Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his policy is on fitting tags and trackers at court or prison.
Answered by Andrew Selous
Tags are not currently fitted at court or prisons. There is provision in the new contract for tagging at court and prison; we will explore the circumstances where this might be appropriate during the life of the contract.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his policy is on devolving responsibility for tagging contracts to police and crime commissioners.
Answered by Andrew Selous
On 15 July the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice announced that the Ministry of Justice will be awarding contracts to four companies for delivery of the next generation of electronic monitoring services.
These national contracts will be managed by the Ministry of Justice. Within the existing legislative framework, there are opportunities for Police and Crime Commissioners to make use of the capability within national contracts to support their local priorities in order to ensure that the taxpayers money is used efficiently. Police and Crime Commissioners may however make local arrangements depending on local priorities.
Separate to these national contracts, the Secretary of State has agreed to allow the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime to enter into arrangements to pilot the effectiveness of the Alcohol Abstinence Monitoring Requirement under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether any (a) internal and (b) external reports were commissioned by Serco in relation to any steps taken by HM Prison Thameside to eliminate race discrimination in the workplace.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The Government is committed to ensuring equality throughout the criminal justice system. Internal complaints procedures and the employment tribunal system enable any allegations of racial discrimination in the workplace to be thoroughly investigated.
The Ministry of Justice conducted a routine assurance audit of HMP Thameside in 2013.
Any internal document prepared by the contractor in relation to potential litigation is legally privileged and therefore exempt from disclosure.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many employment tribunal cases were presented on the grounds of race discrimination in HM Prison Thameside in the last three years; what the nature was of each complaint; when each such tribunal began and ended; what the outcome was in each such case; and what the cost to the public purse was of defending such cases.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The Government is committed to ensuring equality throughout the criminal justice system. Internal complaints procedures and the employment tribunal system enable any allegations of racial discrimination in the workplace to be thoroughly investigated.
Two staff grievances alleging discrimination have been submitted at HMP Thameside in the last three years.
The first, which alleged bullying at work, racial discrimination, unfair treatment and victimisation, was received in 12 October 2012. It was considered by the Employment Tribunal at two hearings (October 2013 and in December 2013). The Tribunal dismissed the claim in its entirety in January 2014.
The second grievance, alleging unfair dismissal, racial discrimination, victimisation and harassment, was received in March 2013. It is currently being considered by the Employment Tribunal.
Liability for any legal costs in relation to employment cases would fall on the employer.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many grievances on the grounds of race discrimination have been made in HM Prison Thameside in the last three years; what the nature was of each such grievance; when each grievance was made and resolved; and what the outcome was in each case.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The Government is committed to ensuring equality throughout the criminal justice system. Internal complaints procedures and the employment tribunal system enable any allegations of racial discrimination in the workplace to be thoroughly investigated.
Two staff grievances alleging discrimination have been submitted at HMP Thameside in the last three years.
The first, which alleged bullying at work, racial discrimination, unfair treatment and victimisation, was received in 12 October 2012. It was considered by the Employment Tribunal at two hearings (October 2013 and in December 2013). The Tribunal dismissed the claim in its entirety in January 2014.
The second grievance, alleging unfair dismissal, racial discrimination, victimisation and harassment, was received in March 2013. It is currently being considered by the Employment Tribunal.
Liability for any legal costs in relation to employment cases would fall on the employer.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how long it took to merge Avon and Somerset Probation Services.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
Avon and Somerset Probation Trust, which was established on 1 April 2010, replaced the Avon and Somerset Probation Board, which had been created on 1 April 2001 following the merger of the two separate probation committees for Avon and for Somerset.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether sickness rates in probation trusts in England and Wales have risen since January 2013.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
Information on the average levels of absence due to staff sickness in the Probation trusts is published annually, at national level, in the NOMS Annual Report and Accounts: Management Information Addendum.
A link to the latest published report for FY 2012/13 is provided below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225225/mi-addendum.pdf
The NOMS Annual Report and Accounts: Management Information Addendum for FY 2013/14 will be published on 31st July 2014.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the payment by results pilot in HMP Doncaster has been terminated.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The HMP Doncaster Payment by Results (PbR) pilot was established to test the introduction of PbR to reduce reoffending, in response to commitments made in the Coalition Agreement. The pilot has been running since October 2011, with offenders released from Doncaster prison given additional rehabilitation support to help turn their lives around.
The pilot predates the Transforming Rehabilitation programme and while it has provided important learning to inform our plans, the delivery model at HMP Doncaster is not fully aligned with these reforms. As a result, we have decided to bring the pilot to a close, to help ensure the effective transition to the new model for rehabilitation services and offender management in the South Yorkshire Contract Package Area. No further participants will enter the pilot beyond the end of 2014.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when supervision of prisoners on release serving less than 12 months will begin in England and Wales.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The extension of statutory licence conditions and rehabilitation supervision to offenders sentenced to less than 12 months imprisonment is subject to the commencement of the relevant provisions in the Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014. This change to the sentencing framework is a core element of the Ministry of Justice's Transforming Rehabilitation Programme. Ministry of Justice officials are currently managing the transitional and implementation arrangements for the Programme, including the timing for commencement of this part of the Act.
We are on course to award and mobilise the new contracts for delivering rehabilitation services by 2015.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the assessment and allocation tools to be used by probation staff in England and Wales from 1 April 2014 have been finalised.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
We are carrying out extensive local testing of the key elements of the new Transforming Rehabilitation systems across a number of Probation Trusts. Findings are helping us to refine the associated tools and guidance. We have now completed testing of the new Risk of Serious Recidivism (RSR) tool, which will be used to inform the allocation of cases to new Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) or the National Probation Service (NPS), and we have begun the roll out of the current version of the tool to all Trusts.