Violence against Women and Girls: Legislation
(Midlothian) (SNP)
1. Whether he plans to take legislative steps to help end
violence against women and girls. (900196)
(Edinburgh South West)
(SNP)
3. Whether he plans to take legislative steps to help end
violence against women and girls. (900198)
(East Renfrewshire)
(SNP)
4. Whether he plans to take legislative steps to help end
violence against women and girls. (900200)
(Motherwell and Wishaw)
(SNP)
8. Whether he plans to take legislative steps to help end
violence against women and girls. (900205)
(Stretford and Urmston)
(Lab)
19. What reforms he is making to the criminal justice system to
tackle violence against women and girls. (900218)
Mr Speaker
Minister, welcome.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice ()
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Since 2010, this Government have transformed the legislative
landscape on tackling violence against women. We have created new
criminal offences of stalking, non-fatal strangulation and
coercive control, recognising that the most pernicious abuse is
not always physical. We have implemented comprehensive modern
slavery and domestic abuse laws, and outlawed insidious harms,
such as revenge porn and the so-called “rough sex” defence to
murder. We are prosecuting more rape cases today than in 2010,
with sentences that are about 50% longer. But we are going
further still, in our Sentencing Bill, our Criminal Justice Bill
and our Victims and Prisoners Bill.
I welcome the Minister to her place. We need to be doing much
more to tackle the culture of toxic masculinity that, sadly,
still exists. We recently had a situation in Midlothian where one
of our councillors faced sexual harassment at a public event.
When they complained and raised the issue, the perpetrator’s
colleagues simply said, “But he’s a good guy.”. We need to do
much more to tackle that sort of attitude. Despite the complaint
being made and the complainant being believed, no action was ever
taken. What more can this Government do to ensure that in these
situations action is taken so that we protect women and girls
from such unfortunate situations?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. I know that he does
a lot of work on perpetrator programmes through the White Ribbon
scheme in Scotland. I am sorry to hear about the experience of
one of his local councillors, and I draw to his attention the
Protection from Sex-based Harassment in Public Act 2023, which
recently received Royal Assent. It creates an offence of
intentional harassment carried out because of a person’s sex. It
is quite possible that that covers his friend’s case, so I would
be grateful if he wrote to me or came to see me to discuss it
further.
Last month, Sex Matters presented the Prime Minister with a
letter signed by almost 15,000 people asking him to
“take urgent action to halt an escalating campaign of violence
and intimidation against women in the name of ‘trans
rights’.”
It details how women and, in particular, lesbians are being
threatened with the loss of their livelihoods and with physical
violence, shouted down and intimidated at public events, and
sometimes even assaulted for insisting on their rights to freedom
of belief and of expression, and for calling for sex-based
protections to be upheld. Will the Minister condemn that violence
and intimidation? Will she urge the Prime Minister to do so as
well and to commit to addressing it by commissioning a rapid
review of the impact of extreme trans rights activism on women’s
rights, including the rights of lesbians? Will she also open a
call for evidence?
I thank the hon. and learned Lady for her question, and I
certainly condemn the conduct that she has described. Even though
holding a gender critical belief is protected in law, both under
section 10 of the Equality Act 2010 and, more widely, under
article 9 of the European convention on human rights, I am aware
of the polarisation and, sometimes, intimidation that surrounds
this debate. I have seen the letter that Sex Matters wrote to the
Prime Minister, and the hon. and learned Lady should be in no
doubt about how seriously this is viewed. I have made reference
to the Protection from Sex-based Harassment in Public Act 2023,
which creates an offence of intentional harassment where there is
any causal connection, even a weak one, to a person’s sex, under
which such conduct may fall. She has asked for a rapid review,
and I would like to meet her to discuss that further and any next
steps.
A recent large-scale study by the Open University on societal
attitudes and experiences of online violence against women and
girls found that seven in 10 believe that the current legislation
is not effective in tackling such violence. Almost three quarters
of women in Scotland, and more than half of men there, want
online violence to be made a crime—that is a higher level than
was found among those surveyed in England. Platforms have a duty
of care to their users, so what steps is the Minister taking to
ensure that new guidance in the Online Safety Act 2023 is
effectively enforced and encourages women and girls to come
forward with cases of online abuse?
The hon. Lady makes an excellent point. There is no doubt that
some of the toxic content, including violent pornography, has a
serious impact on the way that women and girls are treated and
the attitudes that certain men have towards them. As she will
know, the Online Safety Act 2023 only received Royal Assent a
month ago, and there is an extended implementation period. She
will also know, I hope, that one of the later amendments to the
Bill accepted by the Government placed a statutory obligation on
Ofcom to publish guidance which summarises the measures that all
online services need to take to reduce the risk of violence to
women and girls. That is not on its own, but in consultation with
the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, the Victims Commissioner and
other experts. The Act also places an obligation on social media
and pornography providers to prevent children from being exposed
to harmful content through new and robust age verification
exercises—
Mr Speaker
Order.
Sorry; I will come back to the hon. Lady on that.
I welcome the Minister to her place. Her former colleague, the
Home Secretary, thought homelessness was a lifestyle choice, yet
in reality, almost a quarter of homelessness among women and
children is due to a violent or abusive relationship. The
Scottish Government are piloting £1,000 grants to assist women
who have left violent relationships, to help pay for essentials
including rent and clothing. Has she considered that approach,
instead of taking tents off the homeless?
We placed the safety of domestic abuse victims at the heart of
the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. Local authorities have been given
£25 million to ensure that all domestic abuse victims receive
priority for housing. In addition, the Act places a legal duty on
tier 1 local authorities to provide a wide range of support,
including refuges. To date, the Department for Levelling Up,
Housing and Communities has allocated £377 million for local
authorities to comply with the duty to provide housing.
It is vital that victims of serious sexual assault are supported
through what can often be a lengthy and traumatic process, yet we
know that many rape victims do not access early mental health
support because their therapy notes can be requested as part of
the criminal investigation. That happens far too often and treats
the wrong person with suspicion. Does the Minister agree that a
specialist legal advocate for victims could allow them to
challenge invasive requests for private information and access
the support they need at the time they need it most?
This is an issue that the Law Commission is looking into, and it
already appears in our Victims and Prisoners Bill, so that such
requests will never be more than necessary and proportionate. On
the subject of whether there should be a dedicated legal adviser,
I respectfully draw the hon. Gentleman’s attention to the fact
that since 2010, there are now 950 dedicated independent sexual
violence advisers, who can support victims of rape and serious
sexual abuse every step of the way. We have quadrupled victims
funding to ensure that we continue to grow that cohort.
