Children Remanded in Custody Ms Marie Rimmer (St Helens South and
Whiston) (Lab) 1. What recent assessment he has made of the
potential implications for his policies of the number of children
being remanded to custody. (902785) The Lord Chancellor and
Secretary of State for Justice (Alex Chalk) Custody is reserved for
those convicted or accused of the most grave offences, and the
total number of children in detention has fallen by 82% since 2010.
Before a child...Request free trial
Children Remanded in Custody
Ms (St Helens South and Whiston)
(Lab)
1. What recent assessment he has made of the potential
implications for his policies of the number of children being
remanded to custody. (902785)
The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice ()
Custody is reserved for those convicted or accused of the most
grave offences, and the total number of children in detention has
fallen by 82% since 2010. Before a child can be remanded, the
court must be satisfied that it is very likely that the defendant
will receive a custodial sentence, and must have explicitly
considered and rejected the option of remanding him or her into
local authority care.
Ms Rimmer
Some 44% of places in youth custody are taken up by children and
young people on remand who do not go on to receive a custodial
sentence. Yet children held in young offenders institutions spend
most of their time locked up in their cells, amid high levels of
violence. Does the Minister think that that is the best place to
spend time during adolescence?
The hon. Lady makes an important and compassionate point. It is
absolutely right that we should invest in the estate, and I am
pleased that we are investing in a new secure school, which will
open soon. She makes an important point about the decision to
remand. Those decisions are made by independent judges—that is
correct—but I hope that she will join me in recognising that the
reduction in the overall number of children in custody by 82%
since 2010 is a positive thing. When I was prosecuting, young
people were going inside for being passengers in vehicles taken
without consent. Now, they are inside only for the most grave
offences.
(North Wiltshire) (Con)
Will the Lord Chancellor take into consideration one of the
recommendations of the Wade report on sentencing for murder? The
definition of “children” should be reconsidered. At the moment,
someone who is 16 or very often 17 might be tried when they are
18, but they are sentenced as if they are a child. Surely the
question should be the crime rather than the age.
We have altered the sentencing regime such that the courts can
take into account what can be quite significant gaps between the
sentencing regime that applies to a 17-year-old and that which
applies to an 18-year-old. The courts now have additional
discretion to ensure that if somebody is very close to their 18th
birthday, they can be treated as more mature, which can mean, in
appropriate cases, that the punishment will be more severe.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Minister.
(Lewisham East) (Lab)
Almost two thirds of children on remand in youth detention do not
go on to receive a custodial sentence, and 17% are acquitted,
meaning that they were freed from a criminal charge altogether.
It costs between £129,000 and £306,000 per year to keep just one
child on remand in youth custody. Does the Minister view that as
the best use of public money, or does he feel that it could be
managed in a more efficient and effective way with an alternative
remand provision?
In 2010, the total number of children in custody was over 3,000;
that figure is now around 500, so there has been a significant
reduction. The decision of whether to remand is a matter for the
judges. They can remand in custody only if there are substantial
grounds for believing that, if released on bail, the child will
commit further offences or indeed fail to surrender. We are also
investing millions of pounds in Greater Manchester, for example,
to see whether there are other options in remanding children into
local authority accommodation and not necessarily into
custody.
Public Confidence in Victim Support
(Gower) (Lab)
2. What steps his Department is taking to help ensure public
confidence in the support provided to victims throughout the
criminal justice process. (902786)
(Harrow West) (Lab/Co-op)
8. What steps his Department is taking to help ensure public
confidence in the support provided to victims throughout the
criminal justice process. (902794)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice ()
With the Victims and Prisoners Bill, we are putting the victims
code on a statutory footing. It includes a right for any victim
of crime to be signposted by the police to correct and
appropriate support services. We have quadrupled victims funding
since we took office in 2010 to over £150 million a year, and
have recruited almost 1,000 independent sexual violence advisers
and independent domestic violence advisers into the criminal
justice system. In addition, we provide a range of freephone
support lines, including a 24/7 hotline for rape.
Rapists, domestic abusers and stalkers cannot be convicted if
trials are not going ahead, and victims are dropping out after
being made to wait years for justice. Where is the Government's
plan to tackle the record court backlog, which is making victims
wait years for justice?
We are doing a huge amount to drive down the backlog, which was
principally a result of the pandemic. We have increased the fees
for both solicitors and barristers by 15%; we have kept open more
than 20 Nightingale courts; and we are doing everything within
our power to drive down waiting times.
Bearing in mind that Harrow Crown court is not set to reopen for
another year because of Ministers' failure to invest in its
repairs early enough, what confidence can victims of crime in
Harrow have that Ministers are going to get those who are accused
of those crimes to justice much more quickly than is currently
the case?
As the hon. Gentleman will know, the issue with Harrow Crown
court is that reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete was
discovered in that building. We are investing more than £220
million in the court estate, because we know how much it matters,
not just so that the courts are functioning, but so that the
buildings convey the right sense of dignity so that people
respect the process. Harrow is just one of 350 courts in England
and Wales.
Mr Speaker
I call the Chair of the Select Committee.
Sir (Bromley and Chislehurst)
(Con)
The Minister is right to recognise the work that is being done on
the victims code, and I appreciate the Government's taking on
board a number of the recommendations made by the Justice
Committee when we engaged in pre-legislative scrutiny of that
Bill.
The Minister will know, however, that there is a particular issue
with delays in cases of rape and serious sexual offences, where
cases are taken out of the list because prosecuting counsel are
not available—they simply cannot be found. She rightly referred
to the increase in fees for solicitors and defence counsel. Does
she agree that there is now just one piece of the jigsaw that
needs to be put in place: to bring the fees for prosecuting
counsel in those cases up to the same level as those for defence
counsel? That would take about £1.5 million. Will she sit down
with the Attorney General and talk with her about how we can do
that swiftly?
I can reassure my hon. and learned Friend, the Chair of the
Select Committee, that I spoke to the chair of the Bar Council
about exactly that issue last week, but I want to provide him
with further reassurance. First, there has been correspondence
between the Lord Chancellor and the senior presiding judge about
any case of rape that is more than two years old. That
correspondence is a couple of months old, and he said that all
cases would be listed by July this year—that applies to 181 cases
in England and Wales. I also want to draw my hon. and learned
Friend's attention to something I know he will be aware of: that
we have increased the fees for section 28 hearings, which take
place in an irregular sequence in the court listing, from £670 to
over £1,000.
