Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, (a) what measures are in place to ensure effective management of released offenders with a history of domestic abuse, stalking, coercive and controlling behaviour, or violence against women and girls, and (b) how the effectiveness of these measures is monitored and assessed.

Offenders who have a history of domestic abuse, stalking, coercive and controlling behaviour, or violence against women and girls and are currently serving a prison sentence are released on licence, supervised by the Probation Service. Probation practitioners will conduct a thorough risk assessment, taking account of information which they receive from enquiries made of the Police, Children’s Services and other agencies working with the offender in order to set the licence conditions and other controls needed to manage the risks which offenders present to their victims and to the general public.

Offenders released on licence are subject to a set of standard licence conditions and, where necessary to manage risk and protect victims, they may also be made subject to additional conditions such as exclusion zones, non-contact conditions and location monitoring. If they breach these conditions or risks escalate and risk is no longer manageable in the community, they may be recalled to prison. Since October, new tougher powers will include restriction zones, and the ability to prohibit offenders from driving, attending public events, or entering pubs, clubs and bars.

Any offender sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment or more for specified stalking, controlling and coercive behaviour offences or threats to kill will automatically be subject to management under the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA). All domestic abuse and stalking perpetrators not automatically subject to MAPPA must be considered for discretionary MAPPA management.

HMPPS monitors probation performance closely through a clear probation performance framework to hold leaders to account on, covering all areas of the Probation Service’s work, looking at both the quality of services and whether expected standards are being delivered. Alongside this, we use HM Inspectorate of Probation findings to provide independent scrutiny and identify areas where further improvement is needed.