The Secretary of State was asked— Domestic Abuse Victims: Legal Aid
Vicky Foxcroft (Lewisham, Deptford) (Lab) 1. What recent assessment
he has made of the adequacy of support provided through the legal
aid system for victims of domestic abuse.(905496) The Parliamentary
Under-Secretary of State for Justice (James Cartlidge) Access to
justice is a fundamental right, and this Government are committed
to ensuring that everyone gets the timely support they...Request free trial
The Secretary of State was asked—
Domestic Abuse Victims: Legal Aid
(Lewisham, Deptford)
(Lab)
1. What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of support
provided through the legal aid system for victims of domestic
abuse.(905496)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice ()
Access to justice is a fundamental right, and this Government are
committed to ensuring that everyone gets the timely support they
need, including legal aid, to navigate the justice system. In
addition, the Government are absolutely clear that victims of
domestic abuse must have access to the help they need. In the
light of this, we are conducting a review of the means test for
legal aid and this is specifically considering domestic abuse
victims; we plan to publish this consultation shortly. We have
already made some further changes to improve access to legal aid
by removing the cap on the amount of mortgage debt used in
determining access to civil legal aid.
The Bellamy review outlines serious and long-standing concerns
about the lack of funding for criminal legal aid. Domestic abuse
victims already face trauma, and experience mental and physical
scars that are only exacerbated by the Government’s failure to
fund legal aid properly. What assessment has the Justice
Secretary made of the impact of the potential strike by the
Criminal Bar Association on the already immense courts backlog?
Will he finally commit to engage with the CBA, so that victims
are not denied access to justice?
Legal aid for domestic abuse is primarily a civil legal aid
matter, but in relation to criminal legal aid I am pleased to
confirm to the hon. Lady that I am meeting the CBA later this
week and engaging with the association through the all-party
parliamentary group on legal aid in a webinar tomorrow. I am
engaging with all stakeholders because I think that is the right
and constructive approach to drawing up this important policy so
that we achieve our aim, which is better reform of the criminal
justice system.
(Ipswich) (Con)
Lighthouse Women’s Aid in Ipswich does huge work in the area and
across Suffolk, as the Minister knows. I hope that Ipswich being
one of the seven outposts for Ministry of Justice civil servants
will mean that we are at the forefront of new initiatives to
tackle domestic abuse. Will the Minister update me on the
timeline for these jobs coming to Ipswich and the strategy to
ensure that as many of them as possible go to Ipswich people?
My hon. Friend and neighbour is a great champion of his
constituency. We will set out further details of our plan to move
staff out of London. It is entirely right that we do that as part
of the Government’s levelling-up agenda. I should also say that I
welcome his championing of what the voluntary sector can do to
support victims of domestic abuse.
UK’s Human Rights Framework
(Edinburgh North and Leith)
(SNP)
2. What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on
reforming the UK’s human rights framework.(905497)
(Orkney and Shetland)
(LD)
5. What steps he is taking in response to the publication of the
Independent Human Rights Act Review published by his Department
in December 2021.(905500)
(Cumbernauld, Kilsyth
and Kirkintilloch East) (SNP)
7. What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on
reforming the UK’s human rights framework.(905503)
The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice ()
Under this Prime Minister and this Government, before the next
election, we will replace the Human Rights Act 1998 with a Bill
of Rights to end the abuse of the framework and the system by
dangerous criminals and to restore some common sense.
The Justice Secretary claims that his reforms will protect free
speech—a right that already receives special protection in the
Human Rights Act—yet simultaneously the Government want to
criminalise exercise of the right to protest, through the Police,
Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, and there are already plans to
take away whistleblower protections in the Official Secrets Act.
Is it all free speech the Justice Secretary aims to protect, or
only the kind his Government want to hear?
I thank the hon. Lady, because she raises a good substantive
point. We want to strengthen and reinforce the right of free
speech, in particular given some of the judge-led privacy law we
have, but also some of the encroachments on free speech we have
seen in political debate. I think constituents of Members in all
parts of the House would recognise the difference between free
speech, lawful protest and, frankly, the downright sabotage that
we have seen by groups such as Extinction Rebellion, where we are
right to legislate to protect the freedoms of others.
Mr Carmichael
This is not new territory for the Secretary of State. He has been
around this course. He failed last time of course, because he
could only do what he wanted by leaving the European convention
on human rights. That is still the situation now, so will it be
Government policy that we should follow the human rights example
of Belarus in leaving the protections of the convention?
We have been around this house a few times. It is precisely
because our reforms through a Bill of Rights can make a
substantial difference by injecting some common sense without
leaving the European convention that we will proceed. I will give
one example. I visited HMP Frankland in Durham. It is a
high-security category A prison. One of the challenges in dealing
with terrorist offenders, particularly those who could infect the
minds of others, is the issue of separation centres. We are
increasingly seeing litigation claims claiming article 8 as a
right to socialise getting in our way. That is a good example for
the common-sense approach and the balance we want to have. I am
very surprised that the right hon. Gentleman is opposed to
it.
The position is that the Government commissioned an independent
review, did not like the conclusions and so have simply just
ditched them. Why should anyone have any faith that the
Government will listen to their consultation responses if they
are so hellbent on pursuing what Sir Geoffrey Bindman QC has
labelled an
“indefensible…inward-looking and cowardly”
retreat from human rights?
I am very grateful for the independent Human Rights Act review.
We looked very carefully at all the recommendations, some of
which we take on board and for others we are going to innovate in
different areas. I will give one example. I suspect the hon.
Gentleman’s constituents would want us to reform the system to
stop foreign national offenders, whether they are living in
Scotland or any other part of the UK, from frustrating
deportation orders on the most flimsy, elastic grounds created by
article 8. That is something we will do, and I think he should
support it.