Mr Speaker
I call the Chair of the Justice Committee.
(Bromley and Chislehurst)
(Con)
I warmly welcome my hon. Friend to her place on the Treasury
Bench; it is much deserved, and she was a distinguished member of
the Justice Committee. She will know from that time that much
work has already been done, following on from Operation Soteria,
to improve investigation, conviction and prosecution rates and
the victim experience in relation to rape and serious sexual
offences. Will she also bear in mind that there are further
opportunities, which we highlighted as a Committee in our
scrutiny of the victims element of the Victims and Prisoners
Bill, to improve the victim experience and ensure that it is
consistent across the whole country?
I thank my hon. Friend for his question and applaud all the work
he does as Chair of the Justice Committee. It is undoubtedly true
that the Victims and Prisoners Bill plays an important role in
putting the victims code on to a statutory footing and giving
victims enhanced rights, including a right of review and a right
to make an impact statement, which we have supported. I also draw
his attention to not just Operation Soteria but the fact that we
are training 2,000 specialist police officers in rape and serious
sexual offences, as well as the national roll-out of section 28
evidence procedures, which enable victims of these hideous crimes
to give evidence early, privately and behind closed doors, to
completely change their experience of the criminal justice system
and keep them engaged in the process.
(Tunbridge Wells) (Con)
I welcome the Minister to her well-deserved appointment. She will
be aware of the case of David Fuller, who, as well as murdering
two women, abused the corpses of over 100 women and girls in the
mortuaries of the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust. For
these crimes, he will rightly die in prison. However, the current
legislation is shockingly inadequate on the abuse of dead bodies.
It covers only penetrative sexual assault and not other acts of
sexual assault on dead bodies. Will the Minister meet me, my hon.
Friend the Member for Chatham and Aylesford () and other colleagues to
discuss how we can rectify that in the Criminal Justice Bill,
which comes before the House next week?
I thank my right hon. Friend for his question. The David Fuller
case is appalling, and I send my deepest sympathies to the
families of his victims. It is unbelievably dispiriting that we
are even having to talk about these acts, and of extending the
definition of abuse to meet the width and depravity of his
crimes.
As my right hon. Friend will know, the offence he is referring to
is dealt with in section 70 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. As a
result of the David Fuller case, the Ministry of Justice is now
reviewing both the maximum penalty and the scope of the law to
ensure that what my right hon. Friend describes is adequately
captured. Of course, I will have a meeting with both him and my
hon. Friend the Member for Chatham and Aylesford () in due course.
Mr Speaker
I call the SNP spokesperson.
(Glasgow South West)
(SNP)
I join others in welcoming the Minister to her place. A victims
Bill has been promised by the Conservatives since 2016, but while
the UK Government have dithered, the Scottish Government have
introduced the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland)
Bill, which seeks to put victims and witnesses at the heart of
the justice system. It ensures that a range of trauma-informed
support is available to child victims of violent and sexual abuse
crimes, allowing them to give pre-recorded evidence without
needing to go to a police station or a court. Have the Minister
and the Government considered adopting that approach?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. As he will know, our
Victims and Prisoners Bill is making its way through Parliament
as we speak. He has talked about victim-focused support; I draw
his attention to things like Operation Soteria, which is directed
at rape victims and has now been rolled out on a national basis.
That places victims’ rights at the heart of the inquiry and
focuses all the effort on the suspects and their behaviour, so to
be honest, what he has described is consistent with our current
models of policing and investigating crime. I hope the Victims
and Prisoners Bill will conclude its passage through Parliament
and receive Royal Assent soon.
ICC: Government Support
(Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
(Alba)
2. What additional (a) financial and (b) practical support the
Government plans to provide the International Criminal Court for
its war crime investigations. (900197)
The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice ()
The UK is one of the major funders of the International Criminal
Court, and provides further practical support including sentence
enforcement, pro bono expertise in victim and witness protection,
and secondments. In June, I met with the prosecutor of the
International Criminal Court, Karim Khan KC, and I will remain in
contact with the ICC to discuss what resources it needs to
operate effectively.
It should go without saying that the International Criminal Court
needs to be able to do its work unimpeded if it is to establish
when collateral damage transcends into deliberate slaughter, or
whether self-defence was in fact collective punishment. Will the
Government provide a guarantee from the Dispatch Box that they
will not intervene—as they did alongside the United States in
2021—against any future ICC investigation into war crimes
perpetrated against the people of Gaza?
The hon. Gentleman’s original question was about the resource
that we provide to the ICC. We are the second largest donor after
Germany, and we have provided some additional support this year.
Questions about prosecution are matters for independent
prosecutors. It is not for Ministers in this Parliament to make
that sort of decision: that will be a matter for independent
prosecutors, whom I would expect to exercise their discretion
freely and fairly.
Legal Aid: Immigration Cases
(Glasgow East) (SNP)
5. What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of
legal aid for immigration cases. (900201)
(Gordon) (SNP)
16. What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of
legal aid for immigration cases. (900213)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice ()
Legal aid is available for asylum cases, for victims of domestic
abuse and modern slavery, for separated migrant children, and for
immigration cases where someone is challenging a detention
decision. Through the Illegal Migration Act 2023, individuals who
receive a removal notice under the Act will have access to free
legal advice in relation to that notice.
The Law Society has warned that a proposed 15% increase in legal
aid rates will not be enough to ensure that sufficient
immigration lawyers are available to deal with deportations to
Rwanda. Charities supporting refugees make 16 attempts on average
before securing a lawyer, while in London, charities are only
successfully finding legal representation for 4.1% of referrals.
What steps is the Minister taking to ensure that the legal aid
sector does not collapse in England and Wales due to the poor
decisions made by his colleagues?
The 15% was agreed after a six-week consultation looking at other
increases for other specialist work. The Legal Aid Agency will
always keep provision under review to ensure that cover is
provided for those who need it.
There are approximately 175,000 people trapped in the current
asylum backlog, many of them living in hotels with no right to
support themselves or their families through work. Instead of
unlawful and pointless dog-whistling gestures such as the
Government’s Rwanda policy, would it not be better to allow
people the opportunity to work and support themselves, and to
allow the Home Office and the legal aid system to be resourced
adequately so that we can deal with our international obligations
exactly as we ought to?
