Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total additional projected payments to Community Rehabilitation Companies of £342 million will be spent on.

The change to the contractual payment mechanism increased the overall potential value by around £277m for the rest of the contracts’ life. The actual change in total contract value, which could be an increase or a decrease, will depend on future volumes. It is not the case, therefore, that providers are guaranteed additional payments totalling £342m over the life of the contracts.

The changes we made to CRC contracts did not require the provision of additional services or staff. Contracts require CRCs to employ a sufficient level of staff and to have a workforce that is competent and adequately trained. CRCs continue to be held robustly to account for the delivery of their contractual obligations and for their performance against a range of service levels, and a proportion of their income is subject to achieving reductions in reoffending.

The financial position of each CRC is monitored monthly and we work closely with providers to understand their financial stability. We continue to closely monitor CRCs, including their expenditure, to ensure they prioritise actions to meet their obligations under the contract.