Written questions by Voaden.

What artificial intelligence services or tools are used by their department; and whether the department has a contract with each provider of those services.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the time limit on bringing forward a civil legal claim for abuse.

The basic principle of limitation law is to provide fair and equitable access to justice for claimants by setting reasonable time limits, whilst for defendants the law offers fairness, finality and certainty in terms of the period in which they may face litigation. Rules exist to enable the possibility for extensions in exceptional cases where this is justified.The position on personal injury cases (such as abuse claims) is that claims should be brought within three years (from the age of 18 for minors), although the legislation specifically provides for courts to extend this where it is satisfied that would be equitable.The Government considers that the current law as set out in the Limitation Act 1980 is fair and balanced, but reforms are being considered in relation to child sexual abuse claims. The Government will be publishing its consultation response to time limits for those cases shortly.

What steps her Department is taking to protect parties during family court proceedings.

This Government is committed to ensuring the family court system is safe and supportive for all parties, particularly those who are survivors of domestic abuse.Family courts have various tools available to protect participants. Courts have the power to pr...

What steps she is taking to help ensure that victims of domestic abuse are supported through the family courts system.

The Government recognises the impact family court proceedings can have on children and adult survivors of domestic abuse which is why we are is committed to halving incidences of violence against women and girls; reforming the family justice system so tha...

What steps her Department is taking to help ensure children's wishes are considered by the Family Court during a hearing.

When deciding an issue relating to the upbringing of a child, the child’s welfare must be the court’s paramount consideration. When considering arrangements to be made for a child, the court must have particular regard to a list of factors, including the ...

What assessment her Department has made of the potential implications for her policies of case backlogs in (a) criminal and (b) civil courts.

Criminal CourtsThe Crown Court outstanding caseload remains one of the biggest challenges facing the Criminal Justice System. We have already shown we are committed to bearing down on the caseload and bringing waiting times down.This Government has increa...

Pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2024 to Question 3550 on Probation, what access does the unified Probation Service have to information that was previously held by the Community Rehabilitation Companies; an

Probation Service practitioners have a complete record of all cases that were managed by Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs). National Delius and Offender Assessment System (OASys) records were preserved as the primary case record, as was the positi...

What steps she is taking to help ensure the (a) rehabilitation and (b) education of offenders who took part in violent disorder during summer 2024.

This Government is committed to reducing reoffending by giving offenders leaving prison the tools to rehabilitate and move away from crime.Offenders involved in this summer’s violent disorder and given prison sentences will receive an education assessment...

What plans she has to work with Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to help reduce reoffending by people in the criminal justice system.

The Ministry of Justice, working with the Department of Health and Social Care, is firmly committed to reducing reoffending by addressing health-related causes of offending behaviour.Where appropriate, we are working to divert offenders with health needs out of the criminal justice system altogether, including through Liaison & Diversion services, present in all police custody suites and criminal courts in England. Community Sentence Treatment Requirements can also be used as part of community or suspended sentences. Previous research has shown reduced reoffending rates for these types of sentences compared to short custodial sentences, and we are working to evaluate their use.For those in prison, we work in close partnership with NHS England, who are responsible for commissioning healthcare services, including drug treatment, in all English prisons, so that all prisoners have access to health care equivalent to that in the community. We also work with the Welsh Government, who are ultimately responsible for commissioning and delivering health services for people in prison in Wales. We also work in partnership to ensure that our prisons provide wider support to help prisoners engage with treatment. 80 prisons currently have Incentivised Substance Free Living units where prisoners commit to regular drug tests.We also want to better support rehabilitation of prisoners leaving custody, who have engaged in treatment and help them to remain in treatment on release. NHS England’s RECONNECT service supports prison leavers with vulnerabilities including mental health and substance misuse needs to engage with services through referrals and peer support.

If she will take steps to help ensure that the probation service works closely with other services critical to reducing reoffending.

The role of the Probation Service is crucial in protecting the public, turning offenders’ lives around, and providing a path of reintegration into the community to ultimately break the cycle of reoffending. The Probation Service works collaboratively with many partner organisations across the criminal justice system – police forces, local authorities, health providers, the third sector, and others – to drive down offending and keep our streets safe.There are already great examples of partnership working between HMPPS and others. For example, in Greater Manchester, HMPPS’s temporary accommodation provision is delivered in partnership between HMPPS and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, to improve efficiency and outcomes. We will continue to encourage and facilitate participation of partners to ensure the services provided are fit for purpose and meet local needs.

How many recalls to prison there were of people on licence in England and Wales in each of the last ten years for which figures are available; and what plans she has to reduce the number of recalls to prison.