The question about the Home Office is one the hon. Member may
want to raise with Home Office Ministers themselves. On access to
legal aid, I would not say that £2 billion of legal aid means
this is under-resourced. This year alone, we have continued to
increase levels of legal aid across the board, and specifically
in specialist areas such as immigration, so I reject the notion
that it is underfunded.
Mr Speaker
I call the SNP spokesperson.
(Glasgow South West)
(SNP)
The Lord Chancellor is currently facing a judicial review over
the failure to ensure that immigration legal aid is available to
those who need it. For example, the south-west has capacity for
fewer than 300 people per year, yet the Bibby Stockholm has
capacity for almost 500. Is this not an abject failure of the
legal aid system? It is operating exactly how the Government have
designed it to: abandoning the most vulnerable to navigate a
complex and hostile environment without any recourse to legal
representation. Is this moral bankruptcy or incompetence, or is
it a combination of both?
I do not accept that characterisation at all. In fact, this
Government are putting legal aid in place to support those
affected by the Illegal Migration Act and especially the uplift
in fees to ensure that qualified legal advice is available to
people, whether physically or through telephone advice. Access to
justice, and access to legal aid, is there.
Ex-offenders: Employment
(Harrogate and Knaresborough)
(Con)
6. What progress he has made on improving employment
opportunities for ex-offenders.(900202)
The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice ()
I am pleased to say that the proportion of prison leavers in
employment six months after their release has more than doubled
in the two years to March 2023. We have delivered significant
reforms in this area, among which are prison employment leads to
match prisoners to jobs on release, and business-led employment
advisory boards that partner prisoners with industry to benefit
from their expertise. While this is very significant progress,
there is always more to do, and we are determined to continue to
see that figure climb higher.
I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer. We know that
ex-offenders are at high risk of homelessness, particularly
immediately on release. We also know that being in work
significantly reduces that risk, so the link between the
probation service and Jobcentre Plus in supporting ex-offenders
into work is of critical importance. Will the Minister do
everything possible across Government to ensure that ex-offenders
leave custody with the best possible chance of getting a job?
May I take this opportunity to pay tribute to my predecessor as
prisons and probation Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member
for East Hampshire (), for his work in this
space?
My hon. Friend, as always, is absolutely spot-on that securing
employment and preventing homelessness are essential to tackling
reoffending. Those in work are nearly 10% less likely to
reoffend. We work closely with the Department for Work and
Pensions to ensure that prison leavers have effective support to
prepare for employment on release. For example, prisoners can
meet a DWP prison work coach from 12 weeks before release to
provide advice on benefits and employment, including day one
access to DWP employment programmes, and we continue to foster
those strong links.
(Strangford) (DUP)
I thank the Minister for his response. Veterans very often fall
on hard times, find themselves in prison and then become
ex-offenders. Has the Minister had any opportunity to work
alongside the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs to ensure that
priority can be given to help veterans get over the bad times and
to re-engage in society again? They have offered so much during
their time in the services, and they can do so again if given the
opportunity.
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, who is absolutely right to
highlight just how much veterans, even when they have got
themselves into bother, can offer the community through
rehabilitation and through work. Although I have not yet had the
opportunity to engage with my right hon. Friend the Minister for
Veterans’ Affairs, I intend to do so. A whole range of
opportunities can work for veterans. Just this weekend, I saw the
ex-jockey Ryan Hatch on ITV Racing talking about his work
highlighting equine job opportunities—which are often appropriate
for veterans—in prisons. I look forward to working with my right
hon. Friend—and, indeed, with the hon. Gentleman, if he wishes—on
this issue.
Prison Capacity
(Blackpool South) (Ind)
7. What steps he is taking to increase the number of prison
places.(900203)
(Birmingham, Northfield)
(Con)
9. What steps he is taking to increase prison
capacity.(900206)
The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice ()
This Government have embarked on the biggest prison building
programme since the Victorian era, to create 20,000 modern,
secure, rehabilitative places. To date, we have already delivered
5,600 places, a third prison at HMP Millsike is under
construction, and last week we secured outline planning
permission for our fourth prison, near the existing HMP Gartree
in Leicestershire.
I welcome the delivery of 20,000 additional prison places, as
well as plans to deport some foreign criminals, rather than
jailing them here in the UK. That will free up spaces and deliver
considerable savings to the taxpayer. What steps is the Secretary
of State taking to work with the Home Office to mitigate the risk
of legal challenges as we seek to deport some of those who may
pose a risk to the public?
My hon. Friend makes an important point. Between January 2019 and
March 2023, 14,700 foreign national offenders were served with
deportation orders and removed. As he has indicated, we have
expanded the early removal scheme to allow for the removal of
FNOs up to 18 months before the end of the custodial element of
their sentence, so that we can bring forward the deportation of
criminals who should not be here. On his specific point, we work
closely with the Home Office to ensure that the right people and
processes are in place to resist legal challenges.
I welcome the measures that my right hon. and learned Friend has
outlined to increase prison capacity to its largest ever, but he
will recognise that capacity in prisons needs to come with
capacity in staffing in order to make it a reality. Will he
update the House on the progress made so far, particularly in the
midlands and Birmingham?
I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who is such a champion on this
issue. He is right, and to increase the number of staff we have
increased pay, accepting the recommendation of the independent
pay review body in full. That means an increase of 7% for band 3
to band 5 officers, which is wing officers up to custodial
managers. We are also backing our officers with the roll-out of
body-worn videos for every officer on shift, as well as PAVA
spray in the adult estate. The net result is that the resignation
rate is down significantly. That means more people remaining on
the wings, improving the quantity and quality of our prison
places overall.
(Leyton and Wanstead) (Lab)
May I welcome the Under-Secretary of State for Justice, the hon.
Member for Newbury (), to her well-deserved place
on the Treasury Bench? As well as expanding prison capacity, has
the Secretary of State looked at the possibility of investing in
women’s centres? That was part of the Government’s female
offender strategy, but it also has a proven track record in
cutting reoffending?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his kind words about my hon.
Friend. Yes, absolutely; where the court determines that an
alternative disposal is appropriate, we are keen for
non-custodial options to be available. That is why we are
investing heavily in alternatives. There are cases where women
offenders must go to jail, but where that is not necessary we
want to ensure that alternatives remain so that rehabilitation
can take place in the community.
