Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the HM Inspectorate of Probation report entitled Independent serious further offence review of Jordan McSweeney, published January 2023, what progress he has made on implementing each of the 10 recommendations in that report.

This was a despicable crime. We have apologised unreservedly to Zara Aleena’s family for the unacceptable failings in the management of this case.

H M Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS) has accepted all of the recommendations in the report and is in the process of implementing them. HMPPS will conduct reviews to measure progress in implementing the measures outlined in the resulting Action Plan, at the six-month and twelve-month points after publication.

We have provided extra funding of more than £155 million a year to enable the Probation Service to deliver more robust supervision, reduce caseloads and recruit thousands more staff to keep the public safer. Better information-sharing arrangements between all sectors of the criminal justice system; improving the quality of court reports; and support for senior probation officers to manage complex teams and caseloads will strengthen probation practice and improve public protection. We have also updated mandatory training for new staff, to improve risk assessments, and are implementing new processes to guarantee the swift recall of offenders.