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1387201

registered interest
date	13/12/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Enforcement
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government has taken to support the establishment of the Enforcement Conduct Authority proposed by Centre for Social Justice; and when his Department plans to publish the results of its 2018 call for evidence on enforcement agent reforms.
tabling member constituency	Makerfield
tabling member printed	Yvonne Fovargue
uin	91951
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/12/2021 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice strongly supports the creation of the independent oversight body for enforcement agents and firms that has been proposed by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ). Officials have met regularly with the CSJ and the working group that is establishing the body to support its development. We will undertake a review of the body within two years of its operation to see if any legislative changes are necessary to place it on a statutory footing.</p><p>The publication of the response to our call for evidence about the enforcement agent reforms, which closed in February 2019, has been delayed as a result of the department’s response to the pandemic. That allowed us to refocus our priorities, which resulted, for example, in MoJ and DLUHC introducing an extended ban on enforcing evictions to prevent people being made homeless during Covid, so protecting public health and easing the burden on the NHS and local authorities.</p><p>We remain committed to raising standards in this sector and will publish the response as soon as possible.</p> answering member constituency South Suffolk answering member printed James Cartlidge question first answered 20/12/2021 16:23:33 answering member 4519 label Biography information for James Cartlidge
tabling member	4034 label Biography information for Yvonne Fovargue

1387230

registered interest
date	13/12/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners' Release: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many women have used his Department's temporary accommodation service for prison leavers since its implementation in summer 2021; and what steps have been taken in the provision of that service specifically to reflect the accommodation needs of women.
tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Riverside
tabling member printed	Kim Johnson
uin	92123
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/12/2021 answer text <p>Our Prisons White Paper sets out our vision that no-one subject to probation supervision is released from prison homeless. By 2024-25 we will spend £200 million a year to reduce reoffending, including improving prison leavers’ access to accommodation.</p><p>Our temporary accommodation service currently provides up to 12 weeks temporary housing in five regions to prison leavers at risk of homelessness who are subject to probation supervision. The service takes account of the needs of women, including those with complex needs, with accommodation provision dedicated to single gender usage as required. Community Probation Practitioners, working together with local partners, are responsible for ensuring that vulnerable female prison leavers receive appropriate support and have access to additional support for women through the Women’s Commissioned Rehabilitation Service (CRS). This provision is a holistic service offer, delivered by expert and experienced women’s services, that covers a broad range of interventions including accommodation support.</p><p>Accommodation circumstances for offenders are reported annually as official statistics. Data for the period 01 April 2021 to 31 March 2022 will be published in July 2022 in the Community Performance Annual report. In line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, access to these statistics before their public release is limited to those involved in the production of the statistics and the preparation of the release, and for quality assurance and operational purposes.</p><p>HMPPS worked with colleagues in Department for Levelling Up, Housing &amp; Communities (DLUHC) and the Welsh Government to agree a definition of homelessness, and they continue to work with them to ensure consistency and data quality. To ensure consistent and accurate data recording, HMPPS has recently updated the Accommodation Recording Guidance to ensure Probation regions have a clear and consistent understanding of the accommodation status definitions, and how to record accurately. The Guidance defines homelessness as where an individual is rough sleeping, squatting, residing in night shelters, emergency hostels or campsites.</p> answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse grouped question UIN 92124 question first answered 21/12/2021 15:07:11 answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse
tabling member	4824 label Biography information for Kim Johnson

1387231

registered interest
date	13/12/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners' Release: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of promoting a single definition of suitable accommodation outcome for vulnerable women leaving prison.
tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Riverside
tabling member printed	Kim Johnson
uin	92124
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/12/2021 answer text <p>Our Prisons White Paper sets out our vision that no-one subject to probation supervision is released from prison homeless. By 2024-25 we will spend £200 million a year to reduce reoffending, including improving prison leavers’ access to accommodation.</p><p>Our temporary accommodation service currently provides up to 12 weeks temporary housing in five regions to prison leavers at risk of homelessness who are subject to probation supervision. The service takes account of the needs of women, including those with complex needs, with accommodation provision dedicated to single gender usage as required. Community Probation Practitioners, working together with local partners, are responsible for ensuring that vulnerable female prison leavers receive appropriate support and have access to additional support for women through the Women’s Commissioned Rehabilitation Service (CRS). This provision is a holistic service offer, delivered by expert and experienced women’s services, that covers a broad range of interventions including accommodation support.</p><p>Accommodation circumstances for offenders are reported annually as official statistics. Data for the period 01 April 2021 to 31 March 2022 will be published in July 2022 in the Community Performance Annual report. In line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, access to these statistics before their public release is limited to those involved in the production of the statistics and the preparation of the release, and for quality assurance and operational purposes.</p><p>HMPPS worked with colleagues in Department for Levelling Up, Housing &amp; Communities (DLUHC) and the Welsh Government to agree a definition of homelessness, and they continue to work with them to ensure consistency and data quality. To ensure consistent and accurate data recording, HMPPS has recently updated the Accommodation Recording Guidance to ensure Probation regions have a clear and consistent understanding of the accommodation status definitions, and how to record accurately. The Guidance defines homelessness as where an individual is rough sleeping, squatting, residing in night shelters, emergency hostels or campsites.</p> answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse grouped question UIN 92123 question first answered 21/12/2021 15:07:12 answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse
tabling member	4824 label Biography information for Kim Johnson

