Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent assessment they have undertaken of approved premises in England.

We have not made a specific assessment of Approved Premises. As part of the Government’s Transforming Rehabilitation programme, we decided that Approved Premises should remain within the National Probation Service because of their focus on the supervision of high- and very high-risk offenders. That is because, for certain high risk offenders who have completed the custodial part of the sentence, requiring them to reside in an Approved Premises delivers more effective public protection than could be provided in alternative accommodation elsewhere in the community.

A review of Approved Premises operations is now under way. Its aim is to promote greater consistency of practice and improve the efficient use of resources in the Approved Premises estate.