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Written Question
Women's Centres: Swansea
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress he has made on establishment of the residential women’s centre in Swansea.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Planning approval for the Residential Women’s Centre at the Trehafod site in Cockett, Swansea, was granted by the Welsh Government’s Planning Environment Decisions Wales in August 2023, following an appeal by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). Due to delays and uncertainty in securing this planning approval, the MoJ has a number of ongoing steps to re-mobilise the project and continues to work closely with partners in Wales.


Written Question
Magistrates
Friday 22nd March 2024

Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of single justice procedure notices.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

HMCTS assessed the Single Justice Procedure Notice (SJPN) following a pilot with two prosecutors, the Metropolitan Police Service and TV Licensing, between December 2019 and February 2020 where a redesigned SJPN was trialled.

The SJPN was redesigned to encourage engagement. The pilot assessment showed that this was successful as the online plea rates and form completion improved following the redesigned SJPN. As a result of this there was an agreement to rollout the revised notice to all prosecutors who use the Single Justice Procedure.

Details of the assessment were published on 29 July 2022 and can be found by following the link: HMCTS single justice procedure notice pilots assessment - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).


Written Question
Prisons: Razors
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of replacing wet shaving razors with electric shavers in all prisons across Wales.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

We are committed to making prisons a safe place to work and recognise the risks associated with the current wet shave razor provision. In the 2021 Prison Safety White Paper, we committed to trial alternatives to wet-shave razors in prisons to test whether a change in approach might lead to a safer environment for both prisoners and staff. Throughout 2022 and 2023 six pilots have been carried out in the male estate and one carried out in the female estate.

Testing at all sites has now concluded and the results are being evaluated. The evaluation will consider outcomes, learning and positive practice from across all pilot sites and will be measured against the impact they have had on violence and/or self-harm.

The evaluation will be completed by the end of March 2024. This evaluation will enable us to make informed recommendations on future shaving provision in prison establishments.


Written Question
Repossession Orders: Wales
Thursday 8th February 2024

Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent estimate he has made of when the Possession Claim Online service will be made available (a) for properties in Wales and (b) in the Welsh language.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

As a result of the Renting Homes Wales Act 2016 introduced by the Welsh Government, implemented in December 2022, changes to the Possession Claim Online (PCOL) service are required for users making a claim for possession of a property located in Wales.

Work is ongoing between HMCTS and Welsh Government to agree the scope and funding of these changes to ensure compliance with the legislation.

PCOL is currently available in the Welsh language and this will continue to be the case when the service is resumed for properties located in Wales.


Written Question
Repossession Orders: Wales
Thursday 8th February 2024

Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department is taking steps to restore the Possession Claim Online service (a) for properties in Wales and (b) in the Welsh language.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

As a result of the Renting Homes Wales Act 2016 introduced by the Welsh Government, implemented in December 2022, changes to the Possession Claim Online (PCOL) service are required for users making a claim for possession of a property located in Wales.

Work is ongoing between HMCTS and Welsh Government to agree the scope and funding of these changes to ensure compliance with the legislation.

PCOL is currently available in the Welsh language and this will continue to be the case when the service is resumed for properties located in Wales.


Written Question
Probation Service: Staff
Tuesday 28th November 2023

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 and what proportion of probation officers have been in post for over (a) two and (b) five years in each region.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The quarterly HMPPS workforce statistics publication covers staffing information, including number of staff in post by length of service and grade. The latest publication covers data for up to the period 30 September 2023.