Dame (Morley and Outwood)
(Con)
On Monday, The Daily Telegraph reported that civil servants are
trying to block an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill that
would legislate for the publication of an annual report on crime
stats by nationality. Does the Minister support the release of
such a report, and what does she think civil servants are worried
we will find out? It is time to publish a report and restore
trust among the general public.
I thank my hon. Friend for her question. I was not aware of that,
but I knew that an amendment had been suggested that was not
within the scope of the Bill. My hon. Friend's suggestion is a
sensible one; we already publish the number of foreign national
offenders in prison, but I understand the force of her question,
and I am happy to meet her to discuss it further.
(Poplar and Limehouse)
(Lab)
More than 60 lawyers, campaigners, politicians and academics have
written a letter in support of the anti-violence against women
and girls campaigner and barrister Dr Charlotte Proudman, who is
facing disciplinary action after challenging a judge for taking a
“boys' club attitude” in a ruling on a domestic abuse case. Does
the Minister agree that the racial, gender and class-based bias
of the justice system must be addressed and that it is right to
speak up against injustice? Will she join me in paying tribute to
those who are campaigning for a legal sector that genuinely
represents, empowers, and is accountable to the wider public?
I count myself as one of the people who campaigns on violence
against women, and there are many other right hon. and hon.
Members across this House who do the same thing. The hon. Lady
will understand, I hope, why I will not get involved in a
disciplinary matter concerning a particular barrister. I know
what it is said has been said, and it will be for the relevant
standards committee to decide whether or not the barrister is at
fault.
Sir (Hemel Hempstead) (Con)
The Minister may be aware that I used to be the victims Minister,
and when I was in that role, I tried to stand up for victims
whose loved ones had been killed by road traffic incidents. It is
fundamentally unfair that if someone is charged with death by
careless driving, as compared with death by dangerous driving,
the case is not appealable by the victim for leniency. Is that
something we are still looking at, as was the case when I was in
the Ministry?
I share my right hon. Friend's profound concern about death
caused by either dangerous or careless driving. As he knows, it
was the Conservative Government who created a criminal offence of
death by careless driving.
I will just make two points. First, on 28 June 2022, the maximum
penalty for the offence of death by dangerous driving was
increased to life—previously, it was 14 years. Secondly, we have
just agreed to extend the unduly lenient sentence scheme so that
the complainant will have 28 days to put in their appeal to the
Attorney General and the Solicitor General, who will have a
further 14 days to contact the court. We hope that that will
encourage more applications, and of course, we keep the category
of offences under careful review.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Minister.
(Cardiff West) (Lab)
Victims should have the right to know who this Government are
letting out of jail early. With today's news that, despite
Ministers' protestations to the contrary from the Dispatch Box,
high-risk offenders have been released early, why should the
public have any confidence that this is a Government who put
victims first?
I want to provide some reassurance to the shadow Minister. Under
our scheme, no sexual offender, no terrorist offender and nobody
who has been convicted of a serious violent crime or been
convicted for four years or more will be eligible for early
release. I would just remind him that the slight distinction
between our scheme and that conducted under the last Labour
Government between 2007 and 2010 is that we have a governor lock.
That means that the governor of any prison can prevent an
individual prisoner from being released early if they do not
think that it is suitable to do so, and that was not the case
under the last Labour Government.
Employment Tribunal Panels
(Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
(SNP)
3. What recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of
proposed reforms to employment tribunal panels.(902787)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice ()
The employment tribunal panel composition arrangements are now a
responsibility of the Senior President of Tribunals, and I
understand that he intends to publish the responses to the
consultation on proposed reforms shortly. He has a statutory duty
to consult my right hon. and learned Friend the Lord Chancellor
before making these arrangements, and my noble and learned Friend
the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice will be
meeting the Senior President of Tribunals—I think tomorrow—to
discuss his proposals as part of that duty.
The introduction of tribunal fees previously led to a 54% drop in
the number of cases going forward, and the scheme was deemed
unlawful by the Supreme Court, so it beggars belief that the
Government are looking at reintroducing tribunal fees, and giving
a green light to bad employers to exploit workers, who will be
deterred from coming forward. What does the Minister say to the
50 organisations, including the TUC, Citizens Advice, the Joseph
Rowntree Foundation and Liberty, that are calling on the
Government to reconsider the reintroduction of tribunal fees?
I thank the hon. Member for his question. Many of these issues
were raised when the statutory instrument passed through
Parliament. The Under-Secretary of State for Justice, my hon.
Friend the Member for Finchley and Golders Green (), who is the courts Minister,
has written to the Senior President of Tribunals to convey those
concerns, and I think that is in part why my noble and learned
Friend is meeting the Senior President of Tribunals tomorrow.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Minister.
(Stockton North) (Lab)
The wheels of justice certainly turn slowly under this
Government, and hundreds of thousands of people across the
country are paying the price in the Crown courts, the civil
courts, the family courts and tribunals. At the end of 2023, the
employment tribunal backlog stood at more than 460,000 cases.
Those are cases affecting workers who have been bullied, workers
who have been denied pay and workers who have been unfairly
dismissed. Does the Minister think that workers, like the
Government, should just give up on the justice system, roll over
and accept what employers do to them, or is there a new magic
formula to sort this out?
The one thing the hon. Gentleman did not of course mention was
the impact of the pandemic on the criminal justice system, and
indeed on the employment tribunal system. [Hon. Members: “Oh,
come on!”] Opposition Front Benchers do not like hearing it, but
they cannot deny the impact of shutting down the system, in
effect, for two years. We have massively increased the resources
available and we are working through the backlog, but that will
take time.
Mr Speaker
I call the SNP spokesperson.
(Glasgow South West)
(SNP)
On a similar point, in a cost of living crisis, workers are now
expected to pay to take their employer to an employment tribunal
in cases of wage theft, unpaid redundancy pay and compensation
for unfair dismissal. Quite frankly, it is outrageous that this
is being levied at a time of intense pressure on family budgets.
Do the Government not agree that access to justice must never be
contingent on one's ability to pay, and that these proposed
changes ought to be scrapped to promote greater fairness in the
system?
I thank the hon. Member for his question. We have introduced a
regional virtual court to safeguard access to justice, and we
will always make that available as far as it is possible to do
so. As I say, we are working through the backlog at pace.
Rwanda: Asylum and Immigration
(Glasgow Central)
(SNP)
4. If he will issue guidance to lawyers on the potential
implications for the criminal justice process of the Safety of
Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act 2024.(902788)
The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice ()
The hon. Lady asks about the implications for the criminal
justice system of the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration)
Act 2024. To be clear, that Act relates to immigration and
potentially administrative law. It does not substantially impact
on the criminal law, and accordingly no specific guidance is
required.