The number of recalls to custody recorded in the ten years from 2013 to 2023 is provided in the table below.Recall YearNumber of Recalls201417,649201521,467201621,559201721,915201824,268201926,503202024,437202122,105202223,571202327,820The table above shows the number of recalls not the number of offenders – an offender may be recalled more than once.The figures in these tables have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. As such, figures are subject to change as information is updated.Data source: Public Protection Unit Database (PPUD)The Government’s absolute focus is on public protection. Offenders on licence can be swiftly recalled to prison if they breach their licence conditions in such a way as to indicate that their risk has increased and they are about to commit further offences. The recall of an offender to custody is an important public protection measure but our priority is to reduce reoffending and the risks presented by offenders, so that they do not need to be recalled in order to protect the public.Additionally, HMPPS has issued guidance to the probation practitioners, to ensure all safe alternatives to recall are considered before a decision is taken to recall an offender. HMPPS has also re-invigorated the Secretary of State’s power to release recalled offenders following a risk assessed recall review without reference to the Parole Board.With public protection as our top priority, we continue to work across government to ensure that we take the necessary steps to reduce the recall population and keep the system functioning safely.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the work of the prison and probation services work with (a) smaller organisations that cannot easily compete for commissioned contracts and (b) other third sector organisations involved in reducing reoffending.

I want to acknowledge the valuable work that the third sector does in supporting the work of the Department. Officials meet regularly with the third sector to discuss mutual areas of interest.To provide services that are best value for money, responsive to local need, and fit for purpose, it is important that organisations of all sizes can participate in contracts.HMPPS is working to encourage and facilitate participation of voluntary community and social enterprises in the justice system, by simplifying contracting processes for lower value contracts to make them more accessible for third sector organisations. There is ongoing work to support and upskill the sector in the bidding process.Furthermore, as part of our planning to recommission current services, we are engaging with interested parties, including current and potential suppliers, the third sector, prison and probation staff, and people in prison and on probation to support the commissioning and design of future services.

What the average cost was of (a) a prison place, (b) the supervision of a person on licence following release from prison and (c) the delivery of a community order by the Probation Service in the latest 12 month period for which data is available.

Information on the average annual cost per prisoner, cost per prison place and overall prison unit cost for each private and public sector prison in England and Wales is published by His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) after the end of each financial year on the gov.uk website.The overall average cost for running a prison place for a year (per prison place) in 2022-23 was £51,724. This information can also be found through the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prison-performance-data-2022-to-2023.The Ministry of Justice expects the 2023-24 Prison Unit Cost data to be published in December 2024, once the 2023-24 HMPPS Annual Report & Accounts have been published.The average cost to the Probation Service in 2023-24 of an additional person on the probation licence caseload (including probation pre-release costs) was estimated at c.£4,500 compared with c.£3,150 for an additional person on the probation court order caseload (community orders and suspended sentence orders). This can be found through the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65537c7d50475b000dc5b590/Sentencing_Bill_-_IA_-_HDC.pdf.Note that the costs presented exclude some costs to the Ministry of Justice, such as the costs of building prisons, costs not directly tied to changes in probation caseload and MoJ HQ costs.

What the scope will be of her Department's strategic review of probation governance.

The Probation Service has a crucial role in protecting the public and providing a path of reintegration into the community to break the cycle of reoffending. The Service delivers these goals by working closely with local partners – such as police forces, local authorities, and third sector organisations, amongst others. The Government is committed to learning from successful examples of local partnerships and support the whole service to improve join-up and deliver better outcomes.

What the average caseload of probation officers in England and Wales was in each of the last ten years for which figures are available.

The average caseload of Probation Officers has been calculated using data from the Workload Measurement Tool (WMT) and has been presented for the period July 2021 to June 2024. Data has been restricted to this period because the Probation Service unified in June 2021, with some Probation Officers and their caseload held by Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) prior to this point. The Probation Service does not have access to data for caseload held by CRCs and so it would not be consistent to present a time series prior to June 2021.Table One: Probation Officer average annual caseload across England and WalesPeriodAnnual average caseload per Probation OfficerJuly 21 – June 2236.0July 22 – June 2337.1July 23 – June 2435.2NotesThe data within the WMT are manually entered by Senior Probation Officers (SPOs) for those in their line management chain. These data are subject to inaccuracy as a result of the manual nature with which data are entered.Annual average caseload per Probation Officer has been calculated by taking the average caseload on the last day of each month in that period (an average across the 12 months).We are aware of data quality concerns regarding some of the data with some instances of cases being allocated to those who are not delivering caseload. There may be cases where staff who have left the Probation Service still appear to hold caseload on the WMT. Some staff on long-term absences (e.g. career breaks / long-term sickness) may still have a caseload allocated to them. There are also instances where those with no contracted hours are allocated cases without having an allocated capacity. Average caseload does not take into account the level of risk or complexity of cases, and this will have a large effect on the workload of Probation Officers.Data have not been presented for the period prior to June 2021, the point at which unification of the Probation Service took place. Prior to June 2021, some Probation Officers and caseload were held by CRCs, data for which is not included in the WMT. It would not be consistent to present a time series of caseload per Probation Officer before and after unification.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of increasing funding for support services for victims of sexual assault and violence.

Rape and sexual violence are devastating crimes that can have life-long impacts on victims and survivors. This Government is fully committed to supporting victims and survivors, and that is why we have made it a priority to halve violence against women and girls.The Ministry of Justice funds a range of support services for victims and survivors of sexual violence, both through direct grant funding to organisations (such as the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund) and through funding to Police and Crime Commissioners. These services offer tailored support to victims and survivors of all ages to help them cope with their experiences and move forward with their lives. These services complement the wider support system across Government, such as NHS England-funded Sexual Assault Referral Centres.Funding after March 2025 will be agreed through the next Spending Review.