Part-privatisation of probation contracts As justice secretary, Chris Grayling rushed through significant changes to the probation service, which is responsible for the management of offenders in the community. The 2014 shake-up separated the probation sector into the National Probation Service (NPS), a public sector organisation managing high-risk criminals, and made 21 private firms known as community rehabilitation companies (CRCs) responsible for the supervision of 150,000 low- to medium-risk offenders. After years of damning criticism from MPs, inspectorates and former probation officers, one of Grayling’s successors as justice secretary, David Gauke, decided to bring all offender management under the NPS by spring 2021, approximately 80% of probation work. On Thursday the current justice secretary, Robert Buckland, effectively restored all probation work to public ownership. Grayling ignored significant warnings from within his department to push through his changes in 2014. MPs on the public accounts committee said they were rushed through at breakneck speed, taking “unacceptable risks” with taxpayers’ money. The justice committee described the overhaul as a “mess” and warned it might never work. Comments on B&Bs and gay couples In 2010, when shadow home secretary, Grayling was forced to apologise after a recording obtained by the Observer captured him saying that people who ran bed and breakfasts in their homes should have the right to turn away gay couples on the basis that “we need to allow people to have their own consciences”. The remarks prompted a furious response from gay groups and other parties, and David Cameron came under pressure to sack Grayling to prove the Conservatives did not tolerate prejudice. Banning books for prisoners As justice secretary, Grayling notoriously introduced a ban on prisoners receiving books from friends or relatives, and limited the number of books each prisoner was able to have in a cell. It was introduced as part of a crackdown on what ministers described as prisoners’ “perks and privileges”. High-profile opponents included the Howard League for Penal Reform, which gained support from leading authors, including the then poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, David Hare, Salman Rushdie and Jeffrey Archer. A high court ruling in December 2015 found the measure was unlawful and it was subsequently scrapped. Seaborne Freight While transport secretary, Grayling was widely mocked after it emerged he had awarded Seaborne Freight a no-deal Brexit ferry contract despite the company not owning any ships and having never previously operated a ferry service. The Department for Transport (DfT) cancelled the contract after it said an Irish shipping firm, Arklow Shipping, that had been backing the deal pulled out. To add to the confusion Arklow Shipping later denied it ever had a stake in the venture. The government has agreed a new £33m contract with Eurotunnel in order to settle legal action. Rail timetable chaos Also during Grayling’s tenure as transport secretary, a change to rail timetables caused chaos, leading to the cancellation of thousands of services. More than one in 10 Northern and Thameslink trains were cancelled after the introduction of the new timetable in 2018. In an interim report on the debacle, the Office of Rail and Road singled out the train operators Govia Thameslink Railway and Northern, Network Rail and the DfT for criticism, saying their mistakes had led to the collapse of services. The rail regulator criticised the DfT for failing to question the industry’s assurances about the risk of disruption. Legal aid cuts
As justice secretary, Grayling oversaw significant changes to legal aid that meant victims seeking legal representation in disputed family court hearings, where they could be forced to confront their abuser, had to demonstrate that they had been targeted within the past five years. Legal Aid Agency regulations also specified that a narrow range of official documents provided proof, such as medical reports, injunctions and social services records. In 2017, two years after Grayling ceased to be justice secretary, the Ministry of Justice announced the removal of the five-year limit and the admission of fresh categories of evidence.