(Enfield North) (Lab)
Now that the Government have left themselves with no choice but
to send fewer people to prison and let more out early because
there is simply no space for them, how many convicted criminals
are currently on bail awaiting sentence, compared with this time
last year? When do the Government expect normal service to
resume?
I am proud of the fact that, unlike the previous Government, we
are rolling out a prison expansion programme—something that
entirely defeated the Labour party when it was in office. Labour
said it was going to roll out three Titan prisons. How many did
it produce? Absolutely none. On bail, it is the case that the
number of those awaiting trial is higher, and up by 6,000
compared with the pre-covid period. That is why this Government
are expanding capacity on the estate. We have 1,000 more judges,
we are increasing the amount of legal aid, and we are ensuring
that when people come to be sentenced, unlike under the Labour
Government, they are going to prison for longer.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Minister.
(Cardiff West) (Lab)
The Secretary of State’s emergency early release scheme is meant
to tackle a capacity crisis that is entirely of this Government’s
making, and it excludes only serious violence. Surely domestic
abuse and stalking are serious offences, yet they are not
excluded from early release. What kind of signal does that give
to victims, the public, and indeed perpetrators of violence
against women and girls?
We are proud that under this Government sentences for offences
such as rape have gone up by a third. We have a situation in
which charges are up, the conviction rate is higher and sentences
are longer—and, unlike under the Labour Government, people are
spending a higher proportion of those sentences in custody. We
think that is the right thing to do. To the hon. Member’s point,
the exclusions in place go beyond what he indicated, so he is
factually incorrect; they also include sex offences and terrorist
offences. Here is a really important point: where the custodial
authorities are satisfied that there is a specific risk, there is
an opportunity to ensure that release is blocked. That is
important, because we will always stand up for victims of
crime.
Argument weak? Go long and do not answer the question—the classic
response from this Government. The truth is that without any
Government announcement of a start date, prisons began releasing
offenders over a month ago. These men are already walking our
streets, but the Government will not tell us how many, or why
they were behind bars in the first place. Why do the Government
not believe that the public deserve to know who is being released
back into the community when a court decided that they should be
in prison?
We will make whatever appropriate announcements in due course; we
will not demur from that. We will also not apologise for having,
under this Government, a higher custodial population than before.
We are taking robust steps to ensure that the public are
protected, which means unashamedly that those who commit the most
serious offences—those such as murder in the context of sexual or
sadistic conduct—go to prison for the rest of their lives. Will
the hon. Member support that? I wonder. We are also using the
evidence so that those capable of rehabilitation are
rehabilitated. One thing that we will not ever put at risk is the
threat to women and girls. As the Under-Secretary of State for
Justice, my hon. Friend the Member for Newbury (), indicated, we have taken
steps to ensure that victims of domestic abuse will be properly
protected under the Government.
Mr Speaker
Here is a man who will go short: I call .
Non-custodial Sentences: Public Confidence
(New Forest West) (Con)
10. Whether he is taking steps to increase levels of public
confidence in non-custodial sentences.(900207)
The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice ()
To earn public confidence, non-custodial sentences must
self-evidently be punitive, so that the British people can see
that offenders are being punished for their crimes. They must
also be enforceable, so that judges and magistrates can be
confident that those who step out of line risk being brought back
before the court and sentenced to immediate custody. That is why
we are doubling the number of the latest GPS tags available to
the court, so that offenders can be strictly monitored, and we
have increased funding for the probation service by £155 million
a year.
It is essential that every advantage be had from the latest
monitoring technology, isn’t it?
Pithy and perfect—my right hon. Friend is absolutely right. Under
the old technology, all that the so-called radio frequency tags
could tell the probation service was whether that individual had
left the premises to which he had been bailed or curfewed. The
modern GPS tags are far more effective, because they can indicate
where that person has gone, keeping them under a tight rein. We
have additional tags, including alcohol monitoring tags to allow
the courts and probation services also to monitor alcohol where
that is the root cause of the offending.
(Rochdale) (Lab)
Is the evidence not clear that short prison sentences do not
work, and that women’s centres, which deal with drug and alcohol
abuse, mental health issues and so on, can be effective? It would
make a lot of sense to roll that out for the male population—it
is cheaper and it is better.
I am delighted to hear that from the hon. Gentleman. We have to
follow the evidence, which shows that short sentences of
immediate custody lead to a higher reoffending rate than those
where the sentence is suspended, albeit on tight conditions,
which might include curfew, an unpaid work order and potentially
a rehabilitation requirement. Why? Because if the offender fails
to comply, the probation service can find them in breach and
bring them back before the court, where they will then likely
hear the clang of the prison gate. We will follow the evidence.
We make no apology for using our custodial estate to lock up the
most dangerous offenders for longer and take them out of
circulation. But protecting the public also means ensuring that
those who would otherwise reoffend get off the conveyor belt of
crime.
Prison Estate Conditions
(York Central)
(Lab/Co-op)
11. What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the conditions
in the prison estate for the rehabilitation of
offenders.(900208)
The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice ()
By the end of the spending review period, we will have invested
nearly £4 billion to deliver an additional 20,000 modern prison
places and ensure that the right conditions are in place to
rehabilitate prisoners, cut crime and protect the public. The key
to effective rehabilitation is the provision of education and
skills training, to increase a prisoner’s employability and
ensure that they can access employment upon release, alongside
providing support for substance misuse, treatment and so on. We
are also investing to improve rehabilitative spaces in prison,
having delivered our employment hubs, where prisoners can access
job vacancies. We will renovate prison workshops through our HMP
academies programme.
No glass, just bars at the window; mice and rats; faeces in the
gravy; and sewage overflows regularly in his cell. This is not
the start of a Victorian novel, but the disgrace experienced by
my young constituent, who was locked in his shared cell for 23
and a half hours a day, having never received the vital
specialist mental health support that he needed. When can we
expect such draconian conditions at HMP Hull to end? What
appropriate steps will the Minister take to ensure that people in
prison experience rehabilitation, not the conditions that my
constituent faced?
If the hon. Lady would like to write to me, I will be happy to
look into that specific case. But in broad terms, in the last
financial year this Government invested £217 million in capital
and maintenance spending, up from £149 million in 2010-2011. That
includes, since 2020, delivering £73 million of capital
maintenance projects across Yorkshire. Security is not a dirty
word in this context but is vital to creating conditions in which
people can be safe and rehabilitated. We continue to work closely
with the NHS on improving things such as mental health support
for those in prison, but I am happy to engage with her on this
issue.
Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme
(Dartford) (Con)
12. If the Government will make an assessment of the potential
merits of extending the unduly lenient sentence scheme to include
additional offences.(900209)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice ()
In 2019 we expanded the unduly lenient sentence scheme to include
14 new offences, including further child sexual offences and
coercive or controlling behaviour. We have no immediate plans to
extend the scheme further, but we keep it under constant
review.
I welcome the new Minister to his place; his is an excellent
appointment and I wish him every success. The fact that malicious
wounding, actual bodily harm, burglary and even rape, when dealt
with in the youth courts, do not come under the unduly lenient
sentence scheme is plain wrong. Will he please review that
situation, which time and again lets down the victims of those
serious crimes?
The unduly lenient sentence scheme is intended for use in serious
cases for offenders sentenced in the Crown court. The Attorney
General has the power to refer a sentence to the Court of Appeal
for review if they believe it is unduly lenient. A youth court
can sentence a child to up to two years of detention only. Where
a child’s offence is likely to attract a sentence of more than
two years, the case must be passed to the Crown court for
sentencing, where the scheme therefore applies.
(Tiverton and Honiton)
(LD)
Stiffening unduly lenient Crown court sentences is all very well,
but there will still be delays in the system if there are
backlogs in prosecuting in the courts. Up to 25% of criminal
barristers have left the profession over the past five years, so
what action are the Government taking to address the exodus of
criminal barristers?
In recent years the Government have invested an extra £141
million in criminal legal aid, which should expedite a solution
to the situation.
Death by Dangerous Driving: Sentencing
(North West Norfolk) (Con)
13. If he will make an assessment of the impact of changes in
sentencing guidelines on causing death by dangerous driving on
the length of sentences.(900210)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice ()
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 increased the
maximum penalty for causing death by dangerous driving from 14
years to life imprisonment. In June 2023, the independent
Sentencing Council published revised sentencing guidelines for
motoring offences, including for causing death by dangerous
driving. It is too early to assess the outcome of those changes,
but we regularly publish sentencing statistics on gov.uk. The
Sentencing Council also monitors all guidelines in accordance
with its statutory duty.
I welcome my hon. Friend to his position. It is over a year since
Parliament legislated to increase the maximum sentence for death
by dangerous driving to life imprisonment. However, three members
of my constituent Summer Mace’s family were killed in a horrific
incident, and in June the offender got only 10 and a half years.
That is totally inadequate. As RoadPeace has shown, far too many
sentences are too short. Will my hon. Friend meet me to discuss
those sentencing guidelines, so that we can ensure that they
reflect what Parliament actually legislated for?
I was very sorry to hear of the death of Paul Carter, Lisa Carter
and Jade Mace in January 2023 in a collision caused by Aurelijus
Cielevicius, and the devastating consequences for their family
and friends. I know that my hon. Friend has campaigned hard on
this issue, and I read his Adjournment debate earlier this month.
Sentencing is entirely a matter for our independent courts, based
on the facts of each case. In July 2023, after Cielevicius was
sentenced, the revised Sentencing Council guidelines for causing
death by dangerous driving came into force, following the
increase of the maximum penalty introduced by the PCSC Act 2022.
I would be happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss that further,
should that be helpful.
(Washington and Sunderland
West) (Lab)
The man who was convicted of causing death by careless driving
when he killed my young constituent Gregg was sentenced to only
nine months in prison. However, because he was charged with
causing death by careless driving, not dangerous driving, Gregg’s
family had no right to appeal under the Attorney General’s unduly
lenient sentence scheme. Will the Minister agree to discuss this
with the Attorney General and look into revising the scheme to
include causing death by careless driving?
I was very sorry to hear the details of that particular case. I
will, of course, be very happy to raise it with the Attorney
General.
Children in Custody: Education
(Twickenham) (LD)
14. What steps he is taking to improve the provision of education
for children in custody.(900211)
The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice ()
We work closely with education providers to drive up standards of
teaching and improve academic outcomes. The curriculum offered to
children in custody is needs-led and determined by individual
aspirations, literacy and numeracy levels, interests and sentence
length. Where education provision is inadequate, we will hold
providers to account to ensure that children receive the
education they need to turn away from crime.
Earlier this year, I visited Feltham young offenders institution
and witnessed at first hand the very challenging conditions in
which dedicated professionals work with young people who have
committed the most serious crimes and had a very difficult start
in life. Back in 2016, the Charlie Taylor review recommended that
we move away from young offenders institutions to secure schools.
The Government fully accepted his vision, yet seven years on not
a single secure school has opened. One has been built, but it has
not admitted any pupils. If the Government are serious about
rehabilitating young offenders and cutting reoffending, when will
they finally roll out secure schools for those pupils?
In a previous life as a Minister, as it were, I had youth justice
in my portfolio back in 2018-19, and I had the opportunity to
visit Feltham at that time. I worked with Charlie Taylor on
delivering those recommendations into practice. I am pleased to
tell the hon. Lady that we anticipate the first secure school
opening in 2024.
Mr Speaker
I welcome the new shadow Minister.
(Lewisham East) (Lab)
Thank you, Mr Speaker. Education is vital to reduce violence,
especially on the youth estate. However, violence on the youth
estate is skyrocketing. Since last year, assaults on staff have
increased by 33%. That puts prison staff at risk in their
workplace and increases the trauma experienced by children and
young people. It can also prolong their rehabilitation. How will
the Minister use education and other methods available to him to
reduce that violence?
It is nice to be taking questions from the hon. Lady in her new
role as shadow Minister, rather than when she used to question me
in the Justice Committee. She is absolutely right to highlight
the challenges of violence across the youth estate, which have
been too high for too long, and we continue to work hard across
all sites to address it. Among the measures put in place, we are
ensuring that each child receives a full needs assessment,
covering education, psychology, resettlement, health and
behavioural support. Education and skills play a vital part in
helping children and young people to get their lives back on
course, but that must be in the context of a secure environment,
because security has to be the premise on which all those other
benefits can be delivered.
