MOJ could be scrapped in Whitehall shake-up

Ministers given roles in two departments ahead of wider restructuring expected next year

A WHITEHALL shake-up could see the Ministry of Justice axed and some of its powers moved to the Home Office, The Daily Telegraph understands.

Kit Malthouse, the policing minister, is expected to be handed responsibility for sentencing, a government source said.

The move would be seen as a first step in Whitehall reforms to take sentencing and possibly probation out of the MOJ and given to the Home Office.

Mr Malthouse was described as a “linchpin” of the plans by a source close to the discussions. “The longterm aim is to merge the Home Office with elements of the MOJ,” they added.

Discussions have taken place about replacing the MOJ with a “constitutional affairs” ministry, responsible for judicial reform and plans for a British Bill of Rights to replace the European Convention on Human Rights.

A wider Whitehall restructuring is increasingly expected to take place in the first half of next year, sources said.

Meanwhile, plans for a merger of the £14billion International Development Department (DFID) into the Foreign Office are already under way.

Ministers including James Cleverly, Lord Goldsmith, Baroness Sugg and Nigel Adams have roles in both departments and officials “shuffle” between the two, although No 10 has played down reports of mergers between the Foreign Office and DFID.

In last week’s reshuffle, Mr Malthouse and Chris Philp were appointed ministers in both the Home Office and the MOJ.

The Home Office has since discussed freeing up Mr Malthouse from some of his Home Office duties to take on more of the brief in the MOJ.

Mr Philp is expected to be made responsible for immigration, while also being a junior MOJ minister.

Alex Wild, an adviser to Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, was moved to the MOJ in what has been seen as another sign of building links between the two.

Meanwhile, Sir Mark Sedwill, the Cabinet Secretary, has been accused of trying to water down the Government’s strategic review of defence and foreign policy.

The review is being led by Prof John Bew in No10’s policy unit and was intended to be an ambitious look at defence and foreign policy and how the UK interacts with the world.

Boris Johnson is understood to have personally requested Prof Bew to take charge of the review.

However, The Telegraph understands Sir Mark is showing “resistance to change” and wants the review to purely focus on the finances.

Meanwhile, sources have claimed Dominic Cummings, the Prime Minister’s chief aide, sees the Bew review as a chance to free up money to fund his “pet projects” – including a British “Darpa”, based on the American Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, which created an early version of the internet.

“There are big fears the Bew review is coming under joint attack from Sedwill and Cummings,” a source said.

A “showdown” is expected at a planned meeting with the Prime Minister in the spring. Sir Mark is expected to “fill the room with his people”.