Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of whether the five-day turnaround for pre-sentence allows sufficient time for safeguarding checks to be carried out.

When preparing a pre-sentence report, the report author must initiate safeguarding checks regarding children and vulnerable adults at risk at the earliest opportunity

The duty under the Children’s Act 2004 on all relevant agencies to make arrangements to ensure they discharge their functions in regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children does not end with an initial check and assessment at pre-sentence stage. Assessments begin at the pre-sentence report stage and continue through to the end of sentence.