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Order, order. Questions to the Secretary of State for Justhce, Mr | :00:12. | :00:22. | |
Alistair Carmichael. Question number one, Mr Speaker. By making our | :00:23. | :00:32. | |
prisons places of rehabilit`tion, we hope to reduce reoffending `nd thus | :00:33. | :00:36. | |
in due course reduce the prhson population. The independent review | :00:37. | :00:45. | |
established by the Prison Rdform Trust and chaired by Lord Ldeming | :00:46. | :00:50. | |
bar matched up to one half of all young people in custody havd been in | :00:51. | :00:55. | |
care at some point in their life. What plans does the Secretary of | :00:56. | :00:58. | |
State have to reduce the nulber of looked after children in thd open -- | :00:59. | :01:05. | |
in custody? He makes a characteristically acute pohnt. | :01:06. | :01:10. | |
Those who find themselves in concert with the present institution are | :01:11. | :01:15. | |
often people that have been in care themselves. We want to enhance the | :01:16. | :01:23. | |
quality of social work and dnsure that young children are better cared | :01:24. | :01:28. | |
for. We have a responsibility in the Ministry of Justice and that is why | :01:29. | :01:30. | |
we will be publishing a conclusion of the review by Charlie Taxlor | :01:31. | :01:36. | |
which will say more about how we can help some of our most troubled young | :01:37. | :01:43. | |
people. In 2002, there were only 46 Polish people in our prisons and now | :01:44. | :01:48. | |
there are 983. There are 50 prisoners from Romania back then and | :01:49. | :01:54. | |
now there are 635. The same is true of many EU countries. If we want to | :01:55. | :01:58. | |
reduce the population, wouldn't it be a good idea to stop free movement | :01:59. | :02:03. | |
of people which has been frde movement of criminals into the UK so | :02:04. | :02:06. | |
we didn't have these crimin`ls coming into the UK in the fhrst | :02:07. | :02:12. | |
place that are then sent to prison? He makes a characteristically robust | :02:13. | :02:19. | |
point. I am speaking from the Government front bench and H remind | :02:20. | :02:24. | |
people that on June 23 therd will be an opportunity for people to cast | :02:25. | :02:27. | |
their vote and voices like those of my honourable friend will w`y with | :02:28. | :02:32. | |
them as they take the vote. As opposed to the chalet shrinking | :02:33. | :02:38. | |
violets, I presume that is what he had in mind. I was reading between | :02:39. | :02:47. | |
the lines. -- shy, shrinking violet. The prison transfer arrangelent | :02:48. | :02:50. | |
between EU countries has bedn painfully slow. Only 95 havd been | :02:51. | :02:55. | |
transferred. The derogation with Poland will end at the end of the | :02:56. | :02:59. | |
year. Has he begun the procdss at looking at what will happen when | :03:00. | :03:05. | |
that derogation ceases? Absolutely. The chairman of the select committee | :03:06. | :03:09. | |
is right to remind us that prison transfer agreements haven't always | :03:10. | :03:15. | |
worked as we envisaged. The prisons minister has been working closely | :03:16. | :03:20. | |
and there are 50 cases of Polish presidents -- prisoners that we wish | :03:21. | :03:26. | |
to extradite. While putting a figure on it may not be wise, would the | :03:27. | :03:33. | |
Lord Chancellor agreed that if his reform is successful, the conclusion | :03:34. | :03:37. | |
must be far more few in prison and better life chances? He is right. In | :03:38. | :03:45. | |
two respects, it would be wrong to have an arbitrary target but it is | :03:46. | :03:51. | |
our intention to ensure that not just our policies in terms of | :03:52. | :03:54. | |
rehabilitation in prisons btt the policies which were touched on by | :03:55. | :03:59. | |
the member for Shetland with regard to young people, if they worker may | :04:00. | :04:05. | |
bring a chances agenda, we should reduce offending and ensure our | :04:06. | :04:10. | |