Short Sentence Suspension: Probation Service
(Cambridge) (Lab)
15. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the
suspension of short sentences on the probation
service.(900212)
(Ogmore) (Lab)
17. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the
suspension of short sentences on the probation
service.(900214)
The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice ()
To expand probation capacity, we have increased funding by £155
million a year to deliver effective supervision of offenders in
the community. In 2020-21 we recruited an additional 1,000
trainee officers, 1,500 more in the following year, and 1,500
more in the year after that. This means that offenders who pose
the highest risk to communities will receive robust
supervision.
Successive Conservative Ministers have allowed the criminal
justice system to fall into its current parlous state, making
many communities, including in Cambridge, less safe. Now they
propose to shift the burden from an over-pressed prison service
to an over-pressed probation service. Can the Secretary of State
guarantee that the money that should have been available to
prisons will be moved to the probation service to allow it to
keep our communities safe?
The first point is not right; since 2010, the overall levels of
crime have fallen by 40%. As for the second point, reoffending
has dropped from about 32% to about 25%. The third point, on
probation, is, with respect, a better one. As we move towards
suspended sentence orders, it is right for them to be robust and
enforceable so that if people step out of line they can expect to
hear the clang of the prison gate, and that is why I am engaging
with the leadership of the probation service. Yesterday I also
met frontline probation officers, because I want to hear from
them how we can ensure that their workload is manageable and they
have the resources that they need to keep our communities
safe.
I refer Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial
Interests.
I echo the concerns of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied
Workers and the British Independent Retailers Association, which
fear that the scrapping of short sentences will only embolden
retail criminals. The Secretary of State will know that far too
many shop workers face being attacked in shops across the UK,
particularly as we approach the festive period. According to the
police, there has been a 24% increase in shoplifting in the past
year. Can the Secretary of State assure us that the probation
service can cope with the expected surge in retail crime, and
ensure that those who work in shops will be protected and anyone
who attacks them will face the full force of the law?
Those who behave in such an appalling way should expect to feel
exactly that: the full force of the law. Let me be crystal clear:
those who pose a particular threat to individuals can expect to
hear the clang of the prison gate. Those who commit offences
while subject to an order—be it, for instance, a community order,
a stalking prevention order or a domestic abuse protection
order—can also expect to be outwith the presumption. Through the
use of tags, we can ensure that people who do not abide by
stringent requirements—which, by the way, could include not going
to a particular shopping precinct—can expect one outcome, and one
outcome only: prison.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Minister.
(Brentford and Isleworth)
(Lab)
In response to the question from my hon. Friend the Member for
Cambridge (), the Secretary of State
said that he had recruited 1,000 additional probation officers,
but in fact that recruitment campaign has resulted in 76 fewer
probation officers between March last year and March this year.
Owing to the excessive workload, staff are leaving in droves. The
proposed new presumption in favour of extended sentences and the
extension of electronic monitoring will simply offload more
pressure from prisons on to the probation service, will it not?
What are the Government doing to address these issues of
excessive workload and the loss of probation staff?
On a point of detail, as of 30 September 2023 the increase on the
previous year was 4.2% for band 3 probation officers, 6.9% for
band 4 officers and 13% for senior probation officers. The
so-called attrition rate, or resignation rate, is also down.
There are more probation officers, and more of them are remaining
in place. The reason that matters is the fact that experience
counts. This is an extremely difficult job, and making good
judgments requires wisdom and experience. We are investing in the
probation service so that its officers can do their job on behalf
of our communities.
Topical Questions
(Twickenham) (LD)
T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental
responsibilities.(900221)
The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice ()
Since the last Justice questions, we have introduced a Criminal
Justice Bill, which responds rapidly and robustly to the latest
criminal threats. It will include strengthened laws to
criminalise those who breach trust by taking intimate images
without consent; broaden the offence of encouraging and assisting
self-harm; give judges the power to order offenders to attend
sentencing hearings; and enable the probation service to
polygraph-test more terrorists and sex offenders. Meanwhile, the
new Sentencing Bill has public protection at its core, making the
severest punishments available for the most dangerous offenders,
such as murderers who kill with sexual or sadistic conduct, to
take them out of circulation forever. It will protect the public
by breaking the cycle of reoffending to reduce crime.
We have also welcomed my hon. Friends the Members for Newbury
() and for Orpington () to the Front Bench. As I
think the House has already observed, they will make a formidable
contribution to public life.
The Prime Minister and certain other senior Government figures
have suggested that the European convention on human rights
should be disapplied in some asylum cases, and the deputy
chairman of the Conservative party, the hon. Member for Ashfield
(), has said that the
Government should simply ignore last week’s Supreme Court ruling.
Does the Justice Secretary agree?
The Government are confident that we can deliver on the
priorities of the British people while remaining within the four
corners of our international legal obligations. Make no mistake,
we are determined to ensure that our borders are secure. This is
a rule of law issue. It should not be the case that those who try
to jump the queue and arrive illegally should derive some sort of
advantage from that. We understand that clearly on the Government
Benches and we will do everything we can to stop the boats.
(Warrington South) (Con)
T3. One of the primary reasons for adjournment and relisting in
magistrates courts is a lack of trained probation officers to
carry out pre-sentence stand-down reports. Could the Minister
outline what steps he is taking to address this so that courts
can get through caseloads more speedily?(900223)
My hon. Friend speaks with great authority as a magistrate, and I
know from my own experience as a practitioner how important
stand-down reports are. They provide the bench with information
about the offender—their relationship situation, their record of
previous convictions, their mental health problems and so on—so
that the court can tailor a disposal that punishes the offender
but also progresses their rehabilitation. We are working closely
with the probation service to ensure that that resource is
properly allocated so that we can have more stand-down reports to
ensure better justice on the facts of each case.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Minister, .
(Stockton North) (Lab)
Contrary to the claims of Ministers at every Question Time that
they are getting the courts backlog sorted out, they are not, and
the pain just drags on for victims. The Crown court backlog
reached a record 65,000 cases at the end of June. Nearly 5,000 of
them have been waiting for two years and 36,000 cases have
defendants on bail. Why are things still getting worse?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice ()
I have to say, Mr Speaker, that God loves a trier. Yes, the
backlog has gone up. The hon. Gentleman will know that post covid
and post the Criminal Bar Association strike, the backlog did
increase. On top of that, this Government have cracked down on
crime with more police officers, and that has meant more people
being charged and appearing in court. We are addressing this with
unlimited sitting days. We recruited 1,000 judges across all
jurisdictions last year and we are doing the same this year. We
have invested in the court estate to improve resilience, and we
have extended 24 Nightingale courts to ensure that we have
capacity.
