres in the region, however, we continue to source local premises for specific needs as required.
Funding for the Probation regions for 2021/22 is yet to be finalised. Given the changes to the nature and scope of Probation Service provision since 2010 it is not possible to provide meaningful figures covering the period requested without incurring disproportionate costs.
Data on the number of service users from 2014 to 2019 is provided on the attached table. It is not possible to provide probation caseload figures for the Liverpool City region specifically prior to 2014 as this would involve re-extracting data which would now be incomplete due to deletions in line with Data Protection Act rules applied on the recording system at the time; the cost of undertaking this exercise would therefore be disproportionate.
The number of offenders supervised by each National Probation Service region, division and CRC is regularly published as part of the Offender Management Quarterly series of statistics and can be found via the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many service users of the National Probation Service there have been in (a) Liverpool City Region and (b) the North West in each year since 2010.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Public Protection remains the number one priority in the probation system. With this in mind we continue to manage our high risk and complex cases face to face, as far as possible. Last summer, the Probation Roadmap to Recovery was published, which has since been revised to align with the Prime Minister’s National Roadmap. It sets out the aims for delivery in the coming weeks and months and outlines when we will lift national pauses, rather than mandate when services will be re-introduced.
A four-year estates strategy will see £131m of funding allocated to the refurbishment of existing sites and creation of 65 new sites across England and Wales. As part of the Probation Reform Programme 191 sites which are currently used by Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) will be transferred to the National Probation Service.
As part of the Probation Reform Programme, the estates strategy for Liverpool City region and the North West has been reviewed. The probation contact centre in St Helens closed in March 2021 as a result of the Probation Reform Programme estates strategy review. Staff and supervised individuals subsequently moved to Probation contact centres in Knowsley and Prescot. Changes to the estate have not affected the existing partnerships arrangements that are in place between the National Probation Service and key stakeholders/partners in St Helens. Currently there are no plans to increase the number of Probation contact centres in the region, however, we continue to source local premises for specific needs as required.
Funding for the Probation regions for 2021/22 is yet to be finalised. Given the changes to the nature and scope of Probation Service provision since 2010 it is not possible to provide meaningful figures covering the period requested without incurring disproportionate costs.
Data on the number of service users from 2014 to 2019 is provided on the attached table. It is not possible to provide probation caseload figures for the Liverpool City region specifically prior to 2014 as this would involve re-extracting data which would now be incomplete due to deletions in line with Data Protection Act rules applied on the recording system at the time; the cost of undertaking this exercise would therefore be disproportionate.
The number of offenders supervised by each National Probation Service region, division and CRC is regularly published as part of the Offender Management Quarterly series of statistics and can be found via the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has for the provision of services under the National Probation Service in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Public Protection remains the number one priority in the probation system. With this in mind we continue to manage our high risk and complex cases face to face, as far as possible. Last summer, the Probation Roadmap to Recovery was published, which has since been revised to align with the Prime Minister’s National Roadmap. It sets out the aims for delivery in the coming weeks and months and outlines when we will lift national pauses, rather than mandate when services will be re-introduced.
A four-year estates strategy will see £131m of funding allocated to the refurbishment of existing sites and creation of 65 new sites across England and Wales. As part of the Probation Reform Programme 191 sites which are currently used by Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) will be transferred to the National Probation Service.
As part of the Probation Reform Programme, the estates strategy for Liverpool City region and the North West has been reviewed. The probation contact centre in St Helens closed in March 2021 as a result of the Probation Reform Programme estates strategy review. Staff and supervised individuals subsequently moved to Probation contact centres in Knowsley and Prescot. Changes to the estate have not affected the existing partnerships arrangements that are in place between the National Probation Service and key stakeholders/partners in St Helens. Currently there are no plans to increase the number of Probation contact centres in the region, however, we continue to source local premises for specific needs as required.
Funding for the Probation regions for 2021/22 is yet to be finalised. Given the changes to the nature and scope of Probation Service provision since 2010 it is not possible to provide meaningful figures covering the period requested without incurring disproportionate costs.
Data on the number of service users from 2014 to 2019 is provided on the attached table. It is not possible to provide probation caseload figures for the Liverpool City region specifically prior to 2014 as this would involve re-extracting data which would now be incomplete due to deletions in line with Data Protection Act rules applied on the recording system at the time; the cost of undertaking this exercise would therefore be disproportionate.
The number of offenders supervised by each National Probation Service region, division and CRC is regularly published as part of the Offender Management Quarterly series of statistics and can be found via the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation’s report, Caseloads, workloads and staffing levels in probation Services, published in March 2021, how many probation staff have experienced a Workload Measurement Tool capacity of over 120 percent for more than four consecutive weeks in a year for each of the last five years.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Ministry of Justice publishes statistics showing the total caseload of the 20 Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) as well as the National Probation Service (NPS). The latest published figures cover the period from June to September 2020. Figures for the following quarter will be published in due course. Figures for total probation caseload are published quarterly in the Offender Management Statistics Bulletin, England and Wales: https://data.justice.gov.uk/probation/offender-management/caseload-total
Senior Probation Officers monitor the capacity of individuals in their teams regularly. The Workload Measurement Tool is a tool designed to assist a Senior Probation Officer in allocating cases to Probation Practitioners by balancing the workload out amongst their teams. Anyone over 110% for a period of 4 consecutive weeks is deemed to have an excessive workload and we have policies and guidance in place to support managers and staff who meet this threshold.