(Bromley and Chislehurst)
(Con)
I am grateful that my right hon. Friend made reference to the
independent review of the Human Rights Act. I am sure he would
want to join me in thanking the right hon. Sir Peter Gross, the
chair of that review, and his colleagues for their exceptionally
hard and diligent work in this regard. Sir Peter gave evidence to
the Justice Committee last week. He pointed out that while the
Government have published their own consultation document—“Human
Rights Act Reform: A Modern Bill of Rights”—that document is not
in fact a response to the independent Human Rights Act review
report. Can my right hon. Friend confirm that it would only be
fair and courteous to Sir Peter and his colleagues to ensure that
once the consultation on the Government’s document is concluded,
their response to that consultation includes a full response to
Sir Peter’s panel’s review, including detailed replies to all the
points the Government do or do not accept, exactly as was done
with the Faulks review?
I thank my hon. Friend, the Chair of the Select Committee. First,
I have already thanked the chair and all the panel, but I am
happy to join my hon. Friend in doing so again. The IHRAR panel
produced a well-considered and useful report, and I considered it
very carefully. The consultation that we are pursuing is ongoing,
and includes—this is an important point—areas beyond the terms of
reference of the IHRAR report, such as adding a recognition of
the right to trial by jury and strengthening freedom of
expression, which Members have already raised. There are also
areas where the Government wish to explore only a subset of the
options considered by that review, and section 3 is a good
illustration of that.
(Redcar) (Con)
Can the Deputy Prime Minister outline how his reforms to the
Human Rights Act and a new British Bill of Rights can help us to
take back control of our borders and stop the small boats crisis
in the channel?
Clearly the issue of small boats goes well beyond issues in the
European convention on human rights, but what I would say to my
hon. Friend more generally is that the reforms we are pursuing
allow us to take more firm action under the Nationality and
Borders Bill and under wider powers to deal with foreign national
offenders. He should be aware that some 70% of claims by foreign
national offenders scuppering deportation orders are under
article 8. That is clearly an area where we can reform.
(Glasgow North East)
(SNP)
I am tired of hearing the rights of asylum seekers so desperate
to get here that they will go on these dangerous boats conflated
with those of dangerous foreign national offenders. The Secretary
of State needs to stop drawing that parallel.
I echo the Chair of the Select Committee in calling for a full
response to Sir Peter Gross QC. Indeed, I wonder why the
Government bothered to appoint him if they were not going to
listen to him. Does the Secretary of State at least agree with
his first recommendation, which is that there should be a full
and robust programme of education about what the Human Rights Act
actually is? Or would that be a bit of a hindrance to this
Government’s programme of misinformation?
It is precisely through the process of consultation on our
proposal for a Bill of Rights that we can have a proper,
substantive debate, listen to all sides of the argument and
inject some common sense back into the system, and disseminate
that more widely. I think that constituents of hon. Members in
all parts of the House would appreciate that.
The other thing that the Secretary of State keeps on doing is
saying that we have to review this because there are so many
dangerous foreign criminals, but will he listen to the UK
security services, who know more about dangerous foreign
criminals than he does? They have warned that overhauling the
Human Rights Act could affect their ability to provide evidence
in secret. I know he knows why that is dangerous, particularly in
terrorism cases, so will he listen to them and to his predecessor
in this role, who has also warned that this could make the UK,
and by extension all of us, less secure?
May I gently say to the hon. Member that there is an issue around
extraterritorial jurisdiction, where we will want to consult very
carefully? Whether it is the deportation of foreign national
offenders—and no, I am sorry, but we will keep talking about
that; it is something that our constituents care about, and this
is a reform that needs to happen—or whether it is parole reform,
which I believe we also need to undertake, or separation centres
in our most high-security prisons, these are all areas where the
public, constituents of hon. Members in all parts of the House,
will expect us to take a common-sense approach. That is exactly
what our Bill of Rights will achieve.
Sentencing for Terrorist Offences: Northern Ireland Executive
(Chipping Barnet)
(Con)
3. What recent discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland
Executive on sentencing for terrorist offences.(905498)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice ()
I have had no recent discussions with the Northern Ireland
Executive on sentencing for terrorist offences. While sentencing
is a devolved matter, the Department continues to engage in
discussions with the Department of Justice on devolved matters
where helpful and relevant.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland makes huge efforts to
bring to justice those responsible for terrorism there, but the
chances of convicting those offenders are undermined by excessive
delays in the criminal justice process. Will the Minister work
with the Northern Ireland Justice Minister to try to address this
problem, so that we can hold to account those who still seek to
use violence to achieve political ends in Northern Ireland?
My right hon. Friend speaks with great expertise on these
matters. She will be aware that justice and policing are devolved
matters, and the Northern Ireland Executive recently reaffirmed
their commitment to speeding up the criminal justice system in
the New Decade, New Approach agreement. At the end of last year,
the Northern Ireland Assembly passed the Criminal Justice
(Committal Reform) Bill, which contains measures that will
simplify the current system, remove some avoidable delays and
ensure the quicker progression to court of some of the most
serious cases. I welcome this significant step forward in
reforming the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland.
Violence Against Women and Girls
(Ealing, Southall)
(Lab)
4. What steps his Department is taking to tackle violence against
women and girls.(905499)
(Middlesbrough) (Lab)
21. What steps his Department is taking to tackle violence
against women and girls.(905518)
The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice ()
May I take a moment, Mr Speaker, to place on record my sincere
thanks to Her Majesty the Queen, as we celebrate the seven
decades of peerless public service that she has provided to our
great country? May she long reign over us.
This Government set out its ambitious tackling violence against
women and girls strategy in the summer to change attitudes,
support women and girls who are victims of crime, and pursue
perpetrators relentlessly. This focus includes rolling out
section 28 video-recorded evidence in sexual and modern slavery
cases nationally and helping victims of domestic abuse to have
more time to report common assaults, through the Police, Crime,
Sentencing and Courts Bill. Last week we also launched the tender
for the first ever national 24/7 support service for victims of
rape and sexual assault.
