| answer text |
<p /> <p>Since 2010 MoJ has delivered major changes by reducing costs in the services
we provide and seeking to improve the way we provide them. Our extensive reform programme,
covering all areas of the justice system, including back office functions, has reduced
net spend by £1.7bn, or 19% in real terms, in 2013-14 compared to 2010-11, and is
expected to reduce by a total of over £3bn or 34% in real terms by 2015-16.</p><p>The
Ministry of Justice has been working hard to deliver its commitments from the 2010
coalition agreement including major programmes such as Transforming Rehabilitation,
which is now changing the lives of offenders.</p><p> </p><p>We have met our commitment
to revolutionise rehabilitation by establishing a new National Probation Service and
21 Community Rehabilitation Companies, which are now up and running, supervising offenders.
We have changed the law to ensure that every offender will receive rehabilitative
support for at least a year after release from prison. The Offender Rehabilitation
Act 2014 also introduces a new Rehabilitation Activity Requirement to aid in the rehabilitation
of offenders in the community.</p><p> </p><p>We are reforming the prison system to
create a fit-for-purpose, modern estate which provides accommodation at a much lower
cost to the taxpayer. We are ensuring that the sentencing framework operates as efficiently
and effectively as possible and delivers appropriate punishment of offenders, without
compromising on public safety. We are continuing to transform the prison system, and
we have announced the construction of a new prison in Wales. The construction of four
new house blocks at established prisons will provide modern accommodation at a lower
cost to the taxpayer, and three of these have already been completed.</p><p>We are
transforming youth custody to create a more cost-effective system which ensures that
young people are appropriately punished, while at the same time receiving the support
and education required to turn away from a life of crime. We have legislated to create
Secure Colleges and we have awarded new education contracts in Young Offender Institutions
that will more than double the number of hours education young people receive.</p><p>We
are creating a more affordable and sustainable Legal Aid system. The Legal Aid Transformation
Programme was put in place after the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders
(LASPO) Act came into force on 1 April 2013. Its aim is to examine the possibilities
of further legal aid savings, including the concept of tendering to be a criminal
legal aid provider, and to identify ways in which public confidence could be improved.</p><p>We
have met our commitment to provide greater transparency by extending the scope of
the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to Academy schools and the Association of Chief
Police Officers amongst others.</p><p>Only one policy from the 2010 Coalition Agreement,
as set out in the ‘Programme for Government’ document, has not been implemented. The
Coalition government made it clear from the outset that it would only extend anonymity
in rape cases to defendants if there was clear and sound evidence to justify it. The
proposal was not progressed. An announcement to this effect was made in November 2010.<br>
<br></p>
|
|