I thank the Secretary of State for that response. May I praise
the quick response from solicitors and the community in Glasgow
to Rwanda removals, very much in the spirit of the Glasgow Girls
and the Glasgow Grannies and Kenmure Street three years ago? Is
there a deliberate policy to remove people from Scotland to
England to prevent them from accessing legal aid, as they would
be able and fully entitled to do in Scotland? What guidance has
been issued to lawyers in this respect? Lastly, what right do MPs
have to intervene in cases of removal, because I have been told
that MPs have been asked for wet signatures from people who have
been taken to immigration removal centres in England.
There are several questions in there but the answer to the first
question is no, that is not correct. The point about legal advice
is very important: people should get legal advice so that they
can make their points. That is why we are investing heavily: when
the Illegal Migration Act 2023 comes into force there will be a
15% uplift; we have invested £1.5 million to reaccredit senior
caseworkers; and we are also paying for travel time. We recognise
that; the legislation is necessarily robust and we are also
ensuring people get the legal advice they need.
Mr Speaker
I call Scottish National party spokesperson.
(Glasgow South West)
(SNP)
I listened with great interest to that answer. My hon. Friends
the Members for Glasgow Central () and for Glasgow North
East () and I have constituents
who have been removed from Scotland to England and threatened
with deportation. Can the Secretary of State answer this
question: why are MPs being denied access to their constituents?
It seems outrageous. Does he not agree that this is unacceptable
and that lawyers and their elected representatives should not be
impeded by arbitrary barriers when accessing constituents who are
threatened with deportation?
I would be more than happy to discuss that point with the hon.
Gentleman. Of course MPs should have access in appropriate
circumstances, but the critical point is for individuals to get
legal support—I say that with no discourtesy to him as a
constituency MP. That legal support is important. As I have said,
when the IMA comes into effect we will increase funding by 15%,
pay for travel time and ensure the reaccreditation of senior
caseworkers. That is what individuals need: support through legal
advice, and that is what we are providing.
Parc Prison
(Newport East) (Lab)
5. What recent assessment he has made of the welfare of prisoners
at HMP Parc. (902789)
The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice ()
I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her question and also for her
typically measured and sensitive contribution to yesterday's
urgent question on this issue. Ensuring our prisons are safe and
secure for both staff and prisoners remains our top priority. His
Majesty's Prison and Probation Service has been working closely
with G4S, the operator of HMP Parc, to ensure the welfare of
prisoners, and I visited last month to see the work for myself. I
am particularly conscious of the importance of that in light of
the nine deaths in HMP Parc since March.
As the Minister mentioned, yesterday I had the opportunity to
raise in the House the very real concerns of parents with sons at
Parc, particularly in relation to drug use. When I contacted the
prison two months ago it replied that in the year to September
2023 there had shockingly been 1,600 incidents of self-harm in a
prison of 1,800 inmates. Does the Minister accept that parents
have been asking particularly for mental health support for years
and it has not been happening?
I am grateful to the hon. Lady again for her question. The
provision of mental health support is absolutely vital; it is
obviously something that needs to be done hand in hand and in
partnership with the local health board in Wales. We continue to
work closely with the health board both on the issue she has
raised and more broadly on the issues underpinning some of the
challenges faced in Parc.
(Chelmsford) (Con)
The Minister will be aware of the dire, indeed dangerous,
situation we faced at Chelmsford Prison three years ago, when the
prison was placed in special measures. He may have seen the
latest inspection report which praises the improvements,
especially in being a safer and more productive place and the
work done to take drugs and contraband out of the prison. I thank
the Justice Secretary personally for the focus he gave this issue
when he was prisons Minister, and congratulate the governor and
the staff. Does the Minister agree that the lessons from
Chelmsford could help other prisons such as Parc and that, with
the right approach, even the worst prison can be turned
around?
I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for her dexterity in asking
her question. She makes a very important point in paying tribute
to the work that has been done at Chelmsford prison by my right
hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State, working with the
team and all the staff there. I also note the close interest she
has taken and how much that means to the staff and the team at
her local prison. She rightly points out that there are
opportunities to learn lessons from that which may well benefit
prisons such as Parc.
Children and Young People: Reoffending
(Nottingham South)
(Lab)
6. What recent assessment he has made of the potential
implications for his policies of reoffending rates among children
and young people.(902790)
The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice ()
Over the 10 years to 2022, proven reoffending rates, cautions and
convictions for children and young people have fallen from 40.4%
to 32.2%. Although there has been a slight uptick over the past
year, the fact remains that reoffending by children and young
people has fallen significantly under this Government.
Last week I saw the powerful new play “Punch” by James Graham. I
cannot recommend it highly enough to all right hon. and hon.
Members, who are welcome to come to Nottingham Playhouse to see
it. It raises important questions about young men and their
offending behaviour and shines a light on the potential power of
restorative justice. What role does the Minister believe
restorative justice can and should play in tackling reoffending,
which, as he said, has risen for the first time in a decade among
adults and children?
I am grateful to the hon. Lady not just for her question, but for
her kind invitation to visit Nottingham Playhouse—it is just up
the road from my constituency in Leicestershire, so I might take
her up on that. In answer to her substantive question, although
decisions on restorative justice are a matter for judges—there
are relevant considerations to take into account—I see
restorative justice as one element of a package that can help to
reduce reoffending and get children and young people who commit
crime back on to the straight and narrow.
Prisons: Illegal Drugs
(Cynon Valley) (Lab)
7. What assessment he has made of the potential implications for
his policies of trends in the number of drugs found in prisons
over the last five years.(902793)
The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice ()
The Government take a zero-tolerance approach to drugs in prison,
as is reflected in our policy approach, which has seen £100
million-worth of investment into measures to tackle the smuggling
of contraband, including drugs, into prisons. In the year ending
March 2023, there were 19.7% fewer incidents where drugs were
found than in the year to March 2019, reversing that pre-pandemic
trend. There remains more to do, but it is important to note that
progress has been made.
The most recent report by HM inspectorate of prisons into HMP
Parc in 2022 found that almost half of prisoners had easy access
to drugs, and our current Welsh Affairs Committee inquiry into
prisons has received evidence regarding drug use, as well as the
fact that Parc is understaffed and staff are inexperienced. In
light of that evidence, and the recent deaths and surge in
recorded violence in Parc Prison, would the Minister welcome a
new inspection by the chief inspector? Given the £400 million
cost of the contract for G4S to run the prison, has he given
consideration to the Prison Service stepping in to manage it, as
it has done with Birmingham Prison?
