Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Offender Rehabilitation Programmes: Effectiveness

Tuesday 10 January 2023 · 5 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 2 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The proportion of persons released from custody employed at six months from their release rose by almost two thirds over the last year.
  • The Government has committed to recruiting more prison leavers to civil service roles, with nearly 200 offered or filled across Government.
  • Funding for the probation service has been increased by an additional 155 million a year to help with recruitment.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 John Penrose Con
Justice & Courts
Context

N/A

Question

What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of HM Prison and Probation Service-commissioned programmes on the rehabilitation and employment-readiness of offenders.

Answer from Dominic Raab

The proportion of persons released from custody employed at six months from their release rose by almost two thirds over the last year, and we are delivering the further measures set out in our White Paper because we know this has a huge impact in cutting reoffending.

Answered
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Q2 Rob Butler
Justice & Courts Employment
Context

N/A

Question

What progress are my right hon. Friend's Department and HMPPS making to encourage more employers, including other Government Departments, to recruit ex-prisoners and so contribute to cutting crime?

Answer from Dominic Raab

I thank my hon. Friend, who has been a doughty campaigner on this issue. He is right about the Government, who are a significant employer and can show a lead. I can tell him that we have committed to recruiting more prison leavers to civil service roles, with nearly 200 offered or filled across Government.

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Q3 John Penrose Con
Crime & Law Enforcement Justice & Courts Employment
Context

N/A

Question

Will the Secretary of State undertake to publish the outcomes and success rates of all publicly commissioned programmes to prepare offenders for work, together with an independent evaluation of their effectiveness and value for money from the evaluation task force?

Answer from Dominic Raab

I thank my hon. Friend, who is absolutely right to focus on the data. We are doing this because it gives offenders a chance to turn their lives around, but we also know that getting offenders into work can cut reoffending by up to 9 percentage points, which keeps our streets safer.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Commitment to publish independent evaluations and value for money analysis

How: Focus On The Data

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Q4 Andrew Gwynne Ind Gorton and Denton
Justice & Courts
Context

Staff shortages are leading to dangerously high levels of workload for existing staff, who are leaving in droves.

Question

What is the Secretary of State going to do to break this vicious circle?

Answer from Dominic Raab

We have increased funding for the probation service by an additional £155 million a year to help recruitment, and the reforms we have introduced since 2010 are working. We have reduced the overall reoffending rate from 31% under Labour to 25.6% under this Government.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific steps to address current staff shortages and high workload levels

How: Reforms Since 2010

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Q5 Ellie Reeves Lab Lewisham West and East Dulwich
Justice & Courts Employment
Context

The question criticises the Government for failing to protect the public by not rehabilitating offenders adequately.

Question

When will the Government finally get a grip, fix our broken prison system, and keep the public safe?

Answer from Dominic Raab

The fact is that crime—excluding fraud and computer misuse—has been slashed by more than half since Labour left office, violent crime is down by half, and reoffending is five percentage points lower than when Labour left office. On employment, for offenders leaving prison within six months there has been an increase in one year alone since I have been in the job by two thirds.

Not addressed: Improving prison rehabilitation programmes

How: Litany Of Spin

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