Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the administrative and casework capacity of Victim Liaison Officers to manage the increased volume of statutory consultations required under the early release provisions of the Earned Progression Model.

Sections 35 to 45 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 provide eligible victims with statutory rights under the Probation Service Victim Contact Scheme, including the opportunity to make representations about licence conditions and to receive relevant information about an offender's release. These arrangements apply equally to releases under the Earned Progression Model. This includes eligible sexual, child sexual and domestic abuse-related offences where the victim falls within the scope of the Victim Contact Scheme.

In line with policy, there is engagement between the Probation Practitioner responsible for supervising the offender on licence and the Victim Liaison Officer, to ensure that victims' views on licence conditions are sought and considered prior to any release subject to licence. In cases involving eligible violent or sexual offences where an offender has received a custodial sentence of 12 months or more, Victim Liaison Officers engage with victims regarding proposed licence conditions and any conditions they wish to request. These may include measures such as exclusion zones and non-contact conditions.

The role of the Victim Liaison Officer is to ensure that victims’ views and concerns are heard throughout the offender management process, including prior to release. Their role is to obtain and communicate victims’ views to the Probation Practitioner.

Victims are then informed of the outcome of decisions relating to licence conditions, including any agreed exclusion zones. Arrangements are made before release to ensure that approved licence conditions take effect from the point of release including implementing electronic monitoring or GPS exclusion zones. Where victim representations are not reflected in the final licence conditions, the reasons for the decision will be communicated to the victim. There is no formal appeal process for victims in relation to licence conditions, although concerns may be raised through existing HMPPS complaints procedures.

The Department keeps operational resource requirements under review and works closely with probation regions to ensure that statutory obligations to victims continue to be met, including those delivered through the Victim Contact Scheme.