Ian Austin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-06-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether staff working for community rehabilitation companies will be able to (a) recall offenders and (b) write parole reports without consulting National Probation Service staff.

Jeremy Wright

The decision whether to recall an offender to custody continues to rest with the Secretary of State. Where a warning does not appear sufficient or appropriate, CRCs will be required to refer potential breaches to the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) with a breach report and a recommendation on the action to be taken. NOMS will take the final decision on behalf of the Secretary of State. The enforcement process for CRCs and the National Probation Service was described in detail in our published Target Operating Model.

Offenders serving indeterminate sentences for public protection will be managed by the National Probation Service: the arrangements for Parole Board hearings during their recall period will remain unchanged. If recalled to custody, offenders allocated to the CRCs who are serving determinate sentences will continue to be managed by the CRC, unless their risk of serious harm increases to “high”. CRCs will need to provide information, as appropriate, to support the recall process and consideration of re-release.