society is fairer and more socially just. One-way to reduce the prison | :04:11. | :04:15. | |
population is to have a serhous review on short-term sentencing | :04:16. | :04:19. | |
which does nothing in terms of drug rehabilitation programmes or | :04:20. | :04:23. | |
education programmes for prhsoners being released and sends thdm back | :04:24. | :04:27. | |
into the system over and ovdr again. There is evidence that some short | :04:28. | :04:31. | |
sentences don't have the rehabilitation effect that we would | :04:32. | :04:36. | |
want. Anyone who is sent into custody by the Court and we respect | :04:37. | :04:40. | |
their right to decide on thd sentence appropriate, that `nyone | :04:41. | :04:44. | |
sent into custody received the funding so they stop refund -- | :04:45. | :04:52. | |
offending again. With your permission I will take this question | :04:53. | :04:58. | |
with questions eight, 11 and 17 We want prisons to be places of | :04:59. | :05:02. | |
rigorous education and high ambition and Dame Sally Coates' revidw was | :05:03. | :05:07. | |
published last month. Have `ccepted in principle all of the | :05:08. | :05:12. | |
recommendations made and we will be giving control of education budgets | :05:13. | :05:15. | |
to prison governors so they can choose their education provhder and | :05:16. | :05:19. | |
hold them to account for thd services they give. I would like to | :05:20. | :05:28. | |
ask, does he agree that since 9 % of criminals will eventually bd | :05:29. | :05:33. | |
released from prison, we can only cut crime and improve public safety | :05:34. | :05:39. | |
if we better rehabilitate prisoners in prison. She is right and I want | :05:40. | :05:45. | |
to have an unremitting emph`sis on rehabilitation. Reoffending has been | :05:46. | :05:49. | |
to Haifa too long. That is why we are investing ?1.3 billion over the | :05:50. | :05:54. | |
next five years to transforl the prison estate. -- reoffending has | :05:55. | :06:02. | |
been too high for too long. The review that he referred to was that | :06:03. | :06:07. | |
the employment prospects for those on short-term sentences are three | :06:08. | :06:10. | |
times worse for women and m`y offer man. One in ten women finding a job | :06:11. | :06:16. | |
on release stop what plans does he have to improve the prospects of | :06:17. | :06:25. | |
employment for women? She m`kes a characteristic and perceptive point. | :06:26. | :06:29. | |
A large part of the answer hs to encourage more employers to follow | :06:30. | :06:34. | |
the example of Max Spielman and Grexit you have set up acaddmies at | :06:35. | :06:42. | |
HMP's new Hall and Draco. They provide working prison and provide | :06:43. | :06:46. | |
ongoing support and if more employers did that with womdn in | :06:47. | :06:50. | |
mind, we would have more success in this area. Does he agree th`t it is | :06:51. | :06:55. | |
often those who struggled or dropped out of school ended up in the | :06:56. | :06:58. | |
criminal justice system who must and shall have the skills they need | :06:59. | :07:06. | |
whilst in our care and afterwards? My honourable friend is right. Given | :07:07. | :07:11. | |
prisoners a second chance to read, become more numerous and have the | :07:12. | :07:16. | |
skills to hold down a job is essential to rehabilitation. Can my | :07:17. | :07:19. | |
honourable friend told the House what plans they are to enhance the | :07:20. | :07:28. | |
educational programmes at prisons in my constituency? I can say to my | :07:29. | :07:31. | |
honourable friend that giving control of the education budget to | :07:32. | :07:38. | |
the governors of HMP Garth `nd holding them to account for the | :07:39. | :07:41. | |
outcomes as well as the introduction of personal learning plans `nd a | :07:42. | :07:45. | |
consistent digital format that follows the process around the | :07:46. | :07:50. | |
estate -- prisoner around the estate, will drive improvemdnt. Does | :07:51. | :07:54. | |
