Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent steps he has taken to ensure that offenders released from prison on probation are being safely supervised.

Action to enable the safe supervision of those released from custody on licence or under post-sentence supervision starts before they leave prison with critical work undertaken by prison and probation staff. In the majority of cases (except very short sentences where they are managed by their home probation region) this involves a formal handover from the prison offender manager to the community offender manager. This arrangement was introduced as part of the Offender Management in Custody initiative, and monitoring is in place at a national level through a Service Level Agreement in order to promote continuous improvement in this area and ensure compliance with national standards. The handover is intended to focus on public protection measures, sharing of information, and the opportunity for the offender and the community offender manager to begin building a good relationship.

The Probation Service has a range of measures in place to promote the safe supervision of offenders in the community. Every offender’s risk is assessed, and will be re-assessed if there is any indication that the level may have increased. Offenders released on licence are required to abide by a set of standard conditions, to which additional conditions may be added to take account of a particular risk the individual may pose. Offenders who breach their licence are liable to immediate recall to custody.

HM Inspectorate of Probation reports to the Government on the effectiveness of work with those who have offended, with the aim of reducing re-offending and protecting the public. The quality of supervision is also measured through HM Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS)’s annual Sentence Management Audit. Recommendations made by both internal and external scrutineers are implemented via regional Quality Improvement Plans. HMPPS auditors will conduct regular reviews of the delivery of these plans through 2023-24, as one of the measures we have in place to promote high standards of supervision.