Under our Transforming Rehabilitation reforms the market will be opened up to a diverse range of new rehabilitation providers, so that we get the best out of the public, voluntary and private sectors, at the local as well as national level. Evidence from implementing our pilots and from the experience of other departments in using Payment by Results has informed the strategy, as has engagement with co-commissioning partners at a national, Police and Crime Commissioner and Local Authority level.

We will continue to assess impacts through a robust contract management system, only paying providers in full for real reductions in reoffending. We are on course to award and mobilise the new contracts for delivering rehabilitation services by 2015.

The Ministry of Justice does not hold data centrally on how may many repeat offenders are not receiving rehabilitation services prior to release from prison. However, as a result of our reforms, for the first time in recent history, statutory supervision and rehabilitation will be provided on release from custody to all 50,000 of those sentenced to less than twelve months in prison.

Under our Transforming Rehabilitation proposals we are opening up the market to a diverse range of new providers across the public, private and voluntary sectors to bring innovation to rehabilitative services and help deliver reductions in reoffending rates. We are currently engaged in a competition to appoint the 21 owners of the new community rehabilitation companies (CRCs) which will be responsible for the provision of services to all but those offenders which pose the highest risk. We will assess the bids we receive over the summer, and appoint CRC owners later this year. Offers will be evaluated using quality and financial criteria. We expect the new owners to implement their new operating models during 2015.

We are taking a staged approach to implementation and are rolling out business readiness tests at key stages of implementation so that we can ensure we are managing the transition to the new system in a safe and measured way which maintains public protection.

Under our Transforming Rehabilitation proposals we are opening up the market to a diverse range of new providers across the public, private and voluntary sectors to bring innovation to rehabilitative services and help deliver reductions in reoffending rates. We are currently engaged in a competition to appoint the 21 owners of the new community rehabilitation companies (CRCs) which will be responsible for the provision of services to all but those offenders which pose the highest risk. We will assess the bids we receive over the summer, and appoint CRC owners later this year. Offers will be evaluated using quality and financial criteria. We expect the new owners to implement their new operating models during 2015.

We are taking a staged approach to implementation and are rolling out business readiness tests at key stages of implementation so that we can ensure we are managing the transition to the new system in a safe and measured way which maintains public protection.

Under our Transforming Rehabilitation proposals we are opening up the market to a diverse range of new providers across the public, private and voluntary sectors to bring innovation to rehabilitative services and help deliver reductions in reoffending rates. We are currently engaged in a competition to appoint the 21 owners of the new community rehabilitation companies (CRCs) which will be responsible for the provision of services to all but those offenders which pose the highest risk. We will assess the bids we receive over the summer, and appoint CRC owners later this year. Offers will be evaluated using quality and financial criteria. We expect the new owners to implement their new operating models during 2015.

We are taking a staged approach to implementation and are rolling out business readiness tests at key stages of implementation so that we can ensure we are managing the transition to the new system in a safe and measured way which maintains public protection.

Under our Transforming Rehabilitation proposals we are opening up the market to a diverse range of new providers across the public, private and voluntary sectors to bring innovation to rehabilitative services and help deliver reductions in reoffending rates. We are currently engaged in a competition to appoint the 21 owners of the new community rehabilitation companies (CRCs) which will be responsible for the provision of services to all but those offenders which pose the highest risk. We will assess the bids we receive over the summer, and appoint CRC owners later this year. Offers will be evaluated using quality and financial criteria. We expect the new owners to implement their new operating models during 2015.

We are taking a staged approach to implementation and are rolling out business readiness tests at key stages of implementation so that we can ensure we are managing the transition to the new system in a safe and measured way which maintains public protection.

Final bids to run the community rehabilitation companies (CRCs) will be rigorously assessed against robust quality, legal, commercial and financial criteria. In the pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ), bidders were required to declare that they had no convictions in relation to criminal offences relating to the conduct of their business or profession and acts of grave misconduct. As set out in the invitation to negotiate, bidders are required to notify the Department of any changes to the position set out in their declarations or anything that may affect their continued participation in the competition. The Department reserves the right to undertake a full reassessment and, if grounds for rejection exist, exclude the bidder from further participation in the competition.

MOJ has also undertaken extensive due diligence of bidders on a range of matters, including legal compliance issues. Consequently, we have a robust and diverse market and are confident that the bidders who passed the first stage of the competition—the PQQ—are credible organisations.

Avon and Somerset Probation Trust, which was established on 1 April 2010, replaced the Avon and Somerset Probation Board, which had been created on 1 April 2001 following the merger of the two separate probation committees for Avon and for Somerset.

The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (YJB) does not collect information on the unit cost per offender from Youth Offending Teams (YOTs).