the minister and accept that while these plans are welcome, thdy will | :07:55. | :08:00. | |
not work without the right number of prison officers to ensure that | :08:01. | :08:04. | |
prisoners are out of their cells and have continuity of learning? Since | :08:05. | :08:11. | |
there are 7000 fewer prison officers than there were in 2010, how does he | :08:12. | :08:17. | |
expect to implement these plans without more recruitment? The | :08:18. | :08:22. | |
honourable lady is right to draw attention to the incredible work | :08:23. | :08:25. | |
that our prison officers do day in, day out. Since the 1st of J`nuary | :08:26. | :08:34. | |
2015, we have appointed 2830 additional prison officers. An | :08:35. | :08:39. | |
increase of 530. The vacancx rate is 2.5% whereas at the start of last | :08:40. | :08:44. | |
year, it was 5.2% and we will carry on recruiting at this rate. We | :08:45. | :08:53. | |
educate to rehabilitate and offer life approving and improving | :08:54. | :08:57. | |
opportunities for those who find themselves in prison. The Mhnister | :08:58. | :09:02. | |
has seized the information we have shared about the impediment the lack | :09:03. | :09:05. | |
of provision of insurance provides for employers who want to offer | :09:06. | :09:09. | |
opportunity when some are rdleased. Can the Minister update us on the | :09:10. | :09:13. | |
progress he has made in removing that barrier to progress? I'm | :09:14. | :09:19. | |
grateful for him to continud to raise this issue. I had a shocking | :09:20. | :09:24. | |
case drawn to my attention the other day of a family where the f`ther had | :09:25. | :09:31. | |
gone to prison because he w`s in prison. The household insur`nce have | :09:32. | :09:34. | |
been raised by hundreds of pounds even though the father was hn | :09:35. | :09:40. | |
prison. That put huge presstre on the family's budget and othdr issues | :09:41. | :09:46. | |
I continue to take up with the Association of British Insurers The | :09:47. | :09:51. | |
Chief Inspector's report into HMP warm earth -- into HMP Wormwood | :09:52. | :09:58. | |
Scrubs were making poor use of the education facilities. Have that | :09:59. | :10:05. | |
would -- how he say this is going on across the prison estate? Wd have | :10:06. | :10:08. | |
fewer have fewer and fewer restrictive regimes across the | :10:09. | :10:12. | |
estate. The whole thrust of what the secretary of state and I ard trying | :10:13. | :10:18. | |
to do, is to increase the thme out of cell and put education at the | :10:19. | :10:23. | |
heart of the whole prison rdgime. I watch prisoners to learn whdn they | :10:24. | :10:27. | |
go to the education classrooms and join their association periods and | :10:28. | :10:32. | |
in their cells, we have a whole prison learning experience. I praise | :10:33. | :10:35. | |
the Government for raising the profile of this issue. One of the | :10:36. | :10:41. | |
things which disrupts the education of prisoners is when prisondrs are | :10:42. | :10:45. | |
transferred. The records get lost and there can be dislocation. Can | :10:46. | :10:50. | |
the Minister outline what steps the Government proposes to take to | :10:51. | :10:53. | |
smooth the transition when ` prisoner transfers so he or she can | :10:54. | :10:55. | |
continue with their education? I thank you for that point. We're | :10:56. | :11:12. | |
bringing in a personal learning plan, and that will be brought in on | :11:13. | :11:17. | |
a consistent judo format, and that will followed prisoners as they move | :11:18. | :11:24. | |
around the prison estate. C`n my honourable friend agree that the | :11:25. | :11:33. | |
prison in Redditch will bendfit from the scheme? I very much word. That | :11:34. | :11:39. | |
is one of a number of the recommendations from the review by | :11:40. | :11:43. | |
Dame Sally Coates. We are looking actively to see how we can hmplement | :11:44. | :11:49. | |
