Committee publication · Correspondence · 17 March 2026
Correspondence from Lord Timpson, Minister for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending, dated 13 March 2026: Ending the cycle of reoffending
From: Justice Committee
Inquiry: Rehabilitation and resettlement: ending the cycle of reoffending
Summary
Lord Timpson, Minister for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending, responds to the Justice Committee's February 2026 letter on reoffending and rehabilitation. He addresses concerns about prison education, the earned progression model, staff induction, prison maintenance funding, governor autonomy, ROTL policy, mental health in custody, and neurodiversity support. The response confirms publication of education data by end-March, implementation of a 5-year Enable workforce programme, completion of the Governor autonomy review by April, and progress on mental health reforms via the Mental Health Act 2025.
Key findings
- Earned progression model will use existing adjudications system rather than Texas-style incentives for good behaviour; maximum added days for rule-breaking increased from 42 to 84 days via secondary legislation, with no automatic release for badly-behaved prisoners.
- Enable workforce transformation programme structured as 5-year phased rollout; Training Oversight Function formally established April 2026; new Generic Induction programme for all HMPPS staff scheduled for trial later 2026.
- Prison education data on establishment-level changes to core delivery volumes to be published by end-March 2026; approximately 90% of prisons now have in-cell technology; Digital Education Platform expanding access to online learning.
- Release on Temporary License (ROTL) operational improvements underway including standardised paperwork, clarified decision-making timelines, and pilots at HMP Littlehey and progression regime prisons; external-facing materials on ROTL being developed.
- Mental Health Act 2025 received Royal Assent December 2025; implementation plan complete to end use of prisons as places of safety; North East Health and Justice Hub findings on prison as place of safety due April 2026; cross-government roundtable planned to reduce remands for own protection.
- Cross-Government Neurodiversity Action Plan final update published; 19 of 20 actions completed; Neurodiversity Support Manager role rolled out across prison service; new Additional Learning Needs tool introduced October 2025 for prisoner education screening.
Tone
ProceduralTopics
Key actors
Lord Timpson, Andy Slaughter MP, Ministry of Justice, HMPPS (Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service), Lee Child, Mick Mills, Department of Health and Social Care, Department for Education
Notable line
“To be clear, the incentives offered to prisoners are a privilege and not a right. Prisoners who fail to abide by the rules will be met with strong sanctions.”
Key Quotes
“… the prison and probation system I inherited was in poor shape, and we faced the immediate challenge of managing the prison capacity crisis.”
“A model incentivising good behaviour as Texas does, would not be possible within the current operational and legal structures that govern our prisons.”
“There will be no automatic release for badly- behaved prisoners under the progression model, and they could stay in prison until the end of their sentence.”
“The scale and scope of the work taking place to improve the training and support offer to prison staff under the Enable Programme is therefore a considerable undertaking.”
“ROTL is an area I am particularly focussed on, and, for many years, I have seen how powerful it can be.”
“The Act contains reforms to end the use of prison as a place of safety for people who have been assessed as needing hospital care, to meet their mental health needs.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