Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Security Investment Programme.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
A full evaluation has been undertaken of the £100 million Security Investment Programme (SIP), whose aim was to help strengthen security and reduce crime in prisons. The findings of the evaluation have been published and can be found at the following: Security Investment Programme Evaluation - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases where legal aid was obtained to appeal against requests for release of the costs of legal aid to be made public remain not concluded since 2019.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The requested information is not centrally held.
It is unclear what types of ‘appeal’ are being referred to. It has been interpreted to be a reference to appeals to the General Regulatory Chamber against decisions under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to release information relating to legal aid expenditure.
Such appeals are not within the scope of legal aid funding in accordance with Schedule 1, Part 1 of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. To the extent that legal aid for these appeals may be granted under the provision for Exceptional Case Funding they would be recorded as ‘miscellaneous’ cases on the Legal Aid Agency’s database.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 9 December 2024 to Question 17767 on Prisons: Research, when she plans to publish the response to the Ipsos MORI research project on the retributive benefit of prison.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Ministry of Justice officials received research findings from Ipsos MORI in November last year (2024) and are currently considering the implications of the work.
Research findings are published in accordance with Government Social Research guidelines, following a peer review process to ensure the quality and robustness of the work. Until that has taken place, findings cannot be published.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the cost was of her Department's language services contracts in 2024.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The cost for all language service contracts in 2024 was £31,625,158.35.
It is a legal requirement that these services are provided.
The procurement for these services follows the requirements of the Public Procurement Act, and delivers value for money for the taxpayer through robust competition and rigorous governance.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what changes have been made to prisoner recalls following the review of Probation Recall Culture and Practice, published in December 2020.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Probation published a report on 10 November 2020 entitled: ‘A thematic review of probation recall culture and practice’. In this report, the Chief Inspector found that the Probation Service was taking proportionate and necessary decisions to recall offenders on licence for public protection.
HMPPS published its Action Plan responding to the thematic review on 7 December 2020, and subsequently updated on its progress the following year.
This contains details on the actions completed and can be found at GOV.UK here: Action_Plan_Update_December_2021_Final.pdf.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Answer of 10 January 2024 to Question 7797 on Prisons: Research, what (a) conclusions she has drawn and (b) changes she has made as a result of the Ipsos MORI research project on the retributive benefit of prison.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Ministry of Justice officials received research findings from Ipsos MORI in November this year and are currently considering the implications of the work. Officials will advise Ministers soon.
Therefore, no conclusions have yet been drawn from these findings and we have not made any changes on the basis of the research project.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what changes have been implemented in the Probation Service following HM Chief Inspector of Probation’s thematic review on Probation Recall, published on 14 December 2023.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Probation published a report on 14 December 2023 entitled: ‘A thematic inspection of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) recall decisions’.
In this report, the Chief Inspector found that the Probation Service were taking proportionate and necessary decisions to recall offenders on licence for public protection. The report did, however, also find that in some cases, additional support might have helped manage offenders in the community and made recommendations, which were accepted by the previous Government. HMPPS aligned and embedded the actions to address the recommendations into the IPP Action Plan and has taken these forwards in 2024/25.
Specifically, the HMPPS IPP Action Plan, a refreshed version of which was laid in Parliament on 15 November, has led to three key changes to support the management of IPP offenders on licence in the community. The first is the roll out of IPP Delivery Plans in each HMPPS operational area, which include a specific strategic objective to support the community reintegration of newly released IPP offenders and improve the effectiveness of management of IPP cases in the community. The second is for HMPPS Psychology Services to work alongside the Probation Service in supporting those offenders with complex needs during the challenging transitional period following first release. The third is the commencement of a pilot to improve the level and type of support offered to IPP offenders whilst they reside in an Approved Premises and in the lead up to their required move-on to new accommodation.
The Government also acted swiftly to commence the IPP measures in the Victims and Prisoners Act, which led to the automatic termination of licence for 1,742 cases on 1 November 2024.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many staff there are in the Probation service.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Information on staffing numbers of directly employed staff of HM Prison and Probation Service in England and Wales is published quarterly on GOV.UK.
The most recent publication can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hm-prison-and-probation-service-workforce-quarterly-june-2024.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the £100m Security Investment Programme in preventing drugs being smuggled into prisons since March 2022.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government’s £100m Security Investment Programme, aimed at reducing the conveyance of illicit items such as drugs, was completed in March 2022.
This investment delivered 75 additional X-ray body scanners resulting in full coverage across the closed adult male estate. As of October 2023, we have recorded 46,925 positive indications, helping to tackle the smuggling of drugs and other illicit items into prisons.
The investment also funded Enhanced Gate Security at 42 high-risk sites, enhancing our routine searching of staff and visitors. Over 140 new staff were recruited into the Counter-Corruption Unit through the Security Investment Programme. This includes regional Prevent teams dedicated to building staff resilience through training, awareness raising and individual support, as well as 20 Police Investigators dedicated to investigating corruption within HMPPS.
As part of this investment, we are undertaking a full evaluation for the Security Investment Programme. The evaluation explores whether the programme has achieved its intended outcomes, how the programme has been delivered, whether it has been delivered as intended and to identify factors which further strengthen its effectiveness.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he expects to receive the report of HM Chief Inspector of Probation’s thematic review of probation recall culture and practice.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The report of the Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP) thematic review titled 'A thematic review of probation recall culture and practice' was published in November 2020. This was the second part of the review which the Secretary of State had asked the Chief Inspector of Probation to undertake, following the conviction of Joseph McCann for a series of sexual offences committed in 2019. A link to the report is here: A thematic review of probation recall culture and practice (justiceinspectorates.gov.uk).
In December 2023, following a commission by the Secretary of State to the Inspectorate in response to the Justice Select Committee IPP inquiry report, HMIP published a report titled ‘A thematic inspection of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) recall decisions’. A link to this report is here: A thematic inspection of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) recall decisions (justiceinspectorates.gov.uk).
In both reports, the Inspectorate found that the Probation Service were taking proportionate and necessary decisions to recall offenders on licence for public protection.