Mr Sharma
This Sunday we marked International Day of Zero Tolerance for
Female Genital Mutilation. Sustainable development goal 5.3
commits the UK to the elimination of
“all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage
and female genital mutilation”
by 2030. However, the UN estimates that 2 million extra girls are
at risk of cutting due to the pandemic. Is the UK on track to
meet its own targets?
We are. I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising this
important subject, because female genital mutilation is one of
the most hidden crimes. Those poor victims, who are often very
young, face the most terrible pressure to explain to others what
has been done to them, often by their loved ones. We are really
supporting victims not just through the tackling violence against
women and girls strategy that I have already discussed, but
through our work over the last decade to tackle those terrible
crimes, so that they can, if they feel able, seek help.
Importantly, we are also educating people that it is not a fit
practice for the 21st century.
A woman has approached me for help. She tells me that as a
teenager, she was raped and has lived with the trauma for over 30
years. She has no confidence or trust in the police or the
criminal justice system. She feels intimidated and frightened by
her attacker to this day and fears that she will not be listened
to, taken seriously or protected. What can I say to her?
May I thank the hon. Gentleman for gravely articulating the many
effects that such terrible crimes have on victims, not just in
the immediate aftermath but for many years, often decades? We
have a programme of work to address the failings in the criminal
justice system in terms of prosecuting sexual assault and rape
cases. We have already been publishing our national scorecards,
which aim to bring transparency to every corner of the criminal
justice system to give victims and the public the confidence that
they need in it.
On the hon. Gentleman’s point, I commend to him the current
Ministry of Justice campaign #ItStillMatters. I very much hope
that the lady he speaks about can seek support through that
campaign or through the sexual violence helpline that I outlined
in my previous answer, which I hope will be up and running very
soon.
(Basingstoke) (Con)
One of the most heinous forms of violence against women and girls
is found online and the law has some serious gaps, as my hon.
Friend knows. Cyber-flashing, which is online indecent exposure,
and deep fake pornography are not against the law. What is she
planning to do to change that?
I thank my right hon. Friend who has been concerted in her
campaign on that terrible form of online crime involving deep
fake imagery. On cyber-flashing, I am pleased to confirm that the
Government are looking for a legislative vehicle in which to
outlaw that pernicious modern-day crime. On deep fake imagery,
she will know that we have sought the advice of the Law
Commission to help to update our general laws to better reflect
the 21st century in which we all live.
(Wrexham) (Con)
Many women are sent to prison for low-level summary offences, and
incarceration has a catastrophic effect on them and their
families. The female offender strategy will see the first
residential women’s centre sited in Wales that will provide
accommodation and rehabilitation for vulnerable women. Can the
Minister give an update on the progress of that centre in Wales?
Will it house a families unit?
I am grateful to my hon. Friend because, as she will know,
because she has a particular interest in the area, there are
women in the criminal justice system who have been the victims of
crime, including domestic abuse. Of course there are women who
commit incredibly serious crimes—indeed, sadly, we have seen them
in the news recently—and who must be imprisoned to serve their
sentences. For the more vulnerable women who my hon. Friend talks
about, however, we are looking seriously at and progressing our
plans for a residential women’s centre in Wales. I cannot go into
more detail at the moment, but I hope that I will be able to come
back with an update in due course. It will provide an alternative
for judges and magistrates in dealing with those particularly
vulnerable female offenders who may benefit from the sort of
intensive care that we hope to provide in such a centre, rather
than putting them in prison.
(Lewisham West and Penge)
(Lab)
At a roundtable with rape survivors last week, victims told me
that they had come to terms with what had happened with them, but
could not come to terms with how they had been treated by the
criminal justice system. It now takes a shocking 1,000 days for a
rape case to get to court, and only 1.3% of rape cases are
prosecuted, so it is no surprise that victims feel that the
system is working against them. Will the Minister back Labour’s
fully costed plans to give rape victims a legal advocate from the
moment they report the crime through to trial, or will she
continue the Government’s failure to tackle violence against
women and girls?
I sincerely hope that the hon. Lady has welcomed the victims Bill
consultation. As she will know, it has just closed, but it is
very much part of this Government’s work to bring the victims
Bill into law to provide safeguards of the sort she indicated. In
addition, we are already funding more independent domestic
violence advisers and independent sexual violence advisers. These
people can really help from the very moment a victim feels able
to report their crime to the police, and they have that support
when they need it. I also think, as I say, that using the
helpline—the 24 hours a day helpline—we are setting up for
victims of sexual violence may be the first step some victims
feel able to take before reporting the crime to the police.
Finally, I very much hope that we can persuade the Opposition to
support the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. It has
many measures to help tackle violence against women and girls,
but in particular we are raising the period of time that violent
offenders and sexual offenders spend in prison from half to two
thirds if they receive a sentence of more than four years. This
is a really important step, and I very much hope the Opposition
will support us in our efforts to keep dangerous sexual offenders
in prison.
Restorative Justice
(Carshalton and Wallington)
(Con)
6. What steps he is taking to help increase the use of
restorative justice.(905501)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice ()
The new victims code sets out clearly that victims must be told
about the option of restorative justice and how to access it. We
are enshrining the code in law, and for 2021-22 we are providing
£115 million of grant funding to police and crime commissioners
for victim support services, including restorative justice.
Overall, we are increasing MOJ funding for victim and witness
support services to £185 million by 2024-25.
As chair of the all-party parliamentary group on restorative
justice, I have seen how it can massively help both offenders and
victims of crime. Would the Minister agree to meet me to discuss
the findings of the first ever APPG report on restorative justice
and how we can integrate some of its recommendations into the
victims Bill?
I am very grateful to my hon. Friend, who is a tireless
campaigner on the issue of restorative justice, for sharing the
APPG’s report with me and my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime
Minister, who I know has also thanked him for his efforts. We are
carefully considering its recommendations and will respond in due
course. I am particularly mindful of the fact that, especially in
relation to acquisitive crime, restorative justice can play a
significant part in righting such wrongs, and I would of course
be delighted to meet him to discuss this further.
