Recommendations & Conclusions
22 items
2
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Improving outcomes…
Despite its emphasis on community provision in its strategy, the Ministry has not yet quantified how much funding is required or invested heavily in community services for women. The Ministry has declined to set targets for its female offender programme. It says that doing so would be inappropriate as achieving …
Government response. 2023. This will reflect the revised costs for defueling/deconstruction and uncontracted liabilities. 2.3 As noted to the Committee, Électricité de France’s (EDF) strategies, plans and the estimated costs are scrutinised, challenged, and approved by the Non-NDA liabilities assurance team (NLA) …
HM Treasury
3
Recommendation
Fifty-First Report - Improving outcomes…
Effective implementation of the strategy has been undermined by insufficient joined-up working. Working across government is always challenging and the Ministry is reliant on many other bodies for the female offender programme to 6 Improving outcomes for women in the criminal justice system be successful. For example, the NHS, several …
Government response. 3: PAC conclusion: Effective implementation of the strategy has been undermined by insufficient joined-up working. 3: PAC recommendation: The Ministry should set out how it plans to influence more joined-up working. It should write to the Committee alongside its Treasury …
HM Treasury
4
Recommendation
Fifty-First Report - Improving outcomes…
The Ministry is taking some steps to address the needs of ethnic minorities in the CJS, but it recognises that it has not yet done enough to achieve equality of outcomes for ethnic minority women. The Ministry’s Female Offender Strategy included actions to tackle the overrepresentation of, and unique challenges …
Government response. 4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2022 4.2 The Female Offender Strategy Delivery Plan, to be published by Summer 2022, will be the mechanism by which the department sets out its commitments for ethnic …
HM Treasury
5
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Improving outcomes…
It is not clear how Parliament, the public and other stakeholders can hold the Ministry to account for delivery of the strategy’s commitments. The Ministry’s decision not to set targets affects not only its ability to make good funding decisions, (see conclusion 2 above), but also makes it difficult to …
Government response. 5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation Target implementation date: Summer 2022 5.2 The Female Offender Strategy Delivery Plan will include a list of the commitments in the Female Offender Strategy with an assessment of whether those commitments are …
HM Treasury
6
Recommendation
Fifty-First Report - Improving outcomes…
The Ministry does not yet know the effectiveness of its interventions, or whether it is achieving its aims. This limits its ability to identify and share best practice and to understand where it needs to invest to achieve its aims. It is now almost four years since the Ministry published …
Government response. 6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation Target implementation date: Summer 2022 6.2 The Female Offenders Strategy Delivery Plan intended for publication in Summer 2022 will contain an outcomes framework, which will include clear metrics for measuring progress against …
HM Treasury
1
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Improving outcomes…
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Ministry of Justice (the Ministry) and HM Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS) on improving outcomes for women in the criminal justice system.1 We also took evidence from Women in Prison, the Howard League …
Government response. Based on a report by the National Audit Office, the Committee took evidence on 2 February 2022 from the Ministry of Justice. The Committee published its report on 28 April 2022. This is the government’s response to the Committee’s report.
HM Treasury
7
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Improving outcomes…
The Ministry told us that it has received a record funding settlement at the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021.11 We asked the Ministry how much of this it will be spending on the female offender programme.12 It told us it has not yet allocated funding to specific budgets but …
Government response. 1. PAC conclusion: The considerable uncertainty facing the Programme has caused a loss of the critical skills needed to develop the business case, created delays and increased the risk of nugatory spending and health and safety incidents. 1. PAC recommendation: …
HM Treasury
8
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Improving outcomes…
The first two objectives of the strategy (intervening earlier and a greater proportion of women managed in the community) each depend on improved community services for women.15 The Ministry told us the importance of work done in the community is “absolutely well understood”16 Despite this the Ministry has spent only …
Government response. 2.1 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 2.2 It is not possible to estimate a counterfactual to determine where an alternative intervention may have been respectively more successful. In addition, it would not be appropriate for the government to …
HM Treasury
9
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Improving outcomes…
The £9.5 million for grants for community services compares with £200 million the Ministry has committed to spend on an extra 500 prison places for women due to increases in police numbers.19 We asked stakeholders how far the £200 million would stretch if it were spent on community services and …
Government response. 2.1 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 2.2 It is not possible to estimate a counterfactual to determine where an alternative intervention may have been respectively more successful. In addition, it would not be appropriate for the government to …
HM Treasury
10
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Improving outcomes…
We asked the Ministry if it had assessed the impact of spending the £200 million on prison places for women. It has not. It told us this was because it has a duty to provide places for those sent to prison by the courts and its projections are that increased …
Government response. 2: PAC conclusion: Despite its emphasis on community provision in its strategy, the Ministry has not yet quantified how much funding is required or invested heavily in community services for women. 2: PAC recommendation: The Ministry should assess the level …
HM Treasury
11
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Improving outcomes…
The Ministry recognises it needs to work together with many other national and local bodies to improve outcomes for women in the CJS.26 It established a concordat with other government departments, creating a basis for joint working, although this was only published in January 2021—two years later than planned.27 The …
Government response. 3: PAC conclusion: Effective implementation of the strategy has been undermined by insufficient joined-up working. 3: PAC recommendation: The Ministry should set out how it plans to influence more joined-up working. It should write to the Committee alongside its Treasury …
