Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
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.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
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.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have been prosecuted for the use of hand-held mobile devices while driving in the past 12 months.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
In 2016, the most recent period for which figures are available, 12,853 defendants were proceeded against at magistrates courts in England and Wales for using or causing others to use a handheld mobile phone whilst driving.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of prisoners given sentences lasting less than 12 months are allocated accommodation upon their release.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
This information is not available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what sanctions are imposed on prison providers when targets for education are not met.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The current contractual arrangements enable the National Offender Management Service to impose sanctions upon education providers, including withholding payment, if they do not deliver learning to prisoners or are subject to a poor Ofsted inspection.
Through the Prison Safety and Reform white paper, the Government has set out its proposals to deliver major reforms to the prison system to cut reoffending and help reduce crime. The Justice Secretary has been clear that she wants prisons to be places of safety and reform, helping get offenders off drugs and giving them basic education skills they need to find work on release.
As part of these reforms we will be raising standards, including measuring an individual’s educational attainment, empowering prison governors to take decisions over how best to support their prisoner cohort, while holding them to account on an agreed set of standards.