her inspirational vision, which did so much to transform what h`s | :11:50. | :11:53. | |
happened in the teaching profession, for example. Could the Minister | :11:54. | :12:01. | |
confirm when he intends to leet the new Minister for Justice in Northern | :12:02. | :12:07. | |
Ireland to discuss the Open University's distance learnhng | :12:08. | :12:09. | |
programme, which is an important rehabilitation and educational tool | :12:10. | :12:14. | |
for prisoners and wider sochety in Northern Ireland? I think the | :12:15. | :12:19. | |
honourable lady for her question, and I know she takes an ongoing and | :12:20. | :12:24. | |
serious interest in these issues. The Secretary of State tells me he | :12:25. | :12:27. | |
has all dividend to the new Northern Ireland Justice Minister, and issued | :12:28. | :12:30. | |
an invitation to her and we will learn and cooperate as fullx as | :12:31. | :12:33. | |
possible with the prison service in Northern Ireland. The Government's | :12:34. | :12:49. | |
assistance paper was published on the 14th of April. The Secrdtary of | :12:50. | :12:56. | |
State wants to leave the European Union, and the Home Secretary wants | :12:57. | :13:05. | |
to leave the EC HR. Is it the message that the UK governmdnt was | :13:06. | :13:10. | |
to centre the rest of the world that they want no part in htman | :13:11. | :13:21. | |
rights policies? We have sahd that we cannot roll it out for forever | :13:22. | :13:24. | |
and a day, but it is not thd case that if we left the European Union | :13:25. | :13:27. | |
we would withdraw from other human rights treaties. Does the Mhnister | :13:28. | :13:33. | |
agree that if we stay in thd European Union, the real risk is | :13:34. | :13:38. | |
that rather than human rights policy being determined by this Hotse and | :13:39. | :13:42. | |
adjudicated on by British courts, it will be decided by the Brussels | :13:43. | :13:47. | |
bureaucrats and the European Court of justice, and before we know it | :13:48. | :13:50. | |
prisoners will be given the right to vote. My honourable friend lakes his | :13:51. | :13:56. | |
powerful point in an elegant way. I would just say that, for my part, | :13:57. | :14:04. | |
and it is true across the House there is recognition that some of | :14:05. | :14:06. | |
the laws that come out of the European Union, whatever side of the | :14:07. | :14:12. | |
debate you have been on, ard damaging to Civil Liberties. Whether | :14:13. | :14:17. | |
it is the right to be forgotten which has a muddling effect on free | :14:18. | :14:22. | |
speech. There are areas of concern, whatever side you are on in the | :14:23. | :14:29. | |
debate. Gender equality is recognised as a fundamental human | :14:30. | :14:33. | |
right aye the European Union, and a report from the TUC has identified | :14:34. | :14:38. | |
20 key areas in which Europdan union law has enhanced the rights of | :14:39. | :14:43. | |
working women, often in the face of opposition from Tory governlents. | :14:44. | :14:46. | |
How does the minister proposed to ensure that these hard-won | :14:47. | :14:48. | |
employment rights are protected in the event of a Brexit? I th`nk the | :14:49. | :14:56. | |
rubble and Leonard lady for her could be sure. The vast majority of | :14:57. | :15:00. | |
equal pay and woman's rights and work those rights had been brought | :15:01. | :15:05. | |
into place by this House, bty collected representatives | :15:06. | :15:07. | |
accountable to the British people. I'm surprised if she believds that | :15:08. | :15:11. | |
the human rights or the widdr rights of our citizens and her dechduous | :15:12. | :15:14. | |
are better protected at the European Union level, rather than by members | :15:15. | :15:24. | |
in this House. As the Minister knows, we did not get equal pay for | :15:25. | :15:33. | |
equal work or maternity rights until we had European directives. It was | :15:34. | :15:43. | |
said in 2011 that maternity leave should be abolished. Would the | :15:44. | :15:47. | |
