Elsie Blundell
Main Page: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)Department Debates - View all Elsie Blundell's debates with the HM Treasury
(1 day, 8 hours ago)
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Rachel Reeves
The OBR has revised down the level of debt in every year of the forecast.
Mrs Elsie Blundell (Heywood and Middleton North) (Lab)
I thank the Chancellor for her statement, and for the decisions she has taken to ensure the stability of our public finances so that we can improve our public services. As she will know, the number of individuals in the probation system is at an all-time high, with violent reoffending perpetuating the cycle of crime and leaving the public at risk. What steps will the Treasury take to drive down the number of staffing vacancies in the Probation Service, so that those in the service can work relentlessly to reduce reoffending and ensure the safety of the communities we represent?
Rachel Reeves
As Chancellor, it was my responsibility to make sure that we had fair settlements in the spending review for every Department. That included a big uplift in the settlement for the Ministry of Justice so that we can invest in probation staff, in prison officers, and indeed in prisons, which were full to bursting point when we came into government because of the legacy of the previous Government.