1387232

registered interest
date	13/12/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Alternatives to Prison: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of community sentences for female offenders as an alternative to short custodial prison sentences.
tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Riverside
tabling member printed	Kim Johnson
uin	92125
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/12/2021 answer text <p>Sentencing is a matter for the judiciary in individual cases. In line with the Government’s Female Offender Strategy, we want fewer women serving short sentences and more managed effectively in the community successfully. Community sentences offer the opportunity to support women to address the underlying causes of offending behaviour, and to secure and maintain stable accommodation. In addition, disruption to families is significantly less, reducing the risk of intergenerational offending.</p><p> </p><p>To support community provision, in May 2021 we announced £46 million probation funding over three years for services for women coming out of prison or serving community sentences and have invested £9.5m in the women’s community sector since 2018. We also have several initiatives underway that are looking to encourage use of robust community sentences as an alternative to custody for women, including Problem Solving Courts, Community Sentence Treatment Requirements, Electronic Monitoring and a Pre-Sentence Report pilot.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 21/12/2021 12:48:21 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	4824 label Biography information for Kim Johnson

1387233

registered interest
date	13/12/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners' Release: Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to support prison leavers into permanent safe and secure housing beyond the 12 weeks of accommodation provided by his Department's temporary accommodation service.
tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Riverside
tabling member printed	Kim Johnson
uin	92126
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/12/2021 answer text <p>Our Prisons White Paper sets out our vision that no-one subject to probation supervision is released from prison homeless. This July we launched our Community Accommodation Service which provides up to twelve weeks temporary housing to prison leavers in five regions, with support to move to settled accommodation from an offender’s probation practitioner and the Community Rehabilitative Services. By 2024-25 we will spend £200 million a year to reduce reoffending, including improving prison leavers’ access to accommodation by expanding the Community Accommodation Service.</p><p>The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) announced their Accommodation for Ex-Offenders (AfEO) scheme on 28 July 2021. Local authority-led schemes vary and include a mixture of funding deposits, insurance or landlord incentives to help people into their own home, as well as landlord liaison and ongoing tenancy support. The scheme has been developed, together with the Community Accommodation Service, to provide a pathway for prison leavers from prison into their own private rented sector accommodation. Overall, this year, £13 million has been allocated to 87 schemes across 145 local authorities.</p> answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse question first answered 21/12/2021 15:09:05 answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse
tabling member	4824 label Biography information for Kim Johnson

1387293

registered interest
date	13/12/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	HM Courts and Tribunals Service: ICT
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to (a) the answers to Questions 100 and 104 of the Justice Select Committee, Oral evidence: The work of the Ministry of Justice, HC 869, 30 November 2021 and (b) the HMCTS weekly operational summary for the week commencing 29 November 2021, if he will make an assessment of the compatibility of his statement that the rollout of the Common Platform is proceeding at pace with his Department's decision to extend the pause to that rollout.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	91925
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/12/2021 answer text <p>Common Platform is used daily in 101 courts across the country. Over the summer, HMCTS took the decision to pause roll out to accommodate the peak August leave season; however, a decision was taken to continue the pause of the Common Platform roll out for the remainder of the calendar year following some slowness of the system being identified which was having an impact on users. This decision was made to allow the programme to identify, mitigate, and resolve this with further roll out of the Common Platform expected to restart subject to governance approvals, early in 2022.</p> answering member constituency South Suffolk answering member printed James Cartlidge question first answered 16/12/2021 19:42:43 answering member 4519 label Biography information for James Cartlidge
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