minister wish to add his vohce to that particular pungent voice and, | :15:48. | :15:53. | |
if not, which employment rights with the abolish in the event of a | :15:54. | :16:01. | |
Brexit? I don't support abolishing maternity rights. Under the last | :16:02. | :16:04. | |
government, as a backbencher, when this point was raised, I was fully | :16:05. | :16:08. | |
in favour of transferable p`rental leave. I think she is mistaken. What | :16:09. | :16:14. | |
is most striking is the fact that the message sending to her | :16:15. | :16:17. | |
constituents and the wider citizens of this country, they should have no | :16:18. | :16:21. | |
faith in her ability to protect their rights. Mr Speaker, the | :16:22. | :16:27. | |
convention was agreed in thd 19 0s, Britain joined the European Union in | :16:28. | :16:32. | |
the 1970s, and the Human Rights Act was agreed in the 90s. Is it not | :16:33. | :16:36. | |
important that we revisit all of this, because rights were not | :16:37. | :16:42. | |
invented by pieces of paper, and Richard have a British Bill of | :16:43. | :16:44. | |
Rights? My honourable friend is right, she makes an important point | :16:45. | :16:49. | |
about the future of human rhghts laws in this country. The rdgime | :16:50. | :16:57. | |
that we have is based around our member ship of the European | :16:58. | :17:01. | |
convention, and it creates legal uncertainty is the Luxembourg court | :17:02. | :17:04. | |
starts to interfere and cre`tes risks and wide uncertainty `bout | :17:05. | :17:10. | |
which rules apply and how. The Minister may wish it was not the | :17:11. | :17:15. | |
case but the youth has provhded -- but the European Union has provided | :17:16. | :17:25. | |
benefits for working parents, with time to care for sick children. Does | :17:26. | :17:28. | |
he agree with the billionaire stockbroker who is funding the | :17:29. | :17:34. | |
Brexit campaign, who think we should leave the union because we will be | :17:35. | :17:37. | |
insecure again and if securhty is fantastic. It is burned and | :17:38. | :17:44. | |
lightning, but not budge cl`rity on the issue. The bottom line hs that | :17:45. | :17:46. | |
the honourable gentleman has got little faith in his side on the | :17:47. | :17:51. | |
Labour Party site, of fearsomely defending workers' right. Whatever | :17:52. | :17:57. | |
side yuan in this House, yot should want to uphold the right of this | :17:58. | :18:03. | |
House to make those finely balanced decision-making regulations, and | :18:04. | :18:07. | |
make sure they are tailored to the precise needs of this country, not | :18:08. | :18:10. | |
bureaucrats and other vested interests in Brussels. Four, sir. | :18:11. | :18:20. | |
102 business had been transferred from England and Wales under the | :18:21. | :18:25. | |
transfer agreement. -- 102 prisoners. 2967 were serving an | :18:26. | :18:39. | |
immediate stop your sentencd. The transfer prisoners from Scotland in | :18:40. | :18:42. | |
and Ireland is that a matter for the evolved authorities. I was dxcepting | :18:43. | :18:49. | |
a low number, but the number the EU transfer prisoners is pathetic. With | :18:50. | :19:00. | |
the number of nationalists being a high proportion, is it not `nother | :19:01. | :19:09. | |
example of them promising the Earth but delivering the square root of | :19:10. | :19:17. | |
naff all. The main mechanisl that we get foreign national offenddrs out | :19:18. | :19:20. | |
of our jails, which we are very keen to do, is the early removal system, | :19:21. | :19:30. | |
which transfers about 1800 ` year. The transfer agreement is in | :19:31. | :19:34. | |
addition to the early policd scheme. It may be help for to him if I give | :19:35. | :19:39. | |
him the figures. This transfer agreement was only incremented in | :19:40. | :19:47. | |
2013. We got 19 out in 2014. 29 out in 2016, due date, with roughly | :19:48. | :19:53. | |
similar numbers awaiting tr`nsfer. That is very helpful. | :19:54. | :20:00. | |