Domestic Abuse: Prosecutions
(Newbury) (Con)
8. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help
increase the number of successful prosecutions for domestic
abuse. [R] (905504)
The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice ()
This Government are committed to bringing more perpetrators of
domestic abuse to justice. It is a key plank of the Domestic
Abuse Act 2021, which creates new offences such as non-fatal
strangulation, and extends the coercive or controlling behaviour
offence to include former partners.
The excellent work the Government have done on domestic abuse
risks being seriously undermined by recent reports of Met police
conduct published by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
One officer who had attended a domestic abuse incident said of
his victim that she was mad and deserved a slap. As Members of
this House will know, that was the tip of the iceberg of the
remarks uncovered. Police conduct is of course the subject matter
of the Angiolini inquiry, but before that concludes, what work is
my right hon. Friend doing with the Home Secretary to ensure that
domestic abuse victims retain confidence in the criminal justice
system?
I thank my hon. Friend, who is absolutely right. The remarks she
cited are utterly abhorrent I would imagine to everyone on all
sides of the House. The public rightly expect the behaviour of
the police to be beyond reproach, which is why we have tasked the
Angiolini inquiry, as she said. In addition to that work, as my
right hon. Friend the Minister for Crime and Policing set out
last week, inspections are ongoing in forces across England and
Wales to judge their vetting and counter-corruption capabilities.
More broadly, we are of course taking forward the victims Bill
consultation and we have increased funding for support services.
They have actually increased to £185 million by 2024-25, which
will help fund an increase—by about a half, up to 1,000—in the
number of independent domestic abuse advisers. So we will keep
showing zero tolerance of domestic abuse while those wider
inquiries are ongoing.
(Cardiff North) (Lab)
Domestic abuse victims face the trauma of first, gaining the
courage to report it, fearing for themselves and their children’s
safety, wondering whether they did the right thing and whether
their truth will be believed, then they face this broken justice
system: being cross-examined, questioned and treated like a
criminal. With prosecutions collapsing and criminals being let
off the hook, the Government cannot keep letting victims and
survivors of domestic abuse down, so will the Secretary of State
commit to putting in place a proper package of training,
specialist support and trauma counselling for all victims of
domestic abuse and their children?
I totally agree with the hon. Lady’s sentiment and frustration.
We need to do more. We have got the local criminal justice
scorecards, which will deal with not just wider crime, but rape.
Those are coming up in the first quarter of this year. The
victims strategy and the victims consultation will put victims at
the centre of the justice system. That is important: I think it
is a moral duty, but it will also make us more effective in
delivering prosecutions. We also have a wider domestic abuse
strategy, which will be outlined later in the year. As the hon.
Lady knows, we have introduced in the Police, Crime, Sentencing
and Courts Bill an extension of the time limit for reporting
domestic abuse and common assault and battery to give victims of
domestic abuse longer to come forward with their claims and to
prevent the perpetrators from finding themselves timed out.
Sexual Offences: Timeliness of Cases
(Garston and Halewood)
(Lab)
9. What recent assessment he has made of the timeliness of cases
involving allegations of sexual offences.(905505)
The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice ()
In June, we published the end-to-end rape review report and
action plan, which examined forensically each stage of the
criminal justice system response to rape. As part of that, we are
publishing timeliness data for each part of the criminal justice
system in our new national and soon-to-be-released local
scorecards, allowing us to increase transparency and hold
agencies to account for delivering across the system.
According to the latest figures from last September, 23% of the
cases waiting in the Crown court backlog have been outstanding
for more than a year. That is up from 15% in the previous
September. The National Audit Office says that rape and serious
sexual offence cases have been disproportionately affected by
those delays. Does the Minister therefore agree that victims of
such crimes should not be expected to wait for years and years
and years to get justice and that the increasing delays are a
shameful indication that the Government have lost their grip on
tackling serious crime?
If I may correct the hon. Lady, the Crown court backlog is
beginning to come down. We all welcome that, following an
investment of £250 million by the Government to ensure that that
happens. On the data, I hope that she has had the opportunity to
look at the national scorecards. She will see how detailed they
are. Recent timeliness data shows that timeliness for adult rape
cases has improved slightly from the second quarter of last year.
I do not take that as job done by any means. This will be a very
long journey, involving every aspect of the criminal justice
system, to give victims the confidence to report and then remain
with a case. I hope that she will see that our work through the
rape review looks at not just timeliness, but all the other
levers we have at our disposal to try to improve the
situation.
(Stockton North) (Lab)
The delays across our courts system cause lasting damage to the
lives of victims, defendants, witnesses and their families. I was
therefore very surprised to hear that yet another Nightingale
court—Monument this time—is closing in a couple of months, when
the delays in criminal cases, including sexual offences cases,
recently reached a record high. Will the Minister explain why
that is happening, confirm the Department’s plans for the
remaining or any new Nightingale courts and let us know just how
much longer that vital resource will be available?
In an effort to help the hon. Gentleman, I point out that we have
extended 32 Nightingale Crown courtrooms until April and we have
opened two new super-courtrooms in Manchester and Loughborough.
In the Crown court, the outstanding case load reduced from around
61,000 cases last June to around 58,700 cases at the end of
November. As I say, we do not in any way say that this is job
done. We will continue to invest in this, but the figures are
beginning to go in the right direction after the pandemic.
Family Courts: Delays
(East Ham) (Lab)
10. What steps he is taking to reduce delays in the family
courts.(905506)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice ()
We are determined to reduce delays and bring down waiting times
in the courts to reduce the impact the pandemic has had on
children and their families. We invested £0.25 billion to support
recovery in our courts in the last financial year, and that
included £76 million to increase capacity to hear cases in the
family and civil courts, as well as in tribunals. Last year’s
spending review provided £324 million over the next three years
to further improve waiting times in the civil and family courts
and tribunals.