The hon. Lady made a number of points. In terms of tackling
drugs, in Parc we have X-ray body scanners and the Rapiscan
system, and we have handheld devices being rolled out. In respect
of her two specific questions, any inspection is a matter for the
chief inspector of prisons. In terms of the overall performance
of Parc, it is important to remember that although there are
challenges, which were addressed in the urgent question
yesterday, Parc is rated as performing well and its contract is
performing well. In the 2022 inspection, it got one measure of
“good” and three of “reasonably good.” There is more to do, and
we will continue to work with the prison, but the contract
continues to perform well.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Minister.
(Brentford and Isleworth)
(Lab)
The Government boast, as they have done just now, about their
investment in new body scanners to detect drugs on everyone
entering a prison each day, yet a damning report in The Times
found that the body scanners at HMP Bedford were not even
staffed. What is the point in spending £100 million on scanners
if they are not even used?
Before turning to the substance of the hon. Lady's question, may
I take this opportunity to wish her a happy birthday? [Hon.
Members: “Hear, hear.”]
It is important to remember that this investment is across the
estate. I was in HMP Wandsworth yesterday seeing the work being
done there. In the context of Bedford, the body scanners were
used at appropriate times in an appropriate manner.
Custodial and Community Sentencing
(Gloucester) (Con)
9. If he will make a comparative assessment of the effectiveness
of short custodial sentences and sentences served in the
community.(902795)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice ()
Ministry of Justice reoffending statistics show that those
serving a sentence of six months or less have a 59% reoffending
rate. For offenders punished with suspended sentences or
community orders, the reoffending rate is 24%. The Department's
2019 analysis of a matched cohort of over 30,000 offenders showed
lower reoffending rates for those serving sentences in the
community when compared with immediate custody of less than 12
months, avoiding tens of thousands of potential crimes.
I agree with the that community payback
schemes are often far more appropriate than short-term custodial
sentences, particularly for women prisoners. If my hon. Friend
agrees with that, does he also agree that we could expand the
range of community payback activity to include, for example,
helping at good local charities such as the Nelson Trust and the
Family Haven, and, especially during this summer season of litter
picking across the country, keeping Britain tidy?
I thank my hon. Friend for that sensible question. I agree that
community payback offers offenders an opportunity to make visible
reparations to their local communities, with millions of hours
being delivered each year. As an example, this March, for the
great British spring clean, offenders spent thousands of hours
clearing litter across the country. We are trialling a new way to
deliver community payback through the rapid deployment pilot,
which was launched last year. Community payback teams are working
in partnership with local authorities to see incidents cleaned up
within 48 hours' notice, and we are now expanding that to all 12
probation regions.
(Strangford) (DUP)
Restorative justice in Northern Ireland has been an effective
method of ensuring that victims and perpetrators can at least
come together and perhaps try to find a solution. It is also a
way of ensuring lesser sentences. Has the Minister been able to
look at the community restorative justice that we have done in
Northern Ireland to ensure that those on the mainland who offend
can have a new life as well?
I personally have not, but I gather that Minister of Justice
officials are abreast of that. I would like to meet the hon.
Gentleman to hear more about that from him personally.
Prison Capacity
(Manchester, Withington)
(Lab)
10. What progress his Department has made on delivering 20,000
new prison places.(902796)
(Cheadle) (Con)
13. What steps he is taking to increase prison
capacity.(902799)
The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice ()
Thanks to funding from the Prime Minister when he was Chancellor,
we are delivering the largest prison building programme since the
Victorian era, with 10,000 additional places on track to be
delivered by the end of next year. To secure the pipeline of
further prisons, last October I announced an investment of £30
million to acquire land even further in advance to mitigate the
risk of planning delay. We are also delivering an additional 460
rapid deployment cells across the estate.
The National Audit Office warned the Government over four years
ago that prisons would run out of space by 2023. Of the promised
20,000 places, it has been revealed that only just over a quarter
have been delivered, so as a result we see the Government
spending £50 million renting out police cells, grim conditions in
overcrowded prisons and a chaotic early release scheme. Why have
the Government proved incapable of averting this crisis?
As a result of the record amount of investment in prisons, we
brought on HMP Fosse Way, and we have HMP Five Wells. I invite
the hon. Member to visit them, because these are excellent,
modern prisons with fantastic rehabilitative conditions,
providing an excellent opportunity to keep the public secure and
prisoners rehabilitated. We will also be rolling out HMP
Millsike. We have planning permission for HMP Gartree. We are
also rolling out houseblocks at Stocken, Rye Hill and Guys Marsh;
and there will be further ones at Gartree. This is a Government
who believe in building, and we are getting on with the job.
Managing prison capacity is in part about ensuring that we have
enough prison officers, but being a prison officer can be both
demanding and dangerous, with 70% of prisoners between the ages
of 25 and 49—at the peak of their physical fitness. My prison
officer constituent told me that, despite that, the officer
retirement age is 68, meaning that staff well into their 60s are
dealing with young and often aggressive people. While it is
important to retain experienced prison officers and recruit to
the service, what consideration has my right hon. and learned
Friend given to reducing the retirement age in line with
policing?
Prison officers are the absolute backbone of the system, and it
is absolutely right that we should recruit and retain. I am
pleased to say that in 2023 we recruited an additional 1,600
officers and, just as importantly, the resignation rate is coming
down, from 10.5% to 8.5%. That is really positive. On my hon.
Friend's point about retirement, it is worth knowing that the
employee contribution rate to pensions for prison officers is one
of the most competitive in the public sector. That is exactly as
it should be. On the specific point of retirement age, I will be
happy to discuss that with her further.
Non-disclosure Agreements
(Bath) (LD)
11. Whether he has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues
on the use of non-disclosure agreements in sexual assault,
harassment and misconduct cases.(902797)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice ()
It is important to flag at the outset that confidentiality
clauses are only ever used in the civil context, rather than the
criminal. With that in mind, we are tabling an amendment to the
Victims and Prisoners Bill to make any non-disclosure agreement
void if it purports to restrict the right of an individual to
report the same act to the police or to access any kind of
medical or therapeutic support—a move that has been welcomed by
many, including the Law Society and the Bar Council.