Figures detailing how many probation staff have experienced a Workload Measurement Tool capacity of over 120 percent for more than 4 consecutive weeks in a year for each of the last five years could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department has taken to help ensure delivery of probation services during covid-19 lockdowns.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Throughout the pandemic the Probation Service has prioritised public protection and risk management, as well as delivery of advice to courts in all regions, whilst ensuring staff, people on probation and victims remain safe.
A Gold, Silver and Bronze structure was quickly put into place to enable fast-paced decisions to be taken in response to the emerging situation, providing an agile approach. Exceptional Delivery Models, which set out how we operate key aspects of our work during the pandemic and ensured services could be continued, were developed and implemented across England and Wales. Exceptional Delivery Models allow Regional Probation Directors to take decisions locally regarding what their teams deliver, based on the individual circumstances of their regions.
Guided by public health advice, we took immediate, decisive action to implement a suite of measures to respond to the pandemic, moving to a mixture of face to face and remote methods. In-person socially distanced offender reporting has continued to be the default for people on probation who pose a higher risk, for example Terrorism Act offenders.
After our initial response to Covid, we reintroduced services as and when appropriate. We continued to rebuild throughout the year, however in response to the most recent national restrictions introduced in January we again reduced our face to face service delivery. We are now once again increasing the delivery of face to face services as appropriate.
Compared with the first set of national restrictions imposed last spring, Probation is now in a much stronger position to supervise offenders effectively during the pandemic. Developments like asymptomatic Covid testing of staff and people on probation, regular risk assessments of staff with vulnerabilities, Covid-secure offices, social distancing, and use of personal protective equipment are allowing us to continue to deliver probation services even within heightened restrictions, while ensuring staff and service users remain safe.
The development of new approaches such as blended supervision (a mixture of face to face and remote contact), Alternative Delivery Models for Accredited Programmes, and innovative ways of delivering unpaid work in Covid safe ways have also significantly increased our ability to deliver during the pandemic.
HM Inspectorate of Probation published a thematic review of Exceptional Delivery Model arrangements in November 2020 and of Probation Recovery in February 2021. Both reports praised our response to the pandemic.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether release on temporary license for (a) employment purposes and (b) other purposes has continued at HMP Sudbury during the covid-19 national lockdown announced on 5 January 2021.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) is working closely with public health authorities to support prisons to re-introduce release on temporary licence (ROTL) where it is safe and practicable to do so and in line with national restrictions on movement during the pandemic. HMPPS is adopting a cautious approach to recovery which is carefully monitored on a prison by prison basis. The safety of staff and prisoners and the protection of the NHS remains the priority.
Currently, ROTL is suspended in England and Wales except for those with roles as essential workers in the community or for compelling, compassionate reasons such as key health appointments. Prisoners at HMP Sudbury had been temporarily released for those reasons since January, but all ROTL at the prison is currently suspended as a precautionary measure.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reduce crime in prisons.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Reducing crime in prisons is a key priority for the Ministry of Justice. In August 2019 we committed to spend £100m on prison security, and we are delivering on this commitment. This includes X-ray body scanners which have been installed in 40 prisons across England and Wales. These detect drugs and contraband that fuel crime in prisons and their use has already prevented over 2,300 illegal items from entering our prisons. This investment will also strengthen staff resilience to corruption and target organised criminals who seek to exploit prisons as a lucrative market.
Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service also works closely with law enforcement agencies so that crimes committed in prison are dealt with effectively. In May 2019, a Crime in Prisons Referral Agreement was published jointly with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the Crown Prosecution Service to help achieve an improved and consistent performance in the investigation and prosecution of offences in a custodial setting.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to improve the transition of individuals turning 18 years old from the youth justice system to the adult justice system.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
We recognise that transitioning from youth justice services to the adult justice system can be a particularly challenging time for young people and we are taking steps to ensure that this transition is as effective as possible.
The Youth Custody Service is working in partnership with adult prison service to develop a national transitions pathway that will ensure effective and thorough planning and support for all young people being transitioned to the adult or young adult estate. This includes the development of a transitions policy framework, bringing consistency and alignment across the children and young people secure estate.
The Youth Justice Board’s transition guidance in Wales for children transitioning from youth offending teams to probation services has recently been updated with a focus on trauma informed practice. The Youth Justice Board is working with the National Probation Service to revise the transitions guidance in England and are aiming that this refreshed guidance will be in place shortly.
We are also working in partnership with the Mayor for London’s Office for Policing and Crime and other relevant Government Departments and agencies to run a 3 year pilot (2020-23) to meet the needs of young adults (18-25 year olds) and 17-year olds due to transition from youth offending services into adult probation services in London.