Table 1: Band 4 Probation Officers in post by region and length of service1, as at 30 September 2023 (Full-time equivalent)

Completed years of service

Percentage of total

Region

2+ years

5+ years

Total

2+ years

5+ years

Approved Premises – Midlands

3

3

3

100%

100%

Approved Premises - North East

1

1

1

100%

100%

Approved Premises - North West

4

4

4

100%

100%

Approved Premises - South East and Eastern

1

1

1

100%

100%

Approved Premises - South West & Central

1

1

1

100%

100%

East Midlands Probation Service

283

218

323

88%

67%

East of England Probation Service

417

260

441

95%

59%

Greater Manchester Probation Service

234

181

280

84%

65%

Kent, Surrey and Sussex Probation Service

244

163

265

92%

62%

London Probation Service

513

320

562

91%

57%

North East Probation Service

288

184

314

92%

59%

North West Probation Service

399

333

451

89%

74%

South Central Probation Service

225

143

248

91%

58%

South West Probation Service

337

228

348

97%

66%

Wales Probation Service

343

268

376

91%

71%

West Midlands Probation Service

480

343

507

95%

68%

Yorkshire & the Humber Probation Service

484

329

525

92%

63%

Probation Officers not in Probation Service

24

20

24

98%

81%

Total

4,281

3,000

4,675

92%

64%

1: The length of service in HMPPS is calculated from most recent hire date. Where staff have transferred in from another Government Department or have transferred in through HMPPS taking over a function, length of service is calculated from entry to HMPPS.

Note:

  1. Someone with more than five years’ experience is counted in both columns.
  2. This table only includes those who are a band 4 Probation Officer on the 30 September 2023 (so will not include anyone who has been promoted, including to a Senior Probation Officer role).

Written Question
Probation Service: Staff
Tuesday 28th November 2023

Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 13 November 2023 to Question 340 on Probation Service: Staff, how many and what proportion of probation officers have workloads that are above 100% on the Workload Management Tool in each region.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Probation Service currently uses the Workload Measurement Tool (WMT) as an indicator and as one of several sources of information to support management of workloads. There are, however, significant limitations with using the WMT to monitor workload due to its daily fluctuation, capacity for human error and the challenges in accounting for periods of leave and case support. The WMT is therefore only one element of probation capacity and should be considered alongside the situational context and other reporting routes.

This table shows by region the proportion of POs who are over 100% (as of the 22 November 2023) on the WMT. To note, the WMT is not considered a reliable estimate of total staff.

Region

Total Probation Officers

Number of Probation Officers over 100%

National

3,338

2,591

East Midlands

217

165

East of England

279

236

Greater Manchester

211

180

Kent Surrey Sussex

176

133

London

454

375

North East Region

223

163

North West Region

335

253

South Central

176

141

South West

234

192

Wales

272

177

West Midlands Region

367

267

Yorkshire and The Humber

394

309

Recruitment and retention remain a priority across the Probation Service and we have injected extra funding of more than £155 million a year to deliver more robust supervision, recruit thousands more staff and reduce caseloads to keep the public safer. The Probation Service is in its second year of a multi-year pay deal for its staff. Salary values of all pay bands will increase each year, targeted at key operational grades to improve a challenging recruitment and retention position. Positively, the Probation Service leaving rate was 9.9% in the 12 months to 30 September 2023, a decrease from the previous 12 months.

The Probation Service saw an increase of 2,170 FTE or 11.8% (Probation Service grades) since September 2022. There has been an increase across all Probation Service grades such Senior Probation Officer (13.0%), Probation Officers (6.9%), Other Band 4-6 (16.0%) and in particular Other Bands 1 to 3 staff saw an increase of 1,260 FTE staff (26.4%), following centrally run recruitment for key grades supporting frontline staff. We have accelerated recruitment of trainee Probation Officers (PQiPs) to increase staffing levels, particularly in Probation Delivery Units (PDUs) with the most significant staffing challenges.There were 2,185 staff, equivalent to 2,164 FTE, as at 30 September 2023 undertaking the PQiP training, which we anticipate will start to directly impact on the reduction of caseloads as they qualify.


Written Question
Probation Service
Tuesday 28th November 2023

Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 13 November 2023 to Question 339 on Probation Service, what the staffing underspend was in the Probation Service in each of the last 24 months.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

In the period between November 2021 and October 2023, the total monthly expenditure for Probation Service staffing has increased from £60.3m to £72.4m. The increase in expenditure reflects the continued investment in staffing during the past 24 months and impact of the multiyear pay deal. In July 2023, expenditure exceeded budget due to the cost-of-living payment.

The table below sets out the financial variances for staff related costs in the Probation Service between November 2021 and October 2023.

Month

Budget (£m)

Actual Expenditure (£m)

Variance (£m)

Nov-21

62.3

60.3

2.0

Dec-21

62.3

61.3

0.9

Jan-22

63.6

59.4

4.2

Feb-22

63.6

58.4

5.2

Mar-22

63.1

72.9

-9.7

Apr-22

63.5

64.0

-0.5

May-22

63.5

64.1

-0.6

Jun-22

63.5

65.0

-1.5

Jul-22

64.4

66.8

-2.4

Aug-22

66.3

64.2

2.0

Sep-22

66.5

61.3

5.2

Oct-22

71.2

60.3

10.9

Nov-22

71.2

68.6

2.6

Dec-22

71.2

67.8

3.4

Jan-23

71.3

69.0

2.4

Feb-23

71.0

67.0

4.0

Mar-23

71.0

71.4

-0.4

Apr-23

71.7

73.1

-1.5

May-23

71.7

70.3

1.3

Jun-23

71.7

70.7

1.0

Jul-23

69.1

105.0

-35.9

Aug-23

71.1

71.8

-0.8

Sep-23

71.1

71.8

-0.7

Oct-23

74.8

72.4

2.4

Total

1,630.7

1,637.2

-6.6


Written Question
Probation Service: Staff
Monday 27th November 2023

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 and what proportion of probation officers who left service in the past year had been in post for less than (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four, (e) five, (f) six, (g) seven and (h) eight years.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The quarterly HMPPS workforce statistics publication covers staffing information, including number of leavers by length of service and grade. The latest publication covers data for up to the period 30 September 2023. Data for the number and proportion of Probation Officers who left the department in the 12 months to 30 September 2023, by length of service, can be seen in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Probation Officer leavers by length of service, for those who left the department in the 12 months to 30 September 2023 (headcount)

Completed years of service and percentage of total

Less than 1 year

Less than 2 years

Less than 3 years

Less than 4 years

Less than 5 years

Less than 6 years

Less than 7 years

Less than 8 years

Total

Headcount

3

15

69

103

147

167

182

188

372

Percentage of total

1%

4%

19%

28%

40%

45%

49%

51%

100%

Notes:

1. Length of service in HMPPS is calculated from the most recent hire date. Where staff have transferred in from another Government Department or have transferred in through HMPPS taking over a function, length of service is calculated from entry to HMPPS.

2. As with all HR databases, extracts are taken at a fixed point in time, to ensure consistency of reporting. However, the database itself is dynamic and where updates to the database are made late, subsequent to the taking of the extract, these updates will not be reflected in figures produced by the extract. For this reason, HR data is unlikely to be precisely accurate.

3. The length of service bands have been grouped so that the data presented is cumulative in nature (so those with less than 1 year of service will be counted in all columns).


Written Question
Prisoners: Wales
Thursday 16th November 2023

Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the reasons for which Wales has a proportionally higher prison population per 100,000 than England.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Prison capacity and population movements are managed nationally across England and Wales. There are over 5,500 prison places in Wales including a 2,000 place prison, HMP Berwyn, which opened in 2017. Geographically HMP Berwyn is near to the Northwest of England and holds a significant number of prisoners sentenced by courts in that region as well as prisoners originating in Wales.

UK nationals have a nationality of British. While holding an individual close to their home is an important consideration in the placement of prisoners, HMPPS does not identify or record prisoners as English or Welsh. Someone with an address in England may consider themselves to be Welsh, while someone with an address in Wales may not.