Thousands of people are silenced due to non-disclosure agreements
and gagging clauses in cases of alleged sexual violence, bullying
and harassment. The Legal Services Board has reported that
signatories of NDAs suffer devastating impacts due to fear of
retribution. Pregnant Then Screwed has said that an estimated
435,295 mothers have been gagged by an NDA or confidentiality
clause. The Bill tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Oxford
West and Abingdon () would end the misuse of NDAs
in the workplace. Why are the Government so hesitant about
supporting a statutory ban?
As someone who spent more than a decade practising as an
employment lawyer, I can tell the hon. Lady that there is a role
for the confidentiality clause in any kind of compromise
agreement when both sides resolve their dispute without going to
court, and without admission of liability or any finding of
liability on either side. We recognise that when they are used in
their most extreme form, particularly in the most high-profile
sexual harassment claims, victims have told us that they felt
they could not go to the police or access counselling. We have
righted that wrong. However, I will stand up for confidentiality
clauses, and I want to correct slightly the hon. Lady's point:
they are only really encountered where there is a dispute
concerning the Equality Act 2010. That needs to be immediately
contextualised—it applies only in employment, education and in
the provision of goods and services. We have taken the same step
in relation to students through the Higher Education (Freedom of
Speech) Act 2023.
Reoffending Rates
(Harrow East) (Con)
12. What steps he is taking to reduce reoffending.(902798)
The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice ()
Reducing reoffending is a core mission of these Ministers and
this Government. That is why we have prioritised accommodation
for prison leavers and why we have invested heavily in
employment, with prison employment leads and employment hubs in
every resettlement prison. Crucially, the plan is working: in the
two years to March 2023, the proportion of prison leavers in
employment six months post release more than doubled.
Clearly, providing safe and secure accommodation for ex-offenders
when they leave prison is the first and most important part of
getting them on the path to rebuilding their lives. What action
is my right hon. and learned Friend taking to ensure that that
happens, so that people are not tempted to reoffend?
No one in this House has done more than my hon. Friend to look
after the plight of people who are homeless or at risk of
homelessness. I am proud to say that the proportion of offenders
in homes for their first night post release is 86%. That is
because we have rolled out 12 weeks of guaranteed community
accommodation. I went to Luton and Dunstable and spoke to a
probation officer who had worked there for 30 years, and he said
that was the single most significant policy roll-out of his
entire career. It is critical to ensure that prisoners and
ex-offenders can be rehabilitated.
Mr (East Londonderry)
(DUP)
Does the Secretary of State agree that reoffending rates would
reduce further if we had a more concentrated attack on the
illicit substances that continue to go into prisons, as well as
the massive use of prescription drugs, which many people in
prisons tell me are causing problems for people close to
release?
The hon. Gentleman raises an excellent point, and he is right.
The reoffending rate is worth focusing on: in 2010 it was around
31%, and now it is 25%. The reason for that is a combination of
focusing on accommodation, as we have just discussed, and
employment so that people have a stake in society, as well as
tackling substance abuse. We are looking at technology with great
focus, to ensure that people can be treated for their substance
addition on the inside by the very clinicians who will treat them
on the outside. That continuity is vital to get them off drugs
and rehabilitate them.
Support for Jurors
(Somerton and Frome) (LD)
14. If he will make an assessment of the adequacy of support
available to jurors who have been adversely affected by sitting
on a jury.(902800)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice ()
Juries are a vital part of our criminal justice system, and jury
service is an important civic duty. We want to do everything we
can to help jurors feel supported as they undertake that
important role, which is why the Government have announced our
intention to test counselling sessions for jurors who suffer
mental and emotional strain following a trial. That pilot will
commence in 15 courts this summer.
Currently, jurors dealing with extremely violent crimes,
witnessing ever-increasingly sophisticated and graphic material,
often feel that they do not have sufficient aftercare to deal
with their experiences. They are advised to seek counselling only
with their GP or the Samaritans. What discussions has the
Minister had on increasing the amount of post-trial support for
jurors when they have faced potentially traumatic levels of
stress as a result of their experience?
I thank the hon. Lady for her question, which is extremely
relevant. As she can imagine, there have been extensive
discussions between the Department and the judiciary about this.
The senior presiding judge has approved the test sites for the
pilot that I have just discussed. Support of the type that we are
providing in the pilot has not been provided before, so the pilot
itself will inform an essential part of the judgment we make on
whether and how we can carry on.
Immigration: Legal Aid
(Coatbridge, Chryston and
Bellshill) (SNP)
15. What recent assessment his Department has made of the
adequacy of legal aid provision for immigration
cases.(902801)
The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice ()
Access to legal aid matters. We have taken action to broaden
access in immigration and asylum cases by: uplifting fees for
work done under the Illegal Migration Act 2023, when it
commences; providing up to £1.4 million this year for
accreditation and re-accreditation of senior caseworkers
conducting legal aid work; allowing detained duty advice scheme
providers to give guidance remotely, where appropriate; and
introducing payment for travel time between immigration removal
centres and detained duty advice scheme surgeries.
The Bar Council of England and Wales has submitted its grave
concerns to the Ministry of Justice's review of civil legal aid,
citing that it is
“not sustainable in its current form”
and that it has significant concern
“in relation to future availability of counsel”
in immigration and asylum cases. It also notes that in real terms
civil legal aid fees have now halved compared with what they were
28 years ago. What are the next steps to ensure the future of
legal aid in immigration cases, or is justice now for only the
wealthy?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising that important question.
We are broadening access to legal aid. The means test review,
when fully implemented, will put an additional £25 million into
legal aid and bring an additional £2 million into the scope of
legal aid. We are rolling out the housing loss prevention advice
service—that is another £10 million going in. There will be up to
£141 million going into legal aid. We are also rolling out the
review of civil legal aid, which will report later this year. We
will be issuing a Green Paper in July to look at what we need to
do to have a sustainable, resilient and well-resourced system,
because we want high-quality lawyers doing civil legal aid. That
is vital for the kind of country we want to be.
Court Case Backlogs
Mr (Orkney and Shetland)
(LD)
18. What recent assessment he has made of the potential
implications for his policies of the case backlog in the criminal
and civil courts.(902806)
The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice ()
We remain committed to reducing the outstanding case loads across
our courts in England and Wales. To enable the courts to get
through more cases, we have extended the use of 20 Nightingale
courtrooms this financial year, allocated £220 million for
essential modernisation and repair work of our court buildings up
to March next year, and funded unlimited sitting days, including
107,700 days during the most recent financial year, the highest
level since 2016.
Mr Carmichael
For anyone who has been a victim of crime, delays in getting
cases into court add massively to the stress and anxiety they
experience. What would the Secretary of State say to any Member
whose local magistrates court had 1,954 criminal cases waiting to
be heard at the end of December 2023? Would he say that a backlog
of that scale was acceptable?
