Terms for bespoke review of Creswell case prepared by Department for Justice, says Long

Transcript

00:00Members will be aware that on the 13th of January I committed to a bespoke

00:03review of the Jonathan Creswell case. It's vital that we understand and learn

00:08from this case both in terms of safeguarding victims and managing

00:11offenders. I'm keen that the review begins as swiftly as possible. To that

00:15end my department has prepared draft terms of reference for the review. I've

00:19written to the Chief Constable, the Chief Executive of the Probation Board for

00:22Northern Ireland and the Chief Executive of the Western Health and Social Care

00:25Trust to share and invite comments on these terms of reference and to confirm

00:30their organisation's involvement in the review. The Prison Service is also

00:33committed to engaging in this exercise. I'm reflecting on the feedback received

00:37to date. In addition my department has engaged with a prospective independent

00:41reviewer who I'm confident will take forward the review in a sensitive and

00:45comprehensive way. I intend to write to the Justice Committee shortly to confirm

00:48the final terms of reference and to provide details of the reviewer. The

00:52primary agencies I've already named, that is the PSNI, Northern Ireland Prison

00:56Service, Probation Board for Northern Ireland and the Western Health and Social

00:59Care Trust. However, other organisations represented for example on the public

01:04protection arrangements in Northern Ireland or on the multi-agency risk

01:07assessment conference arrangements which is aimed at supporting victims may also

01:11be invited to participate in the review at the discretion of the reviewer. I

01:15expect key agencies will want to engage positively and constructively with the

01:19review and so welcome the feedback that my department has already received from

01:23agencies to date on their involvement in it. Would the Minister, I suppose, commit

01:28that the review should also engage with those most hurt by this case, be it

01:36relatives of the victim and those who suffered as well from the fallout of it?

01:40Minister. I think it's hugely important that we do engage with the family and

01:45that is something that we have been doing in terms of looking at the terms

01:48of reference and how we intend to move forward. It is important that Katie's

01:53family are at the very heart of the review. They feel that their questions

01:57have not yet been answered and indeed more questions have arisen than answers

02:01have been provided. What I want is for the independent reviewer to be in a

02:04position to engage with them as a priority as the work commences.