By co-locating probation staff and commissioned wraparound services such as, mental health, speech and language therapy and substance misuse, distinct to the needs of young adults, the pilot aims to create smoother transitions, encourage compliance, promote desistance and reduce reoffending through the hub. To measure if the aims of the hub have been achieved a full evaluation will be externally commissioned and it will incorporate both process (daily operations of the hub) and longitudinal data (reoffending data). Key findings from this pilot will help inform policy for this cohort.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the briefing by Women in Prison, A national plan for tackling coronavirus in prisons, published on 21 January, what plans they have (1) to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on female prisoners, and (2) to improve the rehabilitation of women who have been in prison.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
We have taken quick and decisive action, backed by Public Health England and Wales, to limit the spread of the virus across all prison establishments, including the women’s estate. This has included restricting regimes, minimising inter-prison transfers and compartmentalising prisons into different units to isolate the sick, shield the vulnerable and quarantine new arrivals. A comprehensive regular testing regime of both staff and prisoners is in place and is key in helping to prevent the spread of the virus. Our evidence gathering indicates these measures have had a positive impact on limiting deaths and the transmission of the virus in prisons. We are now working closely with the NHS to support the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccinations for eligible groups in custody.
A women’s self-harm taskforce has been set up to coordinate and drive forward work aimed at reducing levels of self-harm in the women’s estate, which includes the introduction of wellbeing checks for women during COVID-19 restrictions.
A range of other measures have also been put in place across the women’s estate to reduce the impact of COVID-19, including:
Through the Gate (TTG) providers continue to work to an Exceptional Delivery Model and offer remote phone support to all prisoners in their last 12 weeks of sentence. This includes signposting to relevant Third Sector providers in the community and other Government departments (e.g. completing the Duty to Refer under the Homelessness Reduction Act to Local Authorities and referring to local HPTs if they are without accommodation). TTG staff, community Offender Managers, HPTs and released women have written information about services they can access before, during and after release. Staff can make referrals to third sector services, such as women’s centres, as appropriate and women can self-refer if they wish.
To support its COVID-19 response, HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has set up seven Homelessness Prevention Taskforces (HPT) to help find accommodation for offenders upon release. These have been very successful in securing improved accommodation outcomes. We are exploring how the regional HPTs might be a feature of the future landscape, ensuring that the specific needs of women are fully considered.
HMPPS has developed a national Accommodation Framework setting out how to work together with partners to ensure that offenders can access and maintain settled accommodation that is safe and appropriate for their needs. This framework contains specific aims in terms of women’s access to post release accommodation, including the provision of more places in Approved Premises (Aps) and more appropriate accommodation through the Bail Accommodation and Support Services (BASS) that are currently run by NACRO.
There are seven APs for women who have high risk complex needs covering England and Wales. We are working to the expand the geographical coverage of the provision and having opened a new women’s AP in London during 2020 we expect to open a further one in the South West during 2021.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) cases of covid-19 and (b) covid-19 related deaths there have been in each prison in Wales as at 1 February 2021.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
COVID statistics relating to prisoners are published every month. The latest published data covers the time period up until 31st Dec 2020 is provided below. The next monthly publication will cover data up to the end of Jan 2021 and will be published on 12th Feb here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hm-prison-and-probation-service-covid-19-statistics-monthly.
The below cumulative positive cases of COVID-19 and COVID-19 related deaths have been confirmed for prisoners in prisons in Wales. All deaths listed have either had a laboratory confirmed positive test within 28 days of passing, a laboratory confirmed positive test within 60 days of passing or COVID 19 has appeared on the death certificate.
| Prisoner Cases as at 31st Dec 2020 | Prisoner Deaths as at 1st Feb 2021 |
HMP Berwyn | 79 | 1 |
HMP Cardiff | 198 | 1 |
HMP Parc | 141 | 2 |
HMP Swansea | 25 | 0 |
HMP Usk/Prescoed | 93 | 1 |
| 536 | 5 |
COVID statistics relating to staff are published every quarter. The latest published data covers the time period up until 31st Oct 2020 and is provided below. The next statistical release will cover the time period up until the end of January 2021 and will be published on 18th February here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-offender-management-service-workforce-statistics.
The below cumulative positive cases of COVID-19 and COVID-19 related deaths have been confirmed for staff in prisons in Wales:
| Staff Cases as at 31st Oct 2020 | Staff Deaths as at 31st Oct 2020 |
HMP Berwyn | 66 | 0 |
HMP Cardiff | 30 | 0 |
HMP Parc | 31 | 0 |
HMP Swansea | 14 | 0 |
HMP Usk/Prescoed | 22 | 1 |
| 163 | 1 |
These figures include both directly and non-directly employed staff. Data on positive cases is self-reported with staff members notifying their manager of a positive test result. Staff deaths related to COVID-19 includes deaths where HMPPS staff have died having tested positive for COVID-19 or where there was a clinical assessment that COVID-19 was a contributory factor in their death.
Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system. Much of the data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic has been done at pace, with recording practices evolving as we understand more about the requirements and conditions we are facing. In order to present the timeliest information, the data presented has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics.
The safety of our staff and all those under our supervision remains our top priority. We have taken quick and decisive action – backed by Public Health England and Wales – to limit the spread of the virus.