Justice spending review
Published 06/09/2019
With huge thanks to our colleague James Sandbach, Director of Policy and External Affairs at LawWorks for his overview of how Justice has fared in the recently announces spending round.
Top lines in the l
- Funding to begin delivery of the government’s £2.5 billion commitment to create an additional 10,000 prison places, which forms an important part of the government’s wider work to reduce crime;
- £100 million to increase security in prisons through the introduction of more airport-style security scanners, mobile phone detection and prevention technology, and anti-corruption and intelligence operations;
- £55 million for the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and £80 million for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to support the work of the 20,000 additional police officers and manage the increasing complexity of crime; and
- Additional funding for crucial probation reforms that will help reduce re-offending and improve post-custody supervision.
The Ministry of Justice settlement includes:
- a 4.9% increase in real terms to the department’s resource budget from 2019-20 to 2020-21;
- funding to begin delivery of the government’s £2.5 billion commitment to create an additional 10,000 prison places, which forms an important part of the government’s plan to crack down on crime;
- £100 million to increase security in prisons through the introduction of more airport-style security scanners, mobile phone detection and prevention technology, and anti-corruption and intelligence operations;
- £55 million across the criminal justice system to support the work of 20,000 additional police officers; and
- additional funding to support the ongoing reform of the probation system, which will help reduce reoffending and improve the quality of post-custody supervision.
The Law Officers’ Departments settlement includes:
- a 12.4% increase in real terms to the departments’ resource budgets from 2019-20 to 2020-21, including an additional £80 million of funding in 2020-21 for the CPS to support the work of 20,000 additional police officers. This will also help the CPS to respond effectively to the increasing complexity of cases.
Other potential funds that wider sector might tap into:
- £422 million resource funding to help reduce homelessness and rough sleeping
- increase in social care funding and precept (note the existing statutory duty on information & advice provision)
- £36 million to ensure DWP decision-making is accurate & DWP £23 million to fund a range of other measures, including support for vulnerable claimants and people with complex needs migrating to Universal Credit
- £5 million for the new Office for Veterans’ Affairs
- continuation funding for Troubled families programme
Reactions to the spending review were also published by The Bar Council and The Law Society.
