Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many allegations of abuse have been made at Werrington Young Offender Institution in the last 12 months.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
In the period November 2022 to October 2023 – the most recent 12 months for which data are available – HMYOI Werrington made 63 safeguarding referrals relating to allegations of physical or sexual abuse.
The figure represents alleged abuse rather than substantiated findings of abuse. Some referrals could refer to historical abuse and therefore may refer to incidents which have occurred outside of custody. There are a small number of instances where professionals have raised concerns about a child when the child has not reported any concerns.
The YCS takes all allegations of abuse seriously and ensures that safeguarding is at the forefront of what we do. We have published a new policy framework ‘Safeguarding and Child Protection in the Youth Custody Service’, which ensures that everyone involved in the care and management of children in the youth estate understand their safeguarding responsibilities.
All of our Youth Custody Service (YCS) sites have a safety strategy and there are teams of resolution practitioners based in each site who apply the principles of Restorative Practice to resolve conflict between various parties, thereby reducing the need for restrictive interventions and enabling a child’s engagement in all other opportunities available whilst in our care. YCS staff also receive specialist training while they do their job of keeping young people safe and giving them better life chances.
Where we have concerns about high levels of violence at a specific site, we take further action with the central safety team in the YCS, who provide additional support and independent scrutiny to aid improvement. In this period, the YCS have supported Werrington YOI in improving their performance outcomes around safety, and due to positive signs of improvement, the need to provide this extra layer of support will be stood down in the near future.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has taken recent steps to increase the use of restorative justice.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Restorative justice is a valuable approach, but it is not appropriate in all cases. The welfare and safety of the victim is paramount, so restorative justice will only occur where it is safe and appropriate, and both the victim and the offender consent.
In the right cases restorative justice can have a powerful impact on victims and reduce reoffending too.
HMPPS has published an operational framework on restorative justice to support its use in suitable cases and ensure consistent referral processes between PCCs, prisons and probation.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the report of the APPG on Restorative Justice entitled Restorative Justice Inquiry Report, published in 2022, whether his Department plans to publish an updated Restorative Justice Action Plan for the Criminal Justice System.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We are committed to supporting restorative justice as a way to help victims cope and, as far as possible, recover from the impact of crime. That is why, under the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime (‘the Victims’ Code’), all adult victims must be told about the option of restorative justice and how to access it. We also provide Police and Crime Commissioners with grant funding for victim support services, including restorative justice services. They are best placed to assess local need and commission services based on the needs of the population in the local area. Restorative justice services should be targeted to the most appropriate cases, where we have clear evidence for the benefits of that approach and should only take place when both the victim and the offender agree, and it is considered safe.
HMPPS has work underway to look at how to better support MoJ funded restorative justice. This work is aimed at identifying the factors supporting quality practice and to test effective, evidence-based access to, and delivery of RJ services. HMPPS will also work with PCC areas to improve referrals to RJ services. Once complete HMPPS will share the lessons learned more widely.
We do not currently plan to publish a restorative justice action plan because it is not clear that this is necessary or an appropriate fit with the existing activity to improve the consistent and targeted provision of restorative justice services at a local level.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress he has made on establishing a pilot programme to understand where there are gaps in provision of restorative justice.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We are committed to supporting restorative justice as a way to help victims cope and, as far as possible, recover from the impact of crime. That is why, under the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime (‘the Victims’ Code’), all adult victims must be told about the option of restorative justice and how to access it. We also provide Police and Crime Commissioners with grant funding for victim support services, including restorative justice services. They are best placed to assess local need and commission services based on the needs of the population in the local area. Restorative justice services should be targeted to the most appropriate cases, where we have clear evidence for the benefits of that approach and should only take place when both the victim and the offender agree, and it is considered safe.
HMPPS has work underway to look at how to better support MoJ funded restorative justice. This work is aimed at identifying the factors supporting quality practice and to test effective, evidence-based access to, and delivery of RJ services. HMPPS will also work with PCC areas to improve referrals to RJ services. Once complete HMPPS will share the lessons learned more widely.
We do not currently plan to publish a restorative justice action plan because it is not clear that this is necessary or an appropriate fit with the existing activity to improve the consistent and targeted provision of restorative justice services at a local level.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to help build the confidence of people serving community pay back and prevent reoffending.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Community Payback is the key punitive requirement available to sentencers when handing down court-ordered community sentences. These requirements are managed by the Probation Service and are delivered separately to police-monitored unpaid work schemes which provide restorative justice for people undertaking out of court disposals.
Community Payback is an important way for offenders serving their sentence in the community to give back to the communities they have harmed, by undertaking demanding work that is valuable to their local area. It can also be an important rehabilitative tool by equipping offenders with back to work skills, such as learning new vocational trades and building pro-social skills with placement beneficiaries (often charities) and Community Payback teams.
Certain eligible offenders, namely those who are unemployed or ‘at risk’ of unemployment, may be required to undertake formal education, training and employment (ETE) activity and programmes. This is limited to up to 30% of their imposed hours.