The right hon. Gentleman raises an important point about
magistrates courts. It is true that case loads in magistrates
courts, which of course deal with over 90% of crimes—common
assault, criminal damage, non-residential burglary and so on—are
significantly lower than they were during the pandemic. The
particular pressure is in the Crown court. We made a decision of
principle during the white heat of covid not to get rid of jury
trials. Now, I know that in Scotland the SNP Government are a
little ambivalent about jury trials, but we think they are a very
important part of the rights of free-born Britons. We will hold
fast to them and we will put in resources: more Nightingale
courts; more judges, by raising the retirement age; and more
legal aid. We will invest in and recover the system while holding
fast to our principles.
(North West Cambridgeshire)
(Con)
When I was a Justice Minister, I introduced virtual hearings so
that cases could proceed much more effectively. Will the Lord
Chancellor kindly update the House on the progress of those
hearings?
I am delighted to hear from my right hon. Friend, who was such a
distinguished Minister in this Department. He did indeed
introduce virtual hearings in our courts, and time has proved how
prescient he was, because that was the right thing to do. I
welcome the recent decision by the Judicial Office to make remote
hearings the default arrangement for bail applications. In a
wider context, a private Member's Bill introduced by my hon.
Friend the Member for Warrington South (), which is currently making
its way through Parliament, will amend legislation so that
magistrates and judges in magistrates, county and family courts
will be able to hear cases remotely when that is appropriate.
Legal Aid
(Bedford) (Lab)
19. What progress he has made on implementing the recommendations
of the National Audit Office report on the Government's
management of legal aid. (902807)
The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice ()
The National Audit Office report on the management of legal aid
was a valuable piece of work, and we are considering its
conclusions carefully. The Government hugely value the work of
legal aid lawyers, which is why we commissioned a review of civil
legal aid to identify options for the delivery of a more
effective, efficient and sustainable system for legal aid
providers. A Green Paper containing policy options is planned for
July this year.
There are no providers of housing legal aid in the borough of
Bedford, and the number of people living within 10 km of a
provider of legal aid housing advice in England and Wales has
fallen from 73% to 64% in the last decade. Does the Secretary of
State agree that whatever legal redress is provided in the
Renters (Reform) and Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bills will be
meaningless if there is no legal aid system to enforce those
reforms?
I hope that the hon. Gentleman will welcome the £10 million that
is going to the Housing Loss Prevention Advisory Service, which
is a revolutionary step to ensure that those who are at risk of
eviction can access the legal aid they require in order to make
their case. I respectfully invite the hon. Gentleman to come and
see me so that I can discuss this with him further and he can be
a voice for his constituents, signposting them to the support
that is available, because it is important for them to be aware
of the support that the Government are providing.
Domestic Abuse
(Romsey and Southampton
North) (Con)
20. What steps he is taking to prevent domestic abuse
perpetrators from using the justice system to extend control over
victims. (902808)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice ()
The Government have taken significant steps to prevent domestic
abusers from using the justice system to extend control over
their victims. Section 65 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 prevents
them from cross-examining their victims and requires special
measures to be available in court, and we have also amended
prohibition orders under section 91(14) of the Children Act 1989,
which can bar any individual from making a further application to
court without permission when abusive partners are judged to be
bringing victims back to court without reasonable purpose.
My hon. Friend takes domestic abuse very seriously, but is she
aware that perpetrators all too frequently seek to use the civil
courts to perpetrate further abuse of their victims, often with
the support of legal aid and often using “experts” with no
relevant qualifications to make accusations of, for instance,
parental alienation or child grooming? Can she please reassure me
that the Government are taking this matter seriously, to ensure
that perpetrators do not continue to use our courts system to
retraumatise their victims?
My right hon. Friend asks an excellent question, but let me first
remind her that this is precisely the issue at which the section
91(14) prohibition orders are directed. Moreover, one of the
changes made under the Domestic Abuse Act gave the courts
themselves the power to make those orders of their own volition,
rather than waiting for an application from the victim.
As for the second part of my right hon. Friend's question, to the
extent that we are making changes to legal aid, all those changes
are in favour of the victim. We are removing illiquid and
contested assets from consideration of means, all protective
orders can be obtained without any assessment of means, and we
are undertaking a legal aid means test review to make the test
much more generous to victims.
My right hon. Friend's final point concerned the so-called
experts who give evidence on parental alienation. The Government
do not recognise the concept of parental alienation, and do not
believe that it is a syndrome capable of diagnosis. We have
responded to the Domestic Abuse Commissioner on this subject in
writing.
Topical Questions
Mr Virendra Sharma (Ealing, Southall) (Lab)
T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental
responsibilities.(902810)
The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice ()
Since the last session of Justice questions, I have met my G7
ministerial counterparts in Italy to discuss topics ranging from
preventing illegal migration to tackling organised crime.
Furthermore, we have announced a new offence—in which,
incidentally, my G7 colleagues were very interested—prohibiting
the creation of sexually explicit deepfakes, announced measures
to remove parental responsibility from those convicted of the
rape of a child, made progress with the Litigation Funding
Agreements (Enforceability) Bill in the House of Lords to support
access to justice for those such as the postmasters, and
introduced an amendment to the Victims and Prisoners Bill to
provide further protection for victims against unnecessary
disclosure of counselling notes.
I have also attended the “Unlocking Investment in Ukraine”
conference, which brought together Ukrainian lawyers and eminent
British jurists. We in this country understand the importance of
a strong legal sector to secure Ukraine's future. The British
people and this Parliament are determined to ensure that once it
has won the war, Ukraine wins the peace as well.
Mr Sharma
With more than 80,000 children caught up in private family law
proceedings, what is the Secretary of State doing to ensure that
the welfare of children is protected?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising private family law,
because all too often people raise the issue of crime, but family
matters too. I am really delighted that we have managed to secure
funding from the Treasury to roll out early legal advice in
private family law. Alongside the Pathfinder pilot scheme, it is
designed to make the process of dealing with private family
disputes more seamless and less painful, and ultimately ensure
that children are put first.
(Carshalton and Wallington)
(Con)
T4. People in Carshalton and Wallington, particularly women, are
being targeted in so-called “crash for cash” insurance scams.