In east London the position is getting worse. The delays in the
east London family court are the worst in London. Several months
ago we were told that parts of east London would be transferred
to other courts to ease the problems, but nothing seems to have
happened so far and families are now having to wait a minimum of
seven months for a hearing. When will we finally see some
progress on this? Do we not need additional court capacity?
I hear what the right hon. Gentleman says. I can confirm that the
Government and senior judiciary are working closely together to
increase the sitting capacity across the east London cluster. In
recognition of the pressure on family work across the east London
estate, a Nightingale court was created at Petty France, with
four additional courts, and additional courts are being utilised
at Stratford magistrates and the Royal Court of Justice. But I
recognise that this is an important issue for his constituents
and I would be more than happy to meet him to talk about what
more we can do.
Criminal Courts: Backlog of Cases
(Bury North) (Con)
11. What steps his Department is taking to reduce the backlog of
cases before the criminal courts.(905507)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice ()
We are already seeing the results of our efforts to tackle the
impact the pandemic has had on our justice system. In the
magistrates courts, the caseload is close to recovering to
pre-pandemic levels and, as we have just heard, in the Crown
court the outstanding caseload has reduced from around 61,000
cases in June 2021 to around 58,700 cases at the end of November
2021. I can confirm that in the next financial year we expect to
get through 20% more Crown court cases than we did in the year
previous to covid.
Will my hon. Friend update the House on how his Department is
working to ensure we maximise use of the current court estate,
including courtrooms not used during the pandemic, and what view
he takes on the continued role of Nightingale courts to address
the backlog?
My hon. Friend speaks with great expertise as a former criminal
solicitor. In terms of Nightingales, as I have said, we extended
32 Crown Nightingale courtrooms until the end of March and we are
taking steps to extend individual Nightingale courtrooms on a
case-by-case basis. He makes the crucial point about the existing
estate in our courts, which is where the custody cell capacity
is, and we need that to come back into use.
Two key decisions were made to help us to bring those rooms back
into use. First, last summer we came out of lockdown at the
earliest opportunity while others were suggesting we should
remain in lockdown. Secondly, this Christmas we did not panic, we
did not lockdown and we listened to the data. If we had gone with
the recommendation from the Labour party in the Administration in
Wales, we would have had 2-metre social distancing back in our
Crown courtrooms. Fortunately, I spoke to the Counsel General in
Wales, and they took measures to be more flexible and were able
to keep the courts open, which is why the backlog is now
falling.
Mr Speaker
So I can look forward to Chorley courts being
reopened—excellent.
(Croydon North) (Lab/Co-op)
The average time between a victim reporting a rape and the case
coming to trial has just hit a record high of more than 1,000
days, thanks to the Government’s courts backlog. Many rape
victims live in fear of being confronted by their attacker if
they have to wait so long for the case to come to trial. Can he
tell victims why the delay in getting justice is still far too
long?
The volume of convictions for rape has actually just increased,
but I hear what the hon. Gentleman says about timeliness. As the
Minister of State, Home Department, my hon. Friend the Member for
Louth and Horncastle () pointed out earlier, the
backlog is now falling. It has fallen significantly in the Crown
court, but of course we will continue to take steps to improve
it. We have taken a whole range of positive steps to battle the
backlog. Importantly, we have taken the Judicial Review and
Courts Bill through the House: his party opposed it. We keep
coming up with constructive measures to deal with the backlog,
but the Opposition oppose them and fail to come up with any
constructive suggestions of their own.
I am afraid that to many victims who are waiting nearly three
years for their case to come to trial that response will sound
very complacent. The Bar Council has told the Government that
their proposal to give magistrates more sentencing powers could
make the backlog even worse because it would lead to more
defendants choosing to go to Crown court, where there is already
a very significant backlog. Are the Government making a bad
situation worse because they do not have a clue what they are
doing or because they have gone soft on crime?
We are not going to take any lectures on being soft on crime from
a party that voted against our measures to toughen sentences for
serious sexual and violent offences. Labour Members voted against
that in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, so we will
not take any lectures. The key thing is this: we keep taking
positive measures—we have mentioned the super-courts and the
Nightingale courts—and they keep opposing them. They have not yet
come up with a single constructive suggestion. We are putting the
investment in place, with £477 million in the spending review. At
some point the hon. Gentleman will have to come up with a
constructive suggestion, not just carp from the Opposition
Benches.
Drug Use in Prisons
(Barrow and Furness) (Con)
12. What recent progress he has made on tackling drug use in
prisons.(905508)
The Minister for Crime and Policing ()
Before I begin, may I associate myself with the spontaneous
expression of fealty by the Minister of State, Ministry of
Justice, my hon. Friend the Member for Louth and Horncastle
() towards Her Majesty? We
do a lot in our Department at Her Majesty’s pleasure and I know
that my hon. Friend’s remarks will have added to her good humour
this morning. Before Christmas, we published a 10-year drug
strategy that will reduce overall illegal drug use across the
whole of the country, with a huge investment in treatment and
recovery. Making sure that all prisons have a zero-tolerance
approach towards drugs is critical to our success in that
regard.
I thank my right hon. Friend for his response. Drugs are
responsible for about half of all acquisitive crime, burglaries
and robberies in the UK, so if we hope to give people who are
leaving the prison estate a chance in the future, we have to
drive down drug use within that estate. With that in mind, does
he agree that the only way we are going to drive those figures
down is through improved security measures and abstinence-based
treatment?
My hon. Friend has put his finger on the button. Too often in
dealing with drugs we imagine there is a silver bullet, whereas
in fact we need a suite of tools to attack both demand and
supply. He is right that increased security in prisons is
critical, making sure we have a ring of steel to ensure it is
very hard for drugs to penetrate the secure estate, but also that
we invest in treatment and rehabilitation, not least as prisoners
leave the secure estate. You will be pleased to know, Mr Speaker,
that last year we secured funding, and ongoing, that will ensure
everybody who does need a treatment place on exiting a prison
will secure one. He is right that it is totally critical for our
assault on acquisitive crime that we get that approach correct. I
would just point him towards a new development in this area,
which is the roll-out of what is called depot buprenorphine. That
is, effectively, a new inoculation against heroin and opium
addiction, which we think holds out enormous promise.
