Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the National Audit Office, Transforming Rehabilitation: Progress review, published on 1 March 2019; what steps they intend to take in response; and what lessons they have learned from the report for policy-making and delivery across government.
Answer
The Government has been clear that there are important lessons to be learnt from the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms, including around the commercial approach to contracted delivery of core services, the timescale for delivery, and the evaluation of strategic, operational and financial risks.
The report recognises the strong performance of the National Probation Service in looking after our higher risk offenders. But the performance of the CRCs, which look after our lower risk offenders is too often deeply disappointing.
The Government has acted decisively in response to issues with CRC performance by bringing forward the end of CRC contracts and consulting on a range of proposals to better integrate probation provision. We take seriously the findings of the National Audit Office report and are reflecting carefully on the recommendations as we develop our plans for future probation arrangements.