Could my right hon. and learned Friend outline what support is
available to victims of this sort of crime?(902813)
If someone is the victim of a “crash for cash” scam, they are
likely to be the victim of an offence under the Fraud Act 2006
or, potentially, under the Road Traffic Act 1988. We have
quadrupled the funding for victims of crime, who are entitled
under the victims code to be kept updated about the crime, to be
notified about compensation and to be offered special measures if
the case gets to court. Regardless of whether someone is the
victim of “crash for cash”, theft or any other crime, the state
should be there to provide the support they need.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
(Birmingham, Ladywood)
(Lab)
This week the chief inspector of prisons found that, at HMP
Lewes, the Government's early release scheme is undermining
safety and risk management. In one case, a high-risk prisoner was
released early despite being a risk to children, having a history
of stalking and domestic abuse, and being subject to a
restraining order. Is this the Secretary of State's idea of
putting public safety first?
I read that report with care and will be looking very carefully
at that specific case. It is important to read precisely what the
chief inspector said. He said that that was an incident right at
the beginning of the process, and he expected that things would
bed down as we move on. The critical point is that under the
Government's scheme, if there is a concern about an individual
who is proposed to be eligible, the governor can impose a veto,
which gets the decision escalated to a panel. That is an
important safeguard, and it was not present under the Labour
scheme, as the hon. Lady well knows.
Report after report; failure after failure. At Parc Prison, nine
people have died in just two months. At Bedford, cells were
flooded with raw sewage. At Wandsworth, a suspected terrorist
escaped last year, the prison is still not secure and the
governor has resigned. She has taken responsibility. When will
the Secretary of State?
The hon. Lady is right to say there are prisons where the
standards are not where we want them to be. There are something
like 120 prisons in the estate, and we are the party that created
the urgent notification system so that these matters can be drawn
to the attention of the Government, but I will make the following
point. There are prisons that have failed in the past, and we
have turned them around. Take HMP Liverpool, which I went to. My
hon. and learned Friend the Member for Bromley and Chislehurst
(Sir ), who is Chair of the Justice
Committee, will remember that in 2017 there was a scathing report
about the prison, which has been turned around. It is safe,
decent and rehabilitative, and prisoners are doing excellent
work. Or take HMP Chelmsford, which had a UN and has been turned
around. We take this issue incredibly seriously, and we are the
party that is investing record amounts in our estate. In
government, Labour boasted that it would bring in three Titan
prisons, but it brought in one.
Mr Speaker
Order. Secretary of State, this is topicals. I have to get your
colleagues in, and I am sure you would not want them to miss
out.
(Chipping Barnet)
(Con)
T5. A number of my constituents in Chipping Barnet tell me that
they continue to have problems with delays in getting court
judgments implemented by bailiffs. Will the Secretary of State do
everything he can to tackle delays in the courts and bailiff
system, especially for possession proceedings, where there
continue to be real problems, causing delays and
costs?(902814)
I thank my right hon. Friend for that important point. Fewer than
1% of tenancies required court action in 2019, but for difficult
cases that do escalate to the courts, the Government recognise
the importance of making sure that the process is smooth and
efficient. Nearly 90% of county courts are currently listing
possession hearings within four to eight weeks after a claim is
received. On bailiff recruitment issues, we are running
recruitment campaigns and have reduced administrative burdens to
free up resources for bailiffs to focus on enforcement
activity.
(Luton South) (Lab)
T2. The Government's latest panic measures to deal with the
prison capacity crisis, including expanding the early release
scheme to 10 weeks, have simply fuelled the probation crisis
instead, with staff warning that many of these releases are
unsafe and result in recall in a matter of days. Can the Minister
confirm what specific extra resources he has recently put into
this struggling service, so that it can cope with the sharp rise
in probation workloads?(902811)
The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice ()
The hon. Lady is right to highlight the work of probation. I put
on record—as I know my shadow would and I know she would—our
gratitude to all those who work in our probation service. Over
the long term, since 2021 we have put an extra £155 million a
year into the probation service, and 4,000 more staff in
training. She will have also seen the recent announcement made by
my right hon. and learned Friend the Lord Chancellor in respect
of the probation reset to enable probation officers to focus
their time on where it makes the greatest difference and has the
greatest impact.
(Aylesbury) (Con)
T9. We know that our prisons are extremely full, for the entirely
understandable reasons that the Lord Chancellor has set out, but
that often means that they cannot do the job of rehabilitation
that we would all like them to. Will the Minister look again at
the proposals I put forward with the Centre for Social Justice
for a tough new sentence called the intensive control and
rehabilitation order, to be served in the community but under
strict conditions including GPS tags and compulsory courses to
reduce the likelihood of reoffending?(902818)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice ()
I can confirm to my hon. Friend that officials have reviewed and
considered ICROs, which involve the use of electronic monitoring,
curfew arrangements and rehabilitative requirements targeted
towards offenders who would otherwise be in custody. In June last
year, we began a pilot of a scheme similar to the one he
proposes, involving intense supervision courts, which divert
offenders with complex needs away from short custodial sentences
and provide them with wrap-around, multi-agency support to target
the root causes of their offending behaviour.
(Bradford South) (Lab)
T3. Today, at an event organised by my hon. Friend the Member for
Bradford East (), I am meeting my
constituents who were encouraged by the solicitors firm SSB Law
to pursue no win, no fee claims against defective cavity wall
insulation providers. SSB Law subsequently went into
administration, leaving my constituents with extortionate legal
costs from defendant lawyers. What steps is the Minister taking
to ensure that the Solicitors Regulation Authority has the
necessary powers to provide my constituents with the protection,
compensation and justice that they deserve?(902812)
I thank the hon. Lady for raising that important point on behalf
of her constituents, and I will write to her.
(North Wiltshire) (Con)
T10. It is now five years since my constituent, Ellie Gould, was
brutally murdered in her own home. Her assailant been given a
paltry 12-and-a-half-year sentence. Recently, a man who killed a
stranger in the street was given 25 years, but simultaneously, on
the same day, someone who cut his wife up into hundreds of pieces
and disposed of the parts in a river was given a sentence
starting at only 15 years. The Wade review recognised the
terrible disparity between domestic murders and non-domestic
murders, and called for that disparity to be corrected. Will the
Secretary of State now tell us when he is going to reply to the
Wade review? I hope that he will take due account of it and will
equal up the sentences so that people who are guilty of domestic
murders pay the same penalty as those who kill someone in the
street.(902819)
In response to the Wade review, we have increased sentences by
introducing statutory aggravating factors for murders that are
preceded by controlling or coercive behaviour, that involve
overkill or that are connected with the end of a relationship. We
have also consulted publicly on sentencing starting points for
murders preceded by controlling or coercive behaviour and for
murders committed with a knife or other weapon. The Government
are carefully considering the responses to the consultation and
will publish their response in due course.
