Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the report, A Process Evaluation of the Enhanced Through the Gate Specification, published on 1 October 2020, what steps he is taking to tackle the lack of specificity to service user needs identified in the personal, relationships, and community resettlement pathway.

The newly commissioned Personal Well-Being Services are designed to ensure a holistic service which meets a range of frequently co-occurring needs. This service identifies the activities and interventions that providers will deliver as a minimum. Providers are expected to liaise with statutory and other agencies and to invest time in supporting Service Users to access and sustain engagement with existing services, including those which address substance misuse.

The Personal Wellbeing category includes Family and Significant others, Social Inclusion which contains mentoring and Emotional Well-being with outcomes for each service. Commissioning for Dependency and Recovery is separate and will be the responsibility of Regional Probation Directors building on local partnerships.

The Community Probation Practioner will be responsible for pre-release activities including completing a comprehensive pre-release assessment drawing upon assessments completed in prison and at least 3 pre-release meetings. This enables a more focused resettlement plan based on individual needs. They will co-ordinate with providers to ensure multiple and interacting needs are addressed in a planned way.