I wonder if the Minister cotld tell us whether the identity of these | :20:01. | :20:04. | |
prisoners who are returned to their countries of origin is registered | :20:05. | :20:08. | |
with the Borders and immigr`tion agency so that when a temporary | :20:09. | :20:11. | |
entry to the UK, they can bd identified. Even if they did, is it | :20:12. | :20:14. | |
right that we could not prevent every entry unless we were to leave | :20:15. | :20:23. | |
the European Union? If a prhsoner is deported, they are not allowed to | :20:24. | :20:26. | |
return to the United Kingdol during the period of their sentencd. | :20:27. | :20:38. | |
Is it not the case, as the former Chancellor and Justice Secrdtary the | :20:39. | :20:43. | |
mother for Rushcliffe put it, that if we left the European Union, we | :20:44. | :20:45. | |
would go back to a system of prisoner transfer where we had no | :20:46. | :20:50. | |
ability to deport anybody to their country of origin, unless wd could | :20:51. | :20:53. | |
persuade the Government of that country to accept them? Why would we | :20:54. | :21:00. | |
risk losing that progress? The honourable lady is right, in | :21:01. | :21:06. | |
that if this country leaves the European Union, we will losd the | :21:07. | :21:12. | |
compulsory prisoner transfer agreement that we currently have. | :21:13. | :21:18. | |
That will cause issues in tdrms of trying to return the current EU | :21:19. | :21:29. | |
prisoners within our prisons. Does the Minister agree with me that | :21:30. | :21:32. | |
rather than sniping from thd sidelines on these issues, we should | :21:33. | :21:36. | |
be playing our full part in coordinated international sdcurity | :21:37. | :21:39. | |
frameworks, like the prisondr transfer agreement, the European | :21:40. | :21:44. | |
Arrest Warrant, the body th`t leaves judicial cooperation between member | :21:45. | :21:52. | |
states, and the Schengen information programme. It helps protect us | :21:53. | :21:55. | |
against crime, terrorism and threats to our security. Yet more rdasons to | :21:56. | :22:03. | |
vote to remain on the 23rd of June. I don't know what the sourcd of | :22:04. | :22:07. | |
merriment is amongst the troika on the backbench, the honourable | :22:08. | :22:12. | |
members for Christchurch, Shipley and Bury North, but I don't know | :22:13. | :22:18. | |
whether some powder has been applied to them, but back to you, Mhnister. | :22:19. | :22:26. | |
Thank you, Mr Speaker. This government was to see as many | :22:27. | :22:29. | |
compulsory prisoner transfer agreement as possible because it is | :22:30. | :22:34. | |
hard work trying to transfer all for national is, of whatever | :22:35. | :22:38. | |
nationality, out of prisons in England and Wales. All comptlsory | :22:39. | :22:44. | |
transfer arrangements are useful, and we currently have them with all | :22:45. | :22:51. | |
members of the European Union, except for Ireland and... | :22:52. | :22:59. | |
The governors of these prisoners will have freedom to run thdir | :23:00. | :23:04. | |
presence, and find better w`ys to read the ability prisoners. -- their | :23:05. | :23:06. | |
prisons. How can we better transfer prisoners | :23:07. | :23:19. | |
to implement and housing? One of the things we can do is ensure that | :23:20. | :23:22. | |
prisons, whether reform prisons or others, have close and effective | :23:23. | :23:29. | |
working relationships in communities, which were instituted | :23:30. | :23:32. | |
by my predecessor, which ensure that all prisoners receive support on | :23:33. | :23:42. | |
release. Given the Justice Secretary has already announced the shx reform | :23:43. | :23:46. | |
prisons that are to be reform prisons, and given that he has not | :23:47. | :23:49. | |
yet and as the white paper or published the prisoner formdd Bill, | :23:50. | :23:53. | |
could you tell the House whdn he will do the latter because `t the | :23:54. | :23:58. | |
moment he is before the horse. - he's putting the cart beford the | :23:59. | :24:03. | |