1387366

registered interest
date	13/12/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	HM Courts and Tribunals Service: ICT
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what (a) cost-benefit analysis, (b) organisational risk assessment, and (c) equality impact assessment for users has been made in relation to the Common Platform.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	91957
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/12/2021 answer text <p>A full cost benefit analysis of Common Platform was undertaken as a component part of the wider portfolio of investment in courts’ transformation. This analysis fully conformed to the Treasury’s “Green Book” - which provides detailed guidance in Chapter 6. Treasury guidance was followed and the portfolio level cost benefit analysis was subject to scrutiny and validation by the Government Major Projects Portfolio in February 2021 and approved, having met the required standard of a robust assessment of the costs and benefits.</p><p>HMCTS have undertaken a number of assessments for the Common Platform case management system. These were undertaken in 2020 and are currently being reviewed.</p><p>The health, safety and wellbeing of all HMCTS colleagues is taken extremely seriously. For our Common Platform programme, we have assessed risk throughout, and continue to keep it under review. At an organisational level, that assessment has been documented through a Change Impact Assessment, Public Sector Equality Analysis and a Workforce Equality Analysis, which remain under regular review. At a local/site level, risk assessments for particular areas of risk are documented using standard organisational templates where required. This meets the obligations we hold and satisfies us that risks are suitably and sufficiently managed.</p> answering member constituency South Suffolk answering member printed James Cartlidge question first answered 16/12/2021 19:40:13 answering member 4519 label Biography information for James Cartlidge
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1387368

registered interest
date	13/12/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	HM Courts and Tribunals Service: ICT
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect of the Common Platform roll-out on staff (a) workload, (b) stress levels, and (c) morale.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	91958
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/01/2022 answer text <p>HMCTS has embarked upon a transformative change agenda, with a view to modernise and improve the outcomes significantly for the users who rely on courts/tribunals, and to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the system. Insofar as workload is concerned, the point of the system is to automate more, and make staff (and professional partner/user) lives easier, providing a more efficient and consistent service.</p><p>For stress and morale, the implementation of change always needs to be effectively managed. We are committed with supporting our workforce through this process, our longstanding daily team meetings across our courts provides a manager with a temperature check on how teams are feeling about change. Where stress indictors are apparent, a member of staff or their line manager will use an individual stress risk assessment to discuss, define and mitigate stress. Alongside that, our annual staff survey provides us with a real understanding of the impact change has on our staff.</p> answering member constituency South Suffolk answering member printed James Cartlidge question first answered 06/01/2022 18:24:59 answering member 4519 label Biography information for James Cartlidge
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1387370

registered interest
date	13/12/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	HM Courts and Tribunals Service: ICT
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to improve industrial relations at HM Courts and Tribunal Service in the context of reported planned industrial action by court staff in relation to the Common Platform.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	91959
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/12/2021 answer text <p>HMCTS remain committed to resolving the concerns raised by PCS in the context of Common Platform and, as such, we continue to consult with the union, with a view to reaching agreement. We are currently engaged in constructive dialogue addressing a range of matters presented by PCS and we have already introduced a number of strategies to directly mitigate the issues raised. These discussions are ongoing.</p> answering member constituency South Suffolk answering member printed James Cartlidge question first answered 16/12/2021 19:41:28 answering member 4519 label Biography information for James Cartlidge
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1387463

registered interest
date	13/12/2021
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners: Rehabilitation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of issuing guidance to ensure that nobody in receipt of treatment for substance misuse is released from prison on a Friday.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	91929
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/12/2021 answer text <p>We understand the concern about the challenges some prisoners can face in accessing services and support in the community upon release, especially when being released on a Friday.</p><p> </p><p>Through the recently published Prisons Strategy White Paper we are consulting on the issue of Friday release from prison, where we will invite views on allowing prisoners who are at risk of reoffending to be discharged one or two days earlier at governor discretion where a Friday release can be demonstrated to be detrimental to an individual’s resettlement.</p><p> </p><p>We want to hear from a full range of stakeholders through this consultation. This will allow us to consider the operational considerations of making such changes in full, including how to structure any approaches that may be taken.</p><p> </p><p>Significant work is also ongoing to improve pre-release support and ensure all prison leavers can access the services they need. The White Paper set out our ambitious plans to reduce reoffending and protect the public. We will spend £200 million a year by 2024-25 to improve prison leavers’ access to accommodation, employment support and substance misuse treatment and further measures for early intervention to tackle youth offending.</p><p> </p><p>The Probation Reform programme is increasing our probation staffing levels to manage pre-release activities, ensuring as much activity as possible is carried out prior to release.</p> answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse question first answered 16/12/2021 17:18:01 answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris