Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent advice he has received from Public Health England on (a) the effectiveness of the Covid-19: National Framework for Prison Regimes and Services for controlling outbreaks of new covid-19 variants in the prison estate and (b) the adequacy of the implementation of that Framework in custodial facilities where outbreak control teams have been put in place.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) initially developed the National Framework alongside advice from Public Health England and Wales and so that advice is embedded within it. We are in regular contact with these bodies to seek advice and feedback on the operational management of Covid-19. Inherent within this is a developing understanding of the evidence base behind the virus and how that impacts on operational delivery.
We support local management of Covid-19 outbreaks and incidents through the deployment of headquarters staff to each Outbreak Control Team meeting and daily reporting to national command. This means recommendations and issues arising locally can be considered promptly and that appropriate decisions and responses are acted upon. We continue to work very closely with public health authorities on minimising the spread of Covid-19 in prisons and our outbreak response, and we continue to close down outbreaks.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what responsibilities and powers Assistant or Deputy Chief Probation Officers in England and Wales will have in relation to the creation and maintenance of local links between (a) National Probation Service staff and services, (b) other public sector bodies and (c) voluntary sector organisations at lower levels than the probation area they work within.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
In the Unified Model for probation we are implementing from June 2021, there are a number of roles reporting into Regional Probation Directors (including those at the Assistant Chief Officers (ACO) grade) who will have responsibilities for the creation and maintenance of local links with a range of stakeholders.
Heads of Probation Delivery Units, who manage a defined geographical boundary within an NPS Region where probation services are delivered, will have a responsibility to lead NPS engagement in local strategic partnerships and ensuring appropriate representation within wider partnership frameworks. This includes attendance at Local Criminal Justice Boards (LCJBs), Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs), Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA), Safeguarding Children Boards, Youth Offending Partnership Boards and Safeguarding Adult Boards. The number and geographical boundaries of these Probation Delivery Unit structure have been reviewed and revised in anticipation of the transfer of CRC cases and staff and a key factor has been how to improve alignment with the local partnership landscape, such as police force area and local authority boundaries, and offer clear local leadership.
We are creating a new Head of Community Integration role in each region to oversee the commissioning and contract management of resettlement and rehabilitative interventions. They will be supported by new Commissioning and Partnerships teams who will work with the Heads of Probation Delivery Unit and others to strengthen relationships with local partners and lead the development of effective local service user pathways by working closely with suppliers and partners. This includes identifying and pursuing opportunities for co-commissioning of new services with partners such as Police and Crime Commissioners, local authorities and health authorities.
Relationships with contracted suppliers, including voluntary sector organisations, will be primarily managed through contract management activity delivered by local teams embedded within the new regional NPS structure. In relation to suppliers commissioned through the Dynamic Framework, we will encourage close dialogue between the NPS and suppliers during the mobilisation and transition period with the aim of promoting strong working relationships which enable effective delivery and take-up of these new services.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the (a) National Probation Service bands structure and (b) scope for progression above band 4 without moving to a management position.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
We want to ensure that we are delivering a fair and enduring reward package for NPS staff. We are continuing our engagement with our recognised NPS Trade Unions to progress our collaborative work on pay modernisation in 2020/21 and onwards, and to develop proposals focused on improving the overall reward offer available to staff. This will involve looking at the current pay structure and whether it is working to deliver these aims as envisaged in the Probation Workforce Strategy released in July 2020.
The Probation Workforce Programme is looking to develop clear and transparent career pathways and development opportunities for probation staff. A key objective is to develop progression routes that provide varied experiences and opportunities which are suited to different career aspirations, including where appropriate, opportunities to join specialist teams and to work in a variety of areas across the business.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress has been made on restarting resettlement day release during the covid-19 outbreak for people in prisons in England and Wales.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) temporarily suspended release on temporary licence (ROTL), with some exceptions, as part of a range of measures to manage the impact of Covid-19 on prisons.
Thanks to the success of these measures in helping to control infection rates, prisons are now easing restrictions in line with the National Framework for Prison Regimes, and
HMPPS is working closely with public health authorities to support prisons to re-introduce ROTL where it is safe and practicable to do so. HMPPS is issuing prisons with Exceptional Delivery Models (EDMs) which guide governors in relaxing restrictions and resuming prison regimes. An EDM for workplace ROTL was issued in July and some workplace ROTL has already resumed. An EDM for other forms of ROTL, for example to maintain family ties, was issued in August.
HMPPS is adopting a cautious approach to recovery which will be carefully monitored. The safety of prisoners and staff must be the priority but, where it can be resumed safely, ROTL will continue to contribute to positive resettlement outcomes and reduced reoffending.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of probation worker caseloads during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
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 January to March 2020. Figures for the other quarters of 2020 will be published in due course. Figures for total probation caseload are published quarterly in the Offender Management Statistics Bulletin, England and Wales: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly
Statistics are also published for HMPPS workforce statistics which currently show NPS staffing levels as well as absence rates up to June 2020.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-offender-management-service-workforce-statistics
Figures on the average caseload of probation officers are not collected centrally. A probation worker’s tasks are not based solely on the number of cases they are managing, but the level of supervision each case requires.