horse. It is a board we givd risen is as much freedom as possible, and | :24:04. | :24:06. | |
they should be in place now in order to explore some of the additional | :24:07. | :24:11. | |
freedoms operationally without the need for legislation. We have to | :24:12. | :24:14. | |
publish a white paper in thd autumn, and hope you publish legisl`tion | :24:15. | :24:19. | |
alongside it. Would my bright honourable friend confirmed that the | :24:20. | :24:23. | |
additional funding allocated to reduce violence in prisons will be | :24:24. | :24:29. | |
given to governors to make sure to spend on a scheme that will have a | :24:30. | :24:34. | |
real impact? It absolutely well The effective team managing the scheme | :24:35. | :24:40. | |
have found an additional ?10 million in order to help mitigate the | :24:41. | :24:44. | |
effects of prisoner violencd and to reduce violence overall. Th`t will | :24:45. | :24:51. | |
go directly to the front line. Reforms should be to stop pregnant | :24:52. | :24:58. | |
women giving birth in prison. Could we look at a pilot study so the | :24:59. | :25:01. | |
women don't have to give birth in front of a unnamed guards? The | :25:02. | :25:09. | |
honourable lady makes an absolutely vital point. We are looking overall | :25:10. | :25:14. | |
at how the male offenders are treated. One thing we do nedd to do, | :25:15. | :25:20. | |
and in this is not of the universal view, but we have good think hard | :25:21. | :25:24. | |
about how we reduce the milk population in prison and trdat them | :25:25. | :25:30. | |
more sensitively. Would my bride honourable friend | :25:31. | :25:33. | |
agree that reform prisons are an important part of a broader package | :25:34. | :25:39. | |
of reform of penal, come and justice policy so that not only do we make | :25:40. | :25:45. | |
better use of the prisons btt make sure that we can reduce the total | :25:46. | :25:50. | |
numbers going there by findhng effective and successful me`ns of | :25:51. | :25:52. | |
dealing with offending in the committee? | :25:53. | :25:57. | |
He he is absolutely right. Hn the same way as the creation of the | :25:58. | :26:06. | |
trust, academy schools were not just the aspect of the reform of | :26:07. | :26:14. | |
education. It is part of a broader change to the criminal justhce | :26:15. | :26:19. | |
system and he is right to s`y that part of that is diverted and people | :26:20. | :26:25. | |
away from custody when you get. Will the Secretary of State when | :26:26. | :26:28. | |
developing the reform prisons take into account the experience Feltham | :26:29. | :26:34. | |
Young offenders unit which has become the first autism accredited | :26:35. | :26:38. | |
prison in this country? I ldd a group of cross-party all-party - I | :26:39. | :26:52. | |
led a group on this and helped in looking at this. Which reform prison | :26:53. | :26:58. | |
will work towards accreditation for autism and will eventually be able | :26:59. | :27:02. | |
to achieve that accreditation before they come into operation? Mx right | :27:03. | :27:09. | |
honourable friend has been ` fantastic campaign of indivhduals | :27:10. | :27:12. | |
living with autism and I will ensure that reform prisons and othdrs learn | :27:13. | :27:17. | |
from Feltham. A disproportionate number of people are in custody and | :27:18. | :27:22. | |
are living with a variety of mental health and other problems including | :27:23. | :27:24. | |
many of them being on the attistic spectrum. There are clear rtles in | :27:25. | :27:42. | |
place with regards to civil servants covered by the current guiddlines. I | :27:43. | :27:51. | |
am grateful for that reply but in March the Mail on Sunday uncovered | :27:52. | :27:57. | |
evidence of format EMRO J chvil servants boasting of their links to | :27:58. | :28:01. | |
Government while working for private firms in order to secure | :28:02. | :28:06. | |
multi-million pound contracts both here in Britain and abroad. -- | :28:07. | :28:13. | |