(Bedford) (Lab)
T6. The urgent notification issued last week to Wandsworth Prison
raised the same issues found at HMP Bedford six months ago. Both
revealed a horror show of violence and overcrowding in filthy
environments, with horrendous levels of self-harm and drug
misuse. The staff try their best but lack experience. Does the
Minister accept that it is his Government's funding cuts and
policy failures that have delivered a broken justice system that
offers little hope of reform for prisoners or protection for
victims?(902815)
No, I do not accept the premise of the hon. Gentleman's question,
which may not surprise him. In respect of Bedford Prison, which
he and I have spoken about, we continue to put the investment
into both staff and the prison to make progress following that
urgent notification.
(Bishop Auckland)
(Con)
A constituent recently attended my surgery in Bishop Auckland to
disclose her serious concerns about poor communications from both
the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service and
the family court-appointed children's guardian in her case. This
is an extremely distressing time for her and her family, so good
communication is surely key. How can the Minister ensure that my
constituents will receive the support and advice they need in a
timely fashion?
I thank my hon. Friend for being so assiduous in raising this
important matter on behalf of her constituents. We are investing
heavily in the family system to deal with precisely these issues.
If something has gone wrong in that specific case, perhaps she
will be kind enough to come to see me so that we can discuss it
further.
(Enfield, Southgate)
(Lab)
T7. There are 2,796 prisoners with indeterminate sentences for
public protection languishing in our prisons, 705 of whom are 10
years over their original tariff and 112 of whom had a tariff of
less than two years and are now over tariff by 15 years or more.
The MOJ's refreshed IPP action plan clearly is not working, so
what does the Secretary of State plan to do to fix this dire
situation?(902816)
The total number of IPPs is slightly higher than that but,
looking into the data, the really significant factor is that,
whereas there were some 6,000 IPP prisoners in 2012, the number
who have not been released is down to around 1,200. Our action
plan tries to address that. Our reforms are designed to ensure
that, when IPP prisoners are released, they do not face a licence
period of 10 years, which can lead to them being recalled at any
time. Reducing it to three years is a humane and sensible way of
trying to erase this stain on the conscience of our justice
system.
Sir (Haltemprice and Howden)
(Con)
Yesterday, The New Yorker published a 13,000-word inquiry into
the Lucy Letby trial, which raised enormous concerns about both
the logic and the competence of the statistical evidence that was
a central part of the trial. The article was blocked from
publication on the UK internet, I understand because of a court
order. I am sure that court order was well intended, but it seems
to me that it is in defiance of open justice. Will the Lord
Chancellor look into this matter and report back to the
House?
I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for raising this. Court
orders must be obeyed, and a person can apply to the court for
them to be removed. That will need to take place in the normal
course of events.
On the Lucy Letby case, I simply make the point that juries'
verdicts must be respected. If there are grounds for an appeal,
that should take place in the normal way.
(Somerton and Frome) (LD)
T8. Taunton Deane magistrates court had 1,027 outstanding
criminal cases in the first quarter of 2023, and the Justice
Secretary's own constituency, as of the end of December, had
1,954. These delays are letting down victims, their families,
witnesses and defendants, while undermining public confidence in
the criminal justice system. How does he plan to tackle this
backlog? Will he provide those working tirelessly in our courts
with adequate support and resources to carry out their
duties?(902817)
We have increased capacity in the system. We have opened 20
Nightingale courts, including Cirencester Crown court in my
county of Gloucestershire. We have increased the number of judges
by 1,000. We have put up to £141 million into legal aid. We have
raised the retirement age. And we are ensuring there is support
for victims, including through independent sexual violence
advisers and independent domestic violence advisers, and by
introducing a rape support helpline, and so on. We are doing
everything we can to support victims, to increase capacity in the
system and to heal the damage caused by covid.
Mr Speaker
I call the Chair of the Justice Committee.
Sir (Bromley and Chislehurst)
(Con)
The Lord Chancellor will know that there is particular concern
about the growth of the remand population in our prisons, which
causes great disruption. He will also know that the senior
presiding judge and others are taking innovative measures to list
remand cases, but will the Lord Chancellor confirm that, to
support that, there will be no financial cap on sitting days in
the Crown courts?
As always, my hon. and learned Friend gets to the heart of the
matter. Before the pandemic, around 9,000 people were in custody
awaiting trial. The figure is now closer to 16,000, which plainly
has an impact. It is because we did not get rid of jury trials,
which was the right thing to do. I am grateful to the Lord Chief
Justice and the senior presiding judge for considering remote
hearings of bail applications, to ensure that more lawyers are
able to do the cases. Having enough practitioners, as well as
sitting days, is critical, and both will have my attention.
(Putney) (Lab)
Last week's letter to the Justice Secretary from the chief
inspector of prisons again highlighted the dreadful conditions in
Wandsworth Prison. Will the Secretary of State take urgent steps
to end the overcrowding?
The hon. Lady is right to raise this hard-hitting, searing
report. I was interested to note that, although there is a full
complement of officers, the prison simply is not delivering the
regime that it should. We absolutely accept that. Of course, the
high remand population is an issue at Wandsworth, but Cardiff and
Liverpool have achieved fantastic results. It can be turned
around, so we are responding rapidly. We have already invested
heavily, and £24 million has been spent. We have already deployed
extra staff at all grades, and we will be providing support. A
prison standards coaching team is offering face-to-face coaching
for band 3 officers, with further deployment shortly.
(North West Cambridgeshire)
(Con)
I appreciate that an inquiry is being conducted regarding the
Horizon scandal, but what is the Department doing to hold to
account those lawyers who prosecuted sub-postmasters despite the
evidence being to the contrary?
Anybody who appears in court, but particularly prosecutors, must
be mindful of their solemn and sacred duty to disclose material
to the defence that might reasonably be considered capable of
undermining the case for the prosecution—that is literally the
most important rule. If they failed in this case, I would expect
the appropriate authorities to take robust and prompt action.
Mr Speaker
For the final question, I call .
(Bradford East) (Lab)
Since I last raised this question with Ministers, it has now been
estimated that there are more than 10,000 victims of the SSB Law
scandal. As my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford South () said, we are hosting an
event later today to listen to those victims talk about the real
impact on their lives—I extend an invitation to the Minister.
Will he commit to my asks of real compensation and protection for
the victims of what is now a national scandal?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for that kind invitation. I will
consider it and respond in due course.
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