Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions his Department has had with (a) community rehabilitation companies and (b) the Probation Service on the use of algorithms in the probation system.

Algorithmic tools are used both by the National Probation Service and Community Rehabilitation Companies to support decision making and aid professional judgement in assessing the level of risk posed by offenders. We have internal processes in place to ensure we develop and roll-out algorithmic models appropriately and responsibly and are working with The Alan Turing Institute to make sure the use of these models is ethical, safe and fair. These tools are one element of a number of measures for assessing the risk of re-offending: In all cases, the professional judgement of the offender manager is a key factor in deciding what measures are needed to manage an offender and prevent re-offending.