Improving educational, training and employment outcomes is part of our relaunch of Community Payback, which this Government is delivering with up to £93million additional funding This includes an online learning portal for offenders to access educational and vocational courses, enabling offenders to gain skills relevant to industries as where they will receive certification on completion of a course that can be shown to employers. Currently, there are three mandatory courses which are designed to help offenders with employment opportunities and develop skills for work. In the future, the online courses will be tailored to industries where there are significant labour shortages.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many restorative justice services they plan to have set up by the end of 2023, broken down by the location of those services.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice is more than quadrupling funding for victim and witness support services by 2024/25, up from £41m in 2009/10.
This includes grant funding for Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to commission local practical, emotional, and therapeutic support services for victims of all crime types. It is at the PCCs’ discretion to allocate this funding for local services, based on their assessment of local need, which could include Restorative Justice services.
We collect data and information from PCCs on funding activities and impact on a bi-annual basis, throughout the financial year; we therefore do not yet have any data for 2023.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the press release entitled Middle East Minister visits Gulf to deepen economic ties, published on 7 July 2022, on what basis the Minister of State for Asia and the Middle East congratulated the Bahraini Minister of Foreign Affairs for that country's continued progress in human rights.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
My visit to Bahrain from 2-3 July provided an opportunity to discuss a wide range of human rights issues with senior Bahraini counterparts. This included the introduction by Bahrain of alternative sentencing legislation, which has so far benefitted over 4,300 individuals and the passing of a new Restorative Justice Law for children which, among other things, raises the age of criminal responsibility from 7 to 15. We welcome the entry into force of this legislation and continue to support Government of Bahrain efforts to ensure the law is fully and effectively implemented.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to Delivering justice for victims: Consultation response published on 25 May 2022, if he will provide more details on the restorative justice pilot to understand gaps in provision.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We are committed to supporting restorative justice as a way to help victims cope and, as far as possible, recover from the impact of crime. However, it should only take place when both the victim and the offender agree, and it is considered safe. That is why, under the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime (‘the Victims’ Code’), all victims must be told about the option of restorative justice and how to access it, should it be appropriate.
On 25 May 2022, we published our response to the ‘Delivering justice for victims’ consultation and a draft Victims Bill, which sets out how we intend to enshrine the Victims’ Code in legislation, sending a clear signal that the justice system must deliver these entitlements for victims. We are also working with criminal justice agencies, Police and Crime Commissioners and Local Criminal Justice Boards to develop a set of metrics to ensure consistent monitoring of compliance with the Code and improve the delivery of its entitlements.
We want to make sure that restorative justice services target the most appropriate cases, where we have clear evidence for the benefits of that approach. We provide Police and Crime Commissioners with grant funding for victim support services, including restorative justice services. We are increasing our funding for victim and witness support services to £192 million by 2024/25, more than quadruple the level in 2009/10. In order to improve local partnership working regarding restorative justice services, work is underway by Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service to identify the factors supporting quality practice and to test effective, evidence-based access to, and delivery of, MoJ-funded restorative justice work. I continue to carefully consider the recommendations of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Restorative Justice, which included a recommendation to refresh the action plan, and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans his Department has to issue an updated Restorative Justice Action Plan for the Criminal Justice System given the last action plan elapsed in 2018.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We are committed to supporting restorative justice as a way to help victims cope and, as far as possible, recover from the impact of crime. However, it should only take place when both the victim and the offender agree, and it is considered safe. That is why, under the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime (‘the Victims’ Code’), all victims must be told about the option of restorative justice and how to access it, should it be appropriate.
On 25 May 2022, we published our response to the ‘Delivering justice for victims’ consultation and a draft Victims Bill, which sets out how we intend to enshrine the Victims’ Code in legislation, sending a clear signal that the justice system must deliver these entitlements for victims. We are also working with criminal justice agencies, Police and Crime Commissioners and Local Criminal Justice Boards to develop a set of metrics to ensure consistent monitoring of compliance with the Code and improve the delivery of its entitlements.
We want to make sure that restorative justice services target the most appropriate cases, where we have clear evidence for the benefits of that approach. We provide Police and Crime Commissioners with grant funding for victim support services, including restorative justice services. We are increasing our funding for victim and witness support services to £192 million by 2024/25, more than quadruple the level in 2009/10. In order to improve local partnership working regarding restorative justice services, work is underway by Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service to identify the factors supporting quality practice and to test effective, evidence-based access to, and delivery of, MoJ-funded restorative justice work. I continue to carefully consider the recommendations of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Restorative Justice, which included a recommendation to refresh the action plan, and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on 21 March (138330), whether they will review their position of welcoming Bahrain’s Restorative Justice Law for Children, in light of the conclusions of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on Bahrain, published on 4 March.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK draws on a wide range of sources when assessing human rights issues in Bahrain. We continue to believe that the Restorative Justice Law for Children provides greater protections for children's rights than the law it replaces and is consistent with Article 37 of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. We welcome its entry into force and continue to support Government of Bahrain efforts to ensure the law is fully and effectively implemented.