YOTs are primarily funded by the local authority and a number of statutory partner agencies, including the police, probation, health authorities and, where relevant, the Welsh Assembly Government, as well as the Youth Justice Board. Overall funding data are available in the latest published statistics which can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/youth-justice-statistics

Probation unit cost input indicators are published on an annual basis by the Ministry of Justice. These were first published on 25 October 2012 in respect of 2011-12. Costs for 2012-13, the latest available, were published on 31 October 2013.

These are published as part of the prison and probation trusts performance statistics through the following page of the Gov.uk website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/prison-and-probation-trusts-performance-statistics

Data on the number of claims made by probation staff on the grounds of discrimination are not collated centrally either by National Offenders Management Service or HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS). This information could be provided only at a disproportionate cost by manually checking hard copy files or judgments.

We do not anticipate that Transforming Rehabilitation will have a substantial impact on the number of pre-sentence reports written. The National Probation Service (NPS) will continue to offer same-day reports where possible and to work closely with the courts to minimise adjournments.

By expanding post-release supervision for those sentenced to under 12-months, this cohort of offenders will now benefit from rehabilitative activity who were previously excluded, but this will not impact on pre-sentence court activity.

The new Risk of Serious Recidivism (RSR) tool will be used to inform the allocation of cases to new Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) or the NPS and complements the pre-sentence report process. The RSR is straightforward to use and will support the identification of the likelihood of an offender committing serious re-offending in the future. We will ensure that CRCs work closely with the NPS so that cases are brought before the courts speedily and effectively.

We are carrying out extensive local testing of the key elements of the new Transforming Rehabilitation systems across a number of Probation Trusts. Findings are helping us to refine the associated tools and guidance. We have now completed testing of the new Risk of Serious Recidivism (RSR) tool, which will be used to inform the allocation of cases to new Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) or the National Probation Service (NPS). Our testing with operational staff in Trusts indicates that the tool is straightforward to use, in line with our commitment to minimising bureaucracy for frontline staff.

We have begun the roll out of the current version of the tool to all Trusts.

We have a robust and diverse market. In mid December 2013, the bidders who passed the first stage of the competition to win the regional rehabilitation contracts were announced. That list included a mix of

private and voluntary sector partnerships with more than 50 organisations represented. A list of the bidders who have been successful at this stage can be found at:

https://www.justice.gov.uk/transforming-rehabilitation/competition

The process to award Community Rehabilitation Company contracts is ongoing and the details of which bidders remain in the competition is commercially sensitive information. The contract winners for each Community Rehabilitation Company will be announced by the end of 2014.

Final bids to run the Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) are expected in June 2014, and will be rigorously assessed against robust quality, legal, commercial and financial criteria. In the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire, bidders were required to declare that they had no convictions in relation to criminal offences such as conspiracy, corruption, bribery, fraud or criminal offences relating to the conduct of their business or profession and acts of grave misconduct. The MOJ also undertook extensive due diligence of bidders on a range of matters, including integrity and legal compliance issues. As a consequence we have a robust and diverse market and are confident that the bidders who passed the first stage of the competition-the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ)-are credible organisations.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to include mental health treatment and support in contracts for the probation services as part of the new Transforming Rehabilitation programme.

My noble friend, and the House, may recall that the Government lodged with both Houses of Parliament a detailed draft services agreement, which included provisions that would apply to mentally ill offenders. Clause 3 of the agreement provides that the contractor shall monitor that the treatment provider prepares a full treatment plan with details of the specific mental health needs of each allocated person, with the timescale indicated to the court at the time of the sentence. Therefore, companies will be contractually obliged to do this. They will have an obligation under the Human Rights Act and under the Equality Act. My noble friend is of course right that the skills should be preserved in relation to mental health.

I thank my noble friend for that reply. I am sure that he will be aware that currently four out of every 10 people who are being supported by the probation service are actively mentally ill: that is, 39%. This underlines the range of skills and knowledge that is required today from experienced members of the probation service in managing and properly meeting the needs of these clients. Therefore,

will the Minister clarify whether the new organisations now bidding for probation service contracts are specifically expected by the Ministry of Justice to include and implement mental health provision across the board—because there are not specialisms to this extent within the probation service, as far as I know—and whether this requirement will be included in the proposals? How will the quality of the proposals of the new probation service contractors and the performance of the new providers be assessed?

There is an obligation to treat offenders and non-offenders the same. The circumstances in which they come to be treated may be different. Those who are in prison may suffer from a number of different mental illnesses. Their treatment is the responsibility of NHS England. Of course, there are complications with the delivery of treatment in the community as well, but there is no absolute difference in the treatment that is appropriate to you when you are an offender in prison or out of prison or are an ordinary member of the public. Clearly there are matters of co-ordination that the noble Baroness would say are not sufficiently attended to.