Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Timpson on 22 September (HL10345), whether the positions of Director General of Operations and Chief Operating Officer for Prisons have now been filled on a permanent basis; and what role the Senior Leadership Committee has played in recruitment to these posts.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The roles of Director General of Operations and Chief Operating Officer for Prisons are currently being filled on an interim basis. The recruitment position is unchanged from my reply of 22 September.
Senior Leadership Committee (SLC) membership is currently made up of: Permanent Secretary, Home Office (who serves as the Chair); Permanent Secretary, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero; Permanent Secretary, HM Treasury; Chief Executive of the Civil Service and Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Office; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government; Permanent Secretary, Department for Education; Government Chief People Officer (Cabinet Office), Permanent Secretary, Department for Work & Pensions; and Director General, MI5. As set out in the Civil Service Senior Appointments Protocol, the First Civil Service Commissioner also sits on the SLC as a permanent member. There are currently no representatives from the Ministry of Justice on the SLC.
Civil Service Commissioners must chair all permanent competitions for posts at SCS Pay Band 4 (Permanent Secretary) and SCS Pay Band 3 (Director General) level. This requirement applies both to open (external) competitions and to Civil Service-wide (internal) competitions. Commissioners do not have involvement in appointments where an exception is granted, although these are reported to the Commission on a quarterly basis. The current appointments were made under exceptions due to the temporary nature of the arrangements. Any future permanent recruitment will follow the Civil Service Recruitment Principles and be chaired by a Civil Service Commissioner.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Timpson on 22 September (HL10345), whether the Senior Leadership Committee included representatives from the Ministry of Justice; and whether the recruitment process involved the Civil Service Commission or the use of an exception under the Civil Service recruitment principles.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The roles of Director General of Operations and Chief Operating Officer for Prisons are currently being filled on an interim basis. The recruitment position is unchanged from my reply of 22 September.
Senior Leadership Committee (SLC) membership is currently made up of: Permanent Secretary, Home Office (who serves as the Chair); Permanent Secretary, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero; Permanent Secretary, HM Treasury; Chief Executive of the Civil Service and Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Office; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government; Permanent Secretary, Department for Education; Government Chief People Officer (Cabinet Office), Permanent Secretary, Department for Work & Pensions; and Director General, MI5. As set out in the Civil Service Senior Appointments Protocol, the First Civil Service Commissioner also sits on the SLC as a permanent member. There are currently no representatives from the Ministry of Justice on the SLC.
Civil Service Commissioners must chair all permanent competitions for posts at SCS Pay Band 4 (Permanent Secretary) and SCS Pay Band 3 (Director General) level. This requirement applies both to open (external) competitions and to Civil Service-wide (internal) competitions. Commissioners do not have involvement in appointments where an exception is granted, although these are reported to the Commission on a quarterly basis. The current appointments were made under exceptions due to the temporary nature of the arrangements. Any future permanent recruitment will follow the Civil Service Recruitment Principles and be chaired by a Civil Service Commissioner.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the positions at the Prison and Probation Service of (1) Director General Chief Executive Officer, (2) Director General of Operations, and (3) Chief Operating Officer Prisons, were most recently vacant; how long those positions have been vacant or filled on an interim basis over the past three years; whether each of those vacancies has been filled internally or externally; and whether all of those vacancies have been advertised externally.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Over three years ago, Amy Rees CB was appointed Director General CEO of HIs Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS); Phil Copple CB was appointed Director General of Operations; and Michelle Jarman-Howe CBE was appointed Chief Operating Officer for Prisons. In April 2025, Amy Rees was temporarily appointed to the role of interim Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice while a selection process for the Permanent Secretary post took place.
This necessitated a number of consequential interim appointments, on a temporary basis, in HMPPS. Phil Copple was identified through succession planning to be the interim CEO; the Chief Operating Officer for Prisons, Michelle Jarman-Howe, was identified to be the interim Director General of Operations; and the Area Executive Director for London, Sarah Coccia, was identified to be the interim Chief Operating Officer for Prisons.
In September 2025, following the appointment of a new Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Justice, Amy Rees left the Department to take up the post of Chief Executive of Homes England. The Senior Leadership Committee (SLC), a cross-Government governance board led by the Cabinet Office responsible for approving senior appointments, confirmed James McEwen, Director General and Chief Operating Officer at the Ministry of Justice, as the permanent successor to the HMPPS CEO role in a managed move. He will formally take up the post in October 2025.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what penalties have been imposed on private sector companies providing Prisoner Escort and Custody Services in the most recent 12-month period for which data are available, broken down by court building and date.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
It would not be possible to provide disaggregated data at the level of detail requested without incurring disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what performance management system is used by HM Prison and Probation Service; when it was last reviewed; and whether it requires managers to submit annual appraisal markings for staff.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
HMPPS adheres to an internal Performance Management Policy that applies to all staff in Ministry of Justice Headquarters and its agencies upon confirmation of successfully completing probation. The policy includes setting agreed performance expectations, having regular performance conversations, supporting performance and holding quarterly reviews to identify members of staff who are high performing and those that may require support.
The HMPPS policy was published in April 2022, with no imminent date for review. There is no requirement to submit annual appraisal markings for individual staff.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to (1) increase awareness, and (2) introduce training, for (a) police, (b) probation, and (c) prison, staff on the issues faced by individuals who commit crime due to gambling-related harms.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) is committed to increasing awareness of the hidden harms of problem gambling and training our prison and probation officers. This equips them with the skills and confidence to help identify, support and signpost individuals into the most appropriate interventions both in custody and on release.
The activities and training services available to improve staff awareness regarding gambling related harms are detailed below.
Within the Probation Service, practitioners have access to an evidence based effective practice resource which was published in 2021. This provides a summary of key evidence, including the harms caused by gambling, signs that gambling is causing a problem, ideas on how to work with individuals who gamble and reflective questions to support practice discussions.
To increase awareness, the launch of this guidance was supported by an online event in November 2021 to understand more about the prevalence and effects of gambling in criminal justice and look at how prison and probation services can respond. The recording of the event remains available for staff to access. The event involved speakers from the Prisoner Education tTrust, the Howard League for Penal Reform, Epic Restart Foundation and Gam Care along with colleagues from within HMPPS.
Further work is currently underway to create a package of materials for probation staff to use with this specific cohort. This is expected to be available from October 2022. I refer the noble Lord to the answer given to HL1110 for further information.
HMPPS has an online learning platform which hosts a variety of training that all prison and probation staff can access. On this platform there is a package called ‘Problem Gambling: Prevalence and Practice’ where the aim is for the learner to gain an understanding about the occurrence and effects of gambling in the criminal justice system.
The police also offer a six-hour training course "on understanding and spotting early signs of gambling addictions", which was launched in September 2021 and is available to all police officers.