(Lewisham West and Penge)
(Lab)
Just look at the state of our prisons: drugs up 500% in the last
10 years; violence up by more than 100% between 2010 and 2020;
and almost 12,000 frontline prison officers leaving the service
since 2016. With prisons in crisis, it is no wonder that
reoffending rates are, staggeringly, over 40%. The Government are
failing to keep the public safe. When are they finally going to
get to grips with this?
The hon. Lady, as usual, gives a partial picture. She will know
that reoffending rates now are lower than they ever were under
the Labour party and we continue to make inroads into that
number, pushing hard—critically, between the two Departments, the
Home Office and the Ministry of Justice—to get the number down.
She will know, of course, that since the last quarter of 2018,
assaults in prisons are on a downward trend. Look, we are not
pretending that the picture of the prison estate is entirely
rosy—there is still lots more to do—but the Government have
recently announced enormous investments, not least in drug
rehabilitation and treatment both within and outside the secure
estate, and we believe that will make a huge difference.
Reform of Family Law
(North West Leicestershire)
(Con)
13. What plans the Government have to reform family
law.(905509)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice ()
We are committed to reforming family law to reduce conflict,
protect children and protect victims of domestic abuse. The
Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 will commence on 6
April. This is the biggest change to divorce law in 50 years and
introduces no-fault divorce to reduce conflict. Courts in Dorset
and north Wales will pilot new integrated domestic abuse courts
from 21 February, introducing a less adversarial way of hearing
private family law cases, and we are supporting the private
Member’s Bill from my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Derbyshire
(Mrs Latham) to raise the age of marriage to 18 in England and
Wales.
The current system for child maintenance, administered by the
Child Maintenance Service, clearly financially incentivises
resident parents to withhold contact with children from
non-resident parents. Does the Minister think that this is a
fairer system for children and parents alike?
My hon. Friend asks an important question. I can confirm that
is the Minister with
responsibility for the Child Maintenance Service at the
Department for Work and Pensions, and I would be more than happy
to put him in touch with her on that specific point. Child
maintenance calculations can be adjusted to reflect a situation
where care of the child is shared between both parents. That
reduction is intended to broadly reflect the cost associated with
any care that is given. The calculation is not intended to take
into account every aspect of a person’s circumstances. Bespoke
rules that aim to reflect each family’s individual and changing
situation will result in complexity and delay money getting to
children.
Safety in Prisons
(Easington) (Lab)
14. What steps he is taking to improve safety in
prisons.(905510)
The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice ()
Prison staff carry out a vital role in protecting the public, and
we must do all we can to protect them and the prisoners in their
care. That is why in the prisons strategy White Paper we have
committed to a zero-tolerance approach to crime and drugs, which
fuel violence behind bars. We have introduced the key worker role
into the Prison Service to support individual prisoners and to
try to deal with problems before they escalate, and we are
providing PAVA spray and body-worn video cameras to prison
officers to help them to protect themselves.
I thank the Minister for that response, but since I presented my
Bill to reduce violence in prisons—the Prisons (Violence)
Bill—last month, numerous prison officers have contacted me to
share their experiences of being attacked at work. I noticed that
the Minister was nodding during the presentation of the Bill.
Will she listen to her prison staff and back the provisions in my
Bill to reduce violence, including the obvious step of counting
all kinds of violence, not just the most serious cases, against
prisoners or staff as key performance indicators or management
targets for every prison?
The hon. Gentleman talks about an issue on which there is
agreement across the House. I do not think that anyone in the
House wants to see our brave prison officers hurt or put at risk
in their place of work. That is completely unacceptable, which is
why I was nodding along through his comments on his Bill. I
recognise many of the points that he rightly made in presenting
his ten-minute rule motion. We note, however, that Her Majesty’s
Prison and Probation Service and private prison providers are
already subject to statutory duties to protect staff and
prisoners from violence. We have committed to further work to
improve the safety of everybody behind prison walls through our
prisons strategy White Paper, including—I am delighted to say—by
March this year, the completion of our £100 million security
investment programme to root out the drugs, phones and other
illicit items that can play such a terrible role in the safety of
our prisons.
Topical Questions
Luke Pollard (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Lab/Co-op)
T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental
responsibilities.(905522)
The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice ()
Over the last month, I have met offenders participating in the
community payback scheme in Birmingham, prisoners at HMP Hatfield
who are being supported back into work in partnership with the
charity Tempus Novo, and frontline staff at HMP Frankland working
to tackle extremism and terrorism, including through their
separation centre.
On behalf of the prison officers I represent in Plymouth, I ask
the Secretary of State: now that he has dropped his plans to
close Dartmoor prison, what plans does he have to invest in
facilities at the dilapidated prison to ensure that it can be a
safe and humane environment again?
I am happy to write to the hon. Gentleman about that particular
prison in his constituency. He will know that we are investing
almost £4 billion over the next three years to deliver 20,000
additional modern prison places by the mid-2020s. I have been to
look at some of the advantages that they can have, including at
Glen Parva prison, which has started the operational build. It is
not just about the numbers; it is also about such things as the
in-cell technology and workshops that can be a pathway to get
offenders to go clean and get into work, in order to cut
reoffending and protect the public.
(Wrexham) (Con)
T2. Wrexham houses the newest and largest prison in the UK, HMP
Berwyn, with a criminal justice network to support it. Wrexham is
therefore the perfect place to locate a justice satellite hub,
and I welcome the relocation of hundreds of jobs to Wales under
the levelling-up White Paper. Does my hon. Friend agree that this
is proof that the Government have a commitment to the seats that
Labour left behind?(905523)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice ()
My hon. Friend is an absolute champion of her constituency and
she is right to want it to get its place in the levelling-up
agenda. As she said, the Ministry of Justice is already a major
employer in Wrexham through HMP Berwyn, which employs around 750
staff directly and over 250 more through partner organisations.
We also have two courts in Wrexham employing around 100 staff.
The key point, as detailed in the levelling-up White Paper, is
that our Department is committed to moving more than 2,000 roles
from London to the regions by 2030, of which 500 roles will be
moved to Wales as a demonstration of our full support for
strengthening the Union. This will include a number of locations,
particularly Wrexham.
(Stretford and Urmston)
(Lab)
T3. Women leaving custody without a safe and secure home risk
harm to themselves and to the public, but many of those women are
not captured in official homelessness statistics. Will Ministers
commit to rolling out the temporary accommodation service to all
probation areas this year, and to extending support for
vulnerable women to get into permanent housing beyond 12
weeks?(905524)
The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice ()
I thank the hon. Lady for her point about the important role that
accommodation plays in resettling women. I know that she will
take comfort from the fact that nearly 23% fewer women are in
custody than in 2010, but of course work continues and we need to
ensure that women as well as male prisoners are set up for their
life on release. Although the prisons strategy White Paper
focuses on the male estate, because that is where the majority of
offenders reside, it applies equally to the female estate. I hope
that the hon. Lady will take some time to look at resettlement
passports, for example, to see what we believe can really make a
difference to the life chances of those who are given that second
chance.
(Blackpool South) (Con)
T5. Reforming our broken asylum system and tackling illegal
immigration is in part dependent on reforming the Human Rights
Act. The British people expect action on the issue, so how
quickly can we expect firm proposals to reform the HRA, following
the end of the consultation next month?(905526)
I thank my hon. Friend for his support. He is right that across a
whole suite of issues, including illegal migration, the proposals
for a Bill of Rights with common-sense, sensible reforms will
help us to address the problems. Once the consultation results
come back, we will want to listen very carefully and proceed to
legislation in the next Session.
Gill Furniss (Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough) (Lab)
T8. When my constituent Neil was 27, they discovered that they
were the product of rape. Although they had been adopted as a
baby by a loving and supportive family, this left them feeling
hollow, cut adrift, scared and alone. Thanks to Share
Psychotherapy, a fantastic charity based in Sheffield, Neil got
the support that they needed, but so many like them do not have
such services available. Will the Secretary of State commit to
recognising in law those conceived from rape as
victims?(905529)
May I thank the hon. Lady and express my solidarity in the awful
and harrowing case that she refers to? If she writes to me, I
will be happy to look at her specific proposal.
The overall level of funding for victims this year is three times
the level in 2010. Through the victims Bill consultation, we are
ensuring that victims are at the very heart of the criminal
justice system. Our local as well as national justice scorecards
will help to monitor where there is best practice within the
justice system and where we are falling short, right across the
country.
(Southport) (Con)
T6. The Judicial Review and Courts Bill—I served on the Public
Bill Committee—will allow a few low-level crimes to be dealt with
automatically online. Will the Minister consider extending that
provision to help clear the courts backlog?(905527)
My hon. Friend, who put in a great shift on the Committee, makes
an excellent point. The Judicial Review and Courts Bill will
introduce a new procedure for certain low-level offences such as
travelling on a train without a ticket, enabling defendants who
wish to plead guilty to make a plea and accept a conviction and
standard penalty entirely online, without the involvement of the
court. Given that it is a new type of procedure for dealing with
certain minor offences, we are proceeding with caution and
limiting its scope initially to three offences. However, new
offences could be added in future. My hon. Friend is absolutely
right that through precisely such steps and through the single
justice procedure, we will reduce in-person pressure on
magistrates so that we can move more business from the Crown
court to magistrates and bear down on the backlog.
(Erith and Thamesmead)
(Lab)
There are three prisons in my constituency, Belmarsh, Thameside
and Isis, which a lot of my constituents work in. Prison officers
and other justice staff go into work to protect us, but the
Government are failing to protect them at work. One cause of
increasing violence in prison is understaffing. Can the Minister
tell us what the Government are doing to tackle the recruitment
and retention crisis?
The hon. Lady is absolutely right to say that our officers and
staff are a critical part of protecting the public through our
prisons. Without those staff and officers, our prisons simply do
not function. The Deputy Prime Minister and I are looking
intensively at not only the pay but the other conditions under
which officers and staff are working. The hon. Lady will
appreciate that we are about to enter into the pay round review,
which is done by the independent body. We take that very
seriously. As I have said, I also want to look at the conditions
for staff and officers working in prisons, because they are the
hidden emergency service that keeps us safe day in, day out.
(Vale of Clwyd) (Con)
What plans are there to take heed of the National Audit Office’s
recent comments on the delivery of the female offender strategy?
Can I highlight community solutions such as the North Wales
Women’s Centre in my constituency, which provides support to help
tackle the root causes of crime, such as domestic abuse and
poverty?
I am extremely grateful to my hon. Friend for highlighting the
vulnerabilities of some female offenders. We are very much
committed to delivering the female offender strategy by reducing
the number of women in custody and seeing a greater proportion of
women managed in the community. We are investing £9.5 million in
women’s community sector organisations, and the North Wales
Women’s Centre received nearly £50,000 of that investment last
year. I commend him and the women’s centre for doing such
important work in his constituency.
(Belfast East) (DUP)
The Justice Secretary will have heard the exchange with the right
hon. Member for Chipping Barnet (). He should be aware that
there is a cohort of IRA murderers who have evaded justice,
successfully fought extradition and now abide in other countries.
Would he consider any Government proposals to deal with the
legacy of our past to be morally repugnant if those individuals
were allowed to come home and retire with a level of dignity that
they never offered to their victims?
I do understand the level of pain, suffering and anxiety that the
hon. Gentleman has expressed. I can understand it from
communities on all sides of the troubles and the conflict, which
is why the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has come
forward with a set of proposals that offer a balanced approach
and that we hope will allow those communities on both sides to
move forward.
(Darlington) (Con)
In Darlington, organisations such as Family Help provide
specialist domestic abuse support for women and children fleeing
abuse. Our landmark Domestic Abuse Act 2021 sets out a framework
for the delivery of support locally. Will my hon. Friend outline
the progress being made towards establishing domestic abuse local
partnership boards and the role that local organisations will
play?
I thank my hon. Friend for the tireless work that he put into the
Committee that scrutinised the Domestic Abuse Bill. I am
delighted to confirm that all tier 1 local authorities have set
up domestic abuse local partnership boards, in line with the Act,
to provide them with advice on the provision of the specialist
services that are such an important part of that landmark Act. I
genuinely encourage all Members across the House to engage with
those boards to see what they are doing for their local
communities and how they are helping their constituents.
(Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
(Lab)
I welcome the Secretary of State’s defence of free speech earlier
today, but the truth is that free speech is under attack in our
courts. Tom Burgis is appearing in court today against oligarchs
who are seeking to silence him. When will the Secretary of State
bring forward a defence against strategic lawsuits against public
participation—SLAPPs? If we want to live in truth, we need
SLAPP-back laws now.
The right hon. Gentleman is not the only one who has raised this
with me; my right hon. Friend the Member for Haltemprice and
Howden (Mr Davis) has also been campaigning on it. I am very
happy to look at the specific issue. The House has periodically
looked at questions of libel law and we will keep those issues
under constant review. As I have said in relation to a Bill of
Rights, this is an opportunity to reinvent the priority attached
to freedom of speech.
(Wolverhampton North East)
(Con)
Does my right hon. Friend agree that the focus on getting
prisoners into stable employment when they leave prison has been
critical in achieving the current reoffending rates, which are
lower than they were under Labour? Can he also outline to the
House what further measures he can take in this area?
I totally agree with my hon. Friend. I was at HMP Hatfield just
last week, looking at the excellent work that the governor is
doing with a local charity, Tempus Novo. One of the issues is the
weighting attached to this key performance indicator, which is
far too low. It is currently below 1%, which is extraordinary to
me, and it will be ramped up as part of the review in the prisons
White Paper. It will be much more central to the work that all
prisons do and we are making it a presumption that offenders can
be given a pathway into employment when it is suitable and secure
to do so.
(Glenrothes) (SNP)
Although the justice system clearly has a role to play in
prosecuting offences against women and girls, it is equally
important that young men and boys grow up in an environment where
they understand that misogyny, in all forms, is unacceptable.
With that in mind, will the Minister join me in commending the
fans of Raith Rovers football club, who last week forced the club
to reverse its decision to give a playing contract to someone
who, in two separate court hearings, had been found guilty of
rape and who refused to show any remorse for his crimes? Does the
Minister agree that, given the important role models that
professional footballers are for young men and boys, there must
be serious doubts as to whether that is a job that can ever be
performed by an unrepentant and unreconstructed rapist?
I agree with the hon. Gentleman that that is absolutely abhorrent
and of course I think that the club in question took the right
decision. As the father of two young boys, I take very seriously,
as we in Government should take seriously, and we in this House
should take seriously, how we raise our children, and the level
of education and awareness of these issues. We are taking a whole
suite of measures, from the local justice scorecards to the
victims’ Bill, the violence against women and girls strategy and
the rape action review. But it is incumbent on businesses,
including football clubs, which are so high profile, to make the
right calls, as the football club has done in this case.
(Telford) (Con)
Will the Minister commit to supporting victims of sexual abuse in
the victims’ Bill in ways such as by rolling out section 28?
I absolutely endorse what my hon. Friend said. She will have seen
that section 28, which deals with pre-recorded evidence from
victims of rape, is set out in there. We will be articulating
more clearly a plan to move from the limited trials we have at
the moment to a national roll-out, which will be done in the
first half of this year.
(Loughborough) (Con)
Two excellent support providers in Loughborough, the Exaireo
Trust and the Carpenter’s Arms, look after people who have been
repeat offenders and/or suffered from addiction for many years.
As one resident put it, they were
“lost, broken and with no hope”.
These two organisations completely transform the lives of those
residents in their service. What is my right hon. Friend doing to
work with local providers and support these organisations
financially to help people into work?
The Minister for Crime and Policing ()
I congratulate my hon. Friend and those organisations on their
fantastic work. She is right that, if we are going to get ahead
particularly of acquisitive crime, we have to look at the root
causes of people’s offending and so often that is drug addiction.
As part of our 10-year drugs strategy, we are committed to
binding together coalitions of organisations, including the kind
of organisations she described, to make an assault on this kind
of crime and addiction in every area of the United Kingdom.
(Wellingborough) (Con)
Later this month, the best new prison will be opened in
Wellingborough, on the site of the old prison. It is a strange
time that we live in, because the same Department that is opening
that prison wanted to close it years ago. A young councillor in
my constituency, who represented the Croyland ward, put a
community group together to save it. I wonder whether the
Under-Secretary has any knowledge of that.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice ()
I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who is always innovative in his
questions. I well remember that campaign. It is funny how these
things come around. I am delighted that the Ministry of Justice
has changed its mind and that this new super-prison is going to
open, which is going to employ his constituents and mine. It is
fair to say that he listened, campaigned and delivered.
(Stroud) (Con)
As my right hon. Friend knows, I take every opportunity to
champion the work of the Private Law Working Group and the Family
Solutions Group. In 2020, their reports clearly set out the need
for change in family law and why it is really important that we
do that for families. What steps is he taking to increase the
resolution of family disputes inside and outside courts?
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I recently met the president
of a family division. About 60% of the cases that go there,
certainly on the civil side, are safeguarding or domestic abuse
cases. They ought to go there, but for the rest we need to be
looking at the incentives and disincentives, the use of mediation
and the whole structure of the system to prevent these harrowing
cases—they are particularly harrowing for children. In any event,
many cases do not need to go through the courts and I am working
with the judiciary to try to achieve that reform.
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