Questions - July 2014

Questions – July 2014

1^st July – Reoffending Level

17. Fiona Bruce (Congleton) (Con): What progress he has made on his plans to bring down the level of reoffending. [904580]
The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Chris Grayling): We remain on track in delivering our reforms to transform rehabilitation and bring down reoffending rates. Since 1 June, the new national probation
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service and community rehabilitation companies have been working together to manage offenders. The competition for new owners of the 21 community rehabilitation companies will conclude later this year.

7^th July – Local Growth Deals

Fiona Bruce (Congleton) (Con): I welcome the tremendous £45 million funding announcement for the Congleton link road. Congleton is an aspirational town and Ministers listened to the business case that was put forward by business leaders, East Cheshire chamber of commerce, the local authority, the LEP and elected representatives. Does that not prove that when there is effective joint working, we can really make a difference to the prosperity of the people we represent?

Greg Clark: We certainly can. Cheshire is a vital part of the economy, particularly given its investment in science and the possibilities that that brings. It was good to be able to reinforce that through the deal that we negotiated.