Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the impact of the implementation of the new ViSOR database on the workload of staff in the probation service.

ViSOR is a multi-agency database used for storing and sharing risk related information and intelligence for Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangement (MAPPA) qualifying offenders and some other high-risk groups. It has been used by Police since 2005, and the Probation and Prison Service since 2007. Having access to ViSOR on probation service devices means that offender managers can access up-to-date information and essential risk related intelligence directly. Prior to having direct access to ViSOR, Offender Managers would have to contact colleagues in other agencies for this information which led to delays in accessing the relevant intelligence. The direct access we are now offering Probation Offender Managers will improve the quality and effectiveness of our risk management plans and the speed in which they are constructed.