HM Treasury
12
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Improving outcomes…
We were told of several good practice examples where many different agencies worked together to help women with multiple problems. These include the ‘one-stop-shop model’ that women’s centres try to adopt.29 The Ministry told us about ‘problem solving courts’ where packages of support and oversight are tailored for individual women.30 …
Government response. 3: PAC conclusion: Effective implementation of the strategy has been undermined by insufficient joined-up working. 3: PAC recommendation: The Ministry should set out how it plans to influence more joined-up working. It should write to the Committee alongside its Treasury …
HM Treasury
13
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Improving outcomes…
We asked the Ministry why it had not had the support from others it had hoped for and how it could incentivise their support. It told us that the COVID-19 pandemic had changed priorities for a lot of departments, and this had slowed down progress on joined- up working. It …
Government response. 3: PAC conclusion: Effective implementation of the strategy has been undermined by insufficient joined-up working. 3: PAC recommendation: The Ministry should set out how it plans to influence more joined-up working. It should write to the Committee alongside its Treasury …
HM Treasury
14
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Improving outcomes…
The Ministry’s strategy included specific actions to tackle the overrepresentation of, and unique challenges facing, black and other ethnic minority women in the justice system. But progress has been slow.39 The Ministry told us that after the publication of the strategy it recognised that this is an area where it …
Government response. 4: PAC conclusion: The Ministry is taking some steps to address the needs of ethnic minorities in the CJS, but it recognises that it has not yet done enough to achieve equality of outcomes for ethnic minority women. 4: PAC …
HM Treasury
15
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Improving outcomes…
The Ministry told us that it wanted to work with others to help it make greater progress.44 In particular, it referred to a recent publication, Tackling Double Disadvantage that specifically addresses issues faced by minority ethnic women in relation to the CJS.45 It said it recognises many of the recommendations …
Government response. 4: PAC conclusion: The Ministry is taking some steps to address the needs of ethnic minorities in the CJS, but it recognises that it has not yet done enough to achieve equality of outcomes for ethnic minority women. 4: PAC …
HM Treasury
16
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Improving outcomes…
The Ministry decided not to set targets because achieving them would be reliant on bodies independent of the Ministry, including other government departments and the judiciary.47 We asked the Ministry about the impact of this decision on cross-government working.48 It told us that Ministers across government are reviewing what outcomes …
Government response. 5: PAC conclusion: It is not clear how Parliament, the public and other stakeholders can hold the Ministry to account for delivery of the strategy’s commitments. 5: PAC recommendation: The Ministry must clarify what it aims to deliver via the …
HM Treasury
17
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Improving outcomes…
We asked the Ministry how it could measure progress as it did not yet have milestones. In its reply it claimed that it had looked at 66 commitments from the strategy and given each a Red/Amber /Green rating for progress.51 We asked if it would publish the 66 commitments and …
Government response. 5: PAC conclusion: It is not clear how Parliament, the public and other stakeholders can hold the Ministry to account for delivery of the strategy’s commitments. 5: PAC recommendation: The Ministry must clarify what it aims to deliver via the …
HM Treasury
18
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Improving outcomes…
Stakeholders who sit on ABFO told the National Audit Office that without performance measures they had found it difficult to understand progress at a national level and for different groups of women. They reported that this had limited the ABFO’s ability to hold the Ministry to account.53 Ministers attended the …
Government response. 5: PAC conclusion: It is not clear how Parliament, the public and other stakeholders can hold the Ministry to account for delivery of the strategy’s commitments. 5: PAC recommendation: The Ministry must clarify what it aims to deliver via the …
HM Treasury
19
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Improving outcomes…
It is nearly four years since the strategy was published and the Ministry does not yet have an overall plan to evaluate the work it and others have done in this area.56 We asked the Ministry if it had the data it needed to know what it is achieving against …
Government response. 6: PAC conclusion: The Ministry does not yet know the effectiveness of its interventions, or whether it is achieving its aims. This limits its ability to identify and share best practice and to understand where it needs to invest to …
HM Treasury
20
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Improving outcomes…
In evaluating the effect of its interventions, the Ministry told us it is difficult to attribute changes in the number of women in custody to specific actions, such as the use of out- of-court disposals, pre-sentence reports and community interventions. It accepted that it should be able to evaluate its …
Government response. 6: PAC conclusion: The Ministry does not yet know the effectiveness of its interventions, or whether it is achieving its aims. This limits its ability to identify and share best practice and to understand where it needs to invest to …
HM Treasury
21
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Improving outcomes…
We asked whether the Ministry was looking at savings for the overall system and how a good outcome for an individual woman can be cost-effective for the taxpayer. The Ministry told us that it had done an analysis on the total cost of reoffending two years ago. It said it …
Government response. 6: PAC conclusion: The Ministry does not yet know the effectiveness of its interventions, or whether it is achieving its aims. This limits its ability to identify and share best practice and to understand where it needs to invest to …
HM Treasury
22
Conclusion
Fifty-First Report - Improving outcomes…
There are many examples of local good practice where organisations work together to help women turn their lives around.64 We asked the Ministry how it is going to identify and disseminate best practice. The Ministry told us that its ‘one-year-on’ report on the concordat will set out some of the …
Government response. 6: PAC conclusion: The Ministry does not yet know the effectiveness of its interventions, or whether it is achieving its aims. This limits its ability to identify and share best practice and to understand where it needs to invest to …
HM Treasury