Come on now—we know that the statistics tell a very different
story. The Crown courts remain in crisis, and what about the
civil courts? The quarterly civil justice statistics from April
to June 2023 show that the average time taken for small claims
and multi-fast-tracked claims to go to trial was 52 weeks and 78
weeks respectively. Is it the same excuse for the crisis in the
civil courts?
Since the Government have increased the amount of money spent on
the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, we
have recruited judges across the jurisdiction to help in the
civil courts, increased the number of days that fee-paid judges
can do from 30 days to 80 days a year, introduced regional
virtual pilots to support London and the south-east, and invested
in mediation. All of this is ensuring that people have access to
justice in a court system that is dealing with higher numbers of
cases than ever before.
(Witham) (Con)
T5. The Minister will be aware that approximately £1 million of
taxpayers’ money was spent, including through legal aid, on
finally deporting the vile sex offender Yaqub Ahmed, whose crimes
were just unimaginable. Will the Secretary of State and the
Minister ensure that legal aid processes are reviewed and,
importantly, dust off the previous plans to introduce wasted cost
orders in immigration cases so that lawyers who pursue these
spurious cases are prevented from doing so?(900225)
As my right hon. Friend will appreciate, I cannot comment on
individual cases, but I can reassure her that the payment of
wasted or unreasonable costs can already be ordered by the
tribunal if it considers it appropriate. Given the issue that she
has raised, however, I would be more than happy to meet her to
ensure that her concerns are conveyed firmly to those responsible
for the reviews.
Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith) (Lab)
T2. Eight courts have so far been named as containing
reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete—RAAC—and three of them are
closed. The Government will not say which prisons are affected,
but will they guarantee that funding for RAAC removal will not
come at the expense of existing maintenance schemes, given the
huge backlog of repairs in courts and prisons?(900222)
The hon. Gentleman is right about the eight court buildings, but
that is in the context of an estate of over 300 buildings. It is
important to note, however, that we have massively increased the
budget for the court estate, and that enables us to do two
things. First, we can take on more projects and also plan them
because we have guaranteed this over two years, meaning that we
can plan in a more efficient and effective way. The second issue
so far as prisons are concerned is that separate considerations
apply because the buildings are used for a whole range of
different purposes; there is the prison itself, but there are
plenty of ancillary buildings. This is all being inspected in the
normal way, and the budget is certainly there to effect
remediations if required.
Matt Vickers (Stockton South) (Con)
T10. Last week I visited my local Co-op store in Hartburn,
where I met staff and Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied
Workers reps as part of Respect for Shopworkers Week. There are
around 867 assaults on shop workers not each month, not each week
but every single day. We cannot go on like this. Will my right
hon. and learned Friend look again at what we can do to tackle
this issue and deliver justice for shop workers?(900230)
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Those people are on the
frontline of society, acting effectively in public to do an
incredibly important public service. We have already moved to
ensure that the courts can treat assaults on shop workers as an
aggravating factor when it comes to sentencing. To be clear, this
means that, in appropriate cases, the fact that a person has
assaulted a retail worker can mean the difference between a
non-custodial penalty and a custodial penalty, which is
absolutely right. Those who behave in such a cowardly way should
expect all consequences.
(Barnsley Central) (Lab)
T4. The rule of law is sacrosanct, isn’t it?(900224)
Yes.
Sir (Northampton North) (Con)
Does my right hon. and learned Friend agree that the judiciary
must not make incendiary comments about Israel? At Walsall
magistrates court, a district judge recently acquitted defendants
who had vandalised a factory, believing it to be supplying
Israel, and is reported to have told them their action was
“proportionate in comparison to the crimes against humanity which
they were acting to stop.”
Does he agree that judges are supposed to uphold the law, not
encourage its breach? This brings our legal system into
ill-repute, so will he take this from me as a complaint to the
Judicial Conduct Investigations Office?
Mr Speaker
Order. We are not meant to criticise the courts, and I know that
such a learned Gentleman will know better; I am sure we can avoid
any criticism.
I simply note the question. Plainly, I make no comment on the
specifics. I have heard my right hon. and learned Friend’s point,
and I will happily take it up with him subsequently.
(Leeds North West)
(Lab/Co-op)
T6. The Ministry of Justice has released its latest quarterly
statistics on deaths and self-harm in the England and Wales
prison estate. The rate of self-harm incidents among female
prisoners went up by a stark 63% compared with the same quarter
last year, and there was an overall 24% increase in
self-inflicted deaths. What assessment has the Secretary of State
made of the impact of the MOJ’s policies on these increases
across the prison estate?(900226)
The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice ()
The hon. Gentleman is right to highlight this, as every death in
custody is a tragedy. We continue to do all we can to improve the
safety of prisoners, both in that respect and in respect of
reducing instances of self-harm. We are continuing to deliver on
our safety commitment outlined in the prisons strategy White
Paper, including by introducing more ligature-resistant cells,
funding a study to understand the extent of deaths, and rolling
out an emotional resilience and peer-support programme in six
prisons. Of course, our staff are vital to this, and I take the
opportunity to pay tribute to them; we are investing to support
them to continue to do that work.
(Aldridge-Brownhills)
(Con)
In the summer, the Government made a welcome announcement on
banning zombie knives and machetes and doubling the sentences for
supplying a knife to an under-18 and for possessing a knife with
intent to cause harm. Now we are in a new Session, will the
Secretary of State set out the timeline for bringing forward
legislation to make this happen?
I am grateful to my right hon. Friend, who is a passionate and
principled campaigner on the issue of public safety. These
measures will find their way into the Criminal Justice Bill. I
look forward to her support, which I know will be forthcoming.
Let us hope that hon. Members right across the House will put
public protection as one of their priorities.
(Oldham West and Royton)
(Lab/Co-op)
T7. New figures released by the Co-op Group show that a
staggering 300,000 incidents of shoplifting, abuse, violence and
antisocial behaviour in Co-op stores have been reported this year
alone. Surely the best way to stop violence against shop workers
is to make it a stand-alone offence, as requested by the Labour
party, the Co-op party and the USDAW trade union.(900227)
It is important to establish what is already available to the
police: section 39 on common assault, section 47 on assault
occasioning actual bodily harm and—heaven forbid—sections 20 and
18, which relate to more serious cases of grievous bodily harm.