former Ministry of Justice. Will the Minister commit to the Housd to | :28:14. | :28:17. | |
publish in for any findings of that review? There was an investhgation | :28:18. | :28:26. | |
following those reports. No impropriety was found. I am happy | :28:27. | :28:30. | |
for the honourable gentleman to meet with officials. If I can publish, I | :28:31. | :28:36. | |
will. If I can't, I will explain why. Meetings will take place. From | :28:37. | :28:46. | |
later this month, Her Majesty's prison and young -- Her Majdsty s HM | :28:47. | :28:53. | |
Prison and Young Offenders Institution of Glen Parva whll use | :28:54. | :28:57. | |
the existing 's estate as effectively as possible. -- existing | :28:58. | :29:04. | |
estate. I thank my right honourable friend for that answer. Can he tell | :29:05. | :29:09. | |
me what their staff ratios currently offer young adults in Glen Parva and | :29:10. | :29:12. | |
what they will be expected to be once addled prisoners come hnto the | :29:13. | :29:19. | |
prison? If it doesn't have the answer, would he give me th`t answer | :29:20. | :29:27. | |
by letter by the end of next week? I am sorry to disappoint but H don't | :29:28. | :29:31. | |
have that information with le so if he will a skews me, I will write to | :29:32. | :29:36. | |
him with that information. ,- he will excuse me. One of the parts of | :29:37. | :29:45. | |
my job that most inspires md is meeting with businesses and trade | :29:46. | :29:49. | |
bodies to talk about the benefits of employing offenders on rele`se. | :29:50. | :29:53. | |
Following the Prime Minister's announcement of change to | :29:54. | :29:56. | |
recruitment practices for the civil service, I'm keen to encour`ge other | :29:57. | :30:00. | |
employers to ban the box whdn recruiting also. This fits ,- this | :30:01. | :30:10. | |
fits alongside our review. H thank the Minister for his answer. The | :30:11. | :30:15. | |
first Hampshire community company women's Centre opened in 2002 and | :30:16. | :30:19. | |
part of their work helps wolen offenders into employment. Will he | :30:20. | :30:23. | |
congratulate them for their work and also support the continued | :30:24. | :30:29. | |
employment of female workers in the area? I am pleased to do ex`ctly | :30:30. | :30:35. | |
that. For that excellent centre to succeed, we need far more elployers | :30:36. | :30:40. | |
to step up to the plate and make a commitment to training and hiring | :30:41. | :30:45. | |
ex-offenders. Is the Ministdr aware that there have been some excellent | :30:46. | :30:50. | |
examples of major companies taking on prisoners, training them while | :30:51. | :30:56. | |
they are still in prison? You have the wonderful programme in Redding | :30:57. | :31:01. | |
Jail and other partnerships that we are encouraging at the moment? I can | :31:02. | :31:08. | |
tell the honourable gentlem`n that I know he takes a serious intdrest in | :31:09. | :31:13. | |
these issues. I am going rotnd the country talking to employers, often | :31:14. | :31:18. | |
taking them into prisons. I am keen on the academy model where dmployers | :31:19. | :31:22. | |
come into prisons, train thdm there and the prisoners go out on day | :31:23. | :31:27. | |
release to work its billions in that business and as they leave the | :31:28. | :31:30. | |
prison gate, they do so with a contract of employment and can go | :31:31. | :31:34. | |
into work and it helps secure their accommodation and get their lives | :31:35. | :31:39. | |
back on an even keel. One of the problems faced by ex-offenddrs is | :31:40. | :31:42. | |
not having a secure home to go to once they are released from prison | :31:43. | :31:46. | |
and therefore they can't get a job. What further steps can my honourable | :31:47. | :31:50. | |
friend take to ensure they believe in prison are going to leavd to a | :31:51. | :31:55. | |
secure home where they can then seek proper employment? He is right to | :31:56. | :32:01. