Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential risk to local communities of the highest risk offenders being housed in the private sector.

Approved Premises are accommodation approved under section 13 of the Offender Management Act 2007 for the supervision and rehabilitation of persons convicted of offences, or the supervision of persons granted bail in criminal proceedings. Their chief function is to accommodate high-risk offenders on release from custody.

All Approved Premises are funded by the Ministry of Justice. Most are managed by the National Probation Service, and the remainder by independent charitable trusts. We have no plans to change these arrangements.