Plus, if an individual is convicted on any of those grounds, the
courts can—indeed, ought to—consider assault on a retail worker
as an aggravating factor. As I have indicated, that can mean the
difference between a non-custodial and a custodial penalty.
We will keep these matters under review, but the central point is
that before someone can go before the court, they have to be
arrested. That is why I am delighted that we have more police
officers than at any time in our history, ready to take the fight
to those who assault shop workers.
(Haltemprice and Howden)
(Con)
My right hon. and learned Friend has a terrific record on dealing
with SLAPPs—strategic lawsuits against public participation—so he
will understand how greedy lawyers encourage their billionaire
clients to crush their opponents by extending court cases,
dragging them out and multiplying them. What has not been taken
on board is that that also costs the taxpayer millions of pounds.
I think those lawyers should have to meet those costs. With that
in mind, will he publish the costs incurred by SLAPPs cases?
No one in this House has done more than my right hon. Friend to
clamp down on this iniquitous behaviour, and I am pleased that we
have been able to make some progress. He makes a really important
point: every day that is spent in court pursuing ill-founded and
abusive litigation is time that could be spent on other matters
in the public interest. I will certainly look into the
interesting suggestion he makes about publishing the cost of that
behaviour.
(Glasgow East) (SNP)
T8. After the Supreme Court ruling on Rwanda, the hon. Member for
Ashfield () said that the Government
should “ignore the laws” and put planes in the air anyway. The
Prime Minister has failed to distance himself from those
comments. Does that disappoint the Justice Secretary?(900228)
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave a few moments
ago. There is understandable righteous indignation about the
situation that exists. We believe that we can comply and deliver
our policies within the four corners of international law—that is
our approach. However, those who arrive illegally threaten to
corrode the rule of law, because that of itself sends out a poor
subliminal message that those who do so can act with impunity.
That does not strengthen the rule of law.
(Bracknell) (Con)
The Justice Secretary will know of the hard work undertaken in
this Parliament to bring the Desecration of War Memorials Bill
into law. Elements of that Bill were subsumed into the Police,
Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, but will he now undertake
to complete the job?
My hon. Friend is one of two hon. Members who have fought hard on
this issue, and he does so from the position of having served his
country. It is completely iniquitous that people should seek to
act in a way that desecrates war memorials. His specific point
seems utterly compelling and I am happy to discuss it with him
hereafter.
Joanna Cherry (Edinburgh South West) (SNP)
T9. The Justice Secretary is an experienced lawyer, for whom I
have a great deal of respect. Will he explain to the Prime
Minister that following the Supreme Court’s judgment on Rwanda,
merely to legislate that the facts on the ground in Rwanda are
the opposite of what the Supreme Court found them to be will make
no difference to the problems the Supreme Court has identified,
and will simply make the Government a laughing stock?(900229)
I thank the hon. and learned Lady for her point. At the risk of
harming her political career, the respect is entirely mutual. In
a rule-of-law country, people can disagree with the decision of a
court but they must respect it. We respect the ruling and of
course we will abide by court orders, but it is also right that
we carefully consider what the Supreme Court said and seek to
adjust appropriately. We will do what we properly and lawfully
can do to stop the boats. That is our mission and the mission of
the British people, and we will deliver on it.
(Eddisbury) (Con)
I welcome my right hon. and learned Friend’s commitment to
increase the use of tagging, where appropriate, to reduce the
amount of reoffending. In doing so, what plans does he have to
include high-risk domestic abusers and, potentially in the
future, those who are illegal drug users?
Not for the first or last time, my hon. and learned Friend has
got absolutely to the point. We have deliberately constructed the
policy so that if an individual presents a significant threat to
a particular individual—often a spouse or a partner—the
presumption would not apply. That is critically important and I
was happy to discuss that point with Women’s Aid and other
relevant bodies. We are on the side of victims of domestic abuse
and violence, and nothing that we do will cut across that
important principle.
(Bradford East) (Lab)
Supporting offenders in practising their faith is regularly cited
as playing a key role in their rehabilitation in prisons.
However, as the Minister will know from my frequent
correspondence with the chief executive of His Majesty’s Prison
Service, many prisons either do not provide the facilities
required or actively hinder offenders in practising their
religion. HMP Full Sutton has been brought to my attention as one
such example. Given its importance, will the Minister assure me
that a full review of faith provision across the prison estate
will be conducted and guarantee that no one will be denied the
ability to freely practise their religion?
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his question. He is
absolutely right to highlight not only the right of people to
practise their religion, but the important role that that can
play for those individuals in coping with prison life,
rehabilitation and getting on the straight and narrow when they
come out. I am happy to engage with him directly on any specific
case that he wishes to bring up, and it is an issue that I am
happy to look at.
(Chelmsford) (Con)
I thank the Courts Minister for his recent letter on recruitment
and retention of legal advisers in Essex and the impact that that
is having on court listings. Although I know that he and I agree
about the independence of the judiciary regarding individual
cases, will he meet me to discuss what more might be done to fill
the vacancies for legal advisers in Essex?
I am always happy to meet my right hon. Friend.
Mr (East Londonderry)
(DUP)
The Secretary of State has alluded to the continuing reduction in
reoffending rates among those leaving prison. Does he agree that
central to maintaining confidence in the wider community is that
the reoffending rate goes down further still?
The hon. Gentleman makes a simple but incredibly important point.
We want to follow the evidence so that we protect the public. We
will do so, on the one hand, by locking up the most serious
offenders for longer and taking them out of circulation, and, on
the other, by cutting offending. Fewer crimes mean a better
protected public. That is the approach that we will take.
(Aylesbury) (Con)
Yesterday, I met former prisoner LJ Flanders who, while serving
his sentence, devised a fitness regime that can be conducted in a
cell with no special gym equipment. With the support of Bucks
Association for the Care of Offenders, he has just run a two-week
training programme in HMP Aylesbury to train other prisoners to
provide coaching and mentoring of a similar style. Will my right
hon. Friend please encourage everybody in His Majesty’s Prison
and Probation Service, particularly governors, to facilitate such
courses to reduce reoffending?
I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who knows about what he speaks.
I pay tribute to him for his work in the criminal justice system.
He highlights an example that sounds extremely interesting. I
would be happy to meet him to hear more about it and to see where
we can take things from there.