From 23 March 2020, all CRCs have been operating an Exceptional Delivery Model (EDM) in accordance with Government advice and guidance on social distancing measures to help stem the rise of the COVID-19 infection rate. The pandemic has posed the department and the CRCs with an unprecedented challenge, and the EDMs have been regularly subjected to robust assurance and management to ensure that the CRCs prioritise their higher risk cases, at the higher end of the Medium-Low risk scale, and to continue to protect the public. CRCs and their staff continue to deliver vital front-line probation services to the service users in their care.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans the Government has to extend the availability of Bail Information Services in England and Wales.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Currently, no courts or prisons have a full and pro-active Bail Information Service (BIS) with dedicated Bail Information Officers. Although there are no dedicated bail officers, bail assessments can be requested by the Judiciary and HM Prison and Probation Service staff will acknowledge and respond accordingly. Throughout April to August, HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) introduced a temporary BIS in response to Covid-19. As courts and HMPPS services begin returning to business as usual, the service remains available on a reactive basis at the request of the court.
The Government will be implementing a BIS pilot involving a number of courts and prisons in England and Wales in the Autumn. These courts and prisons will each have a dedicated Bail Information Officer, and the pilot will aim to inform the design and delivery of a potential full and pro-active national service. The pilot is due to be completed by Spring 2021, and HM Prison and Probation Service intends to publish a report of findings as soon as practicable after that. This will include plans on the potential extending of BIS availability across England and Wales.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish the results of the Bail Information Service pilots.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Currently, no courts or prisons have a full and pro-active Bail Information Service (BIS) with dedicated Bail Information Officers. Although there are no dedicated bail officers, bail assessments can be requested by the Judiciary and HM Prison and Probation Service staff will acknowledge and respond accordingly. Throughout April to August, HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) introduced a temporary BIS in response to Covid-19. As courts and HMPPS services begin returning to business as usual, the service remains available on a reactive basis at the request of the court.
The Government will be implementing a BIS pilot involving a number of courts and prisons in England and Wales in the Autumn. These courts and prisons will each have a dedicated Bail Information Officer, and the pilot will aim to inform the design and delivery of a potential full and pro-active national service. The pilot is due to be completed by Spring 2021, and HM Prison and Probation Service intends to publish a report of findings as soon as practicable after that. This will include plans on the potential extending of BIS availability across England and Wales.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many courts in England and Wales are served by a Bail Information Service.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Currently, no courts or prisons have a full and pro-active Bail Information Service (BIS) with dedicated Bail Information Officers. Although there are no dedicated bail officers, bail assessments can be requested by the Judiciary and HM Prison and Probation Service staff will acknowledge and respond accordingly. Throughout April to August, HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) introduced a temporary BIS in response to Covid-19. As courts and HMPPS services begin returning to business as usual, the service remains available on a reactive basis at the request of the court.
The Government will be implementing a BIS pilot involving a number of courts and prisons in England and Wales in the Autumn. These courts and prisons will each have a dedicated Bail Information Officer, and the pilot will aim to inform the design and delivery of a potential full and pro-active national service. The pilot is due to be completed by Spring 2021, and HM Prison and Probation Service intends to publish a report of findings as soon as practicable after that. This will include plans on the potential extending of BIS availability across England and Wales.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reasons the HM Prison and Probation Service has declared a moratorium on prison research during the period of covid-19 related solitary confinement; and if he will make an assessment of the (a) effects of confinement on individuals and (b) potential merits of different means of (i) ameliorating those effects and (ii) tackling future infections.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
As a result of the strong but necessary measures we introduced in prisons, lives have been saved and the NHS is being protected from the impact of widespread local outbreaks. The safety of our staff and those in our care remains our top priority, and social distancing is one of the most effective controls to reduce the transmission of infection.
HMPPS does not hold people in solitary confinement, but there are occasions where, for their own safety or that of others and in line with Prison Service Order 1700, prisoners are segregated from the main population of the prison. We have not changed this policy in response to Covid-19, and have therefore not put any prisoner into solitary confinement.
The response to the COVID-19 crisis has been guided by Public Health England and Wales advice. We have taken decisions to control the spread of infection across the estate, which has resulted in prisoners receiving less time out of their cells, compared to regimes before the pandemic. We recognise that the restrictions brought in to control the spread of infection must be proportionate, and we will continue to keep them under review. Our National Framework for Prison Regimes and Services, which has been guided by public health advice, sets out in detail how we will take decisions about easing coronavirus-related restrictions in prisons, while keeping staff and those in our care safe.
The National Research Committee (NRC) approves research to be conducted with staff and offenders across HMPPS. In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the NRC has restricted the number of applications to conduct primary research across HMPPS until further notice; only applications to conduct high priority or urgent projects continue to be reviewed, including requests to access existing data for secondary analysis.
The decision was taken to prevent the spread of the virus, protect staff and those accommodated in prisons and to reduce the burden on prison resources while prisons operate under restricted regimes. The NRC restrictions will be kept under review and easement will be informed by the National Framework.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to encourage probation agency staff to take up permanent positions within the National Probation Service.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The National Probation Service (NPS) is currently exploring a number of initiatives in relation to staffing. We have already introduced minimum hours contracts, guaranteeing individuals a certain amount of hours per month with the flexible option to work more (if individuals and the organisation wish to do so).
We are also recruiting colleagues who have left the service within the past five years with the option to join on various contract terms or even request reinstatement on their previous terms. Whilst these initiatives are not limited only to the agency workers, we anticipate a specific interest from agency workers as such initiatives offer greater flexibility.
In addition to this, in line with Civil Service Recruitment principles, NPS managers encourage agency workers to apply for any relevant external recruitment vacancies.
On July 30 we published the Probation Workforce Strategy which sets out our collective ambition for a more positive, inclusive, and diverse probation workforce, and the steps we are committed to taking to achieve this over the three years from 2020 to 2023. It includes firm commitments to increasing our recruitment and supporting our staff, and can be found via the following link; https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/probation-workforce-strategy
The attached table shows figures for contingent labour between July 2019 and June this year. It has been broken down by NPS region, post, per month. It should be noted that the figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.