Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much the Probation Service spent on running specialist sex offender units in each of the last five years.

Each probation region has a sexual offending unit, the purpose of which is to deliver accredited sexual offending programmes. Therefore, PQ156218 and PQ156220 are asking the same question, as it is the role of those specialist units to deliver the programmes. HMPPS does not disaggregate spend on sexual offending programmes from the overall spend on all its programme delivery therefore we are not able to provide the data requested.

In relation to PQ156219, all probation practitioners are trained to assess and address offending behaviour. Responsibility for the risk management and rehabilitation of people convicted of sexual offences is allocated to appropriately trained probation staff.

Trainee probation officers receive specialised input on their course in working with this cohort, and we have introduced an advanced training course for relevant experienced staff to help them develop and maintain their skills in their work with those convicted of sexual offences. In addition, 193 probation staff nationally are trained to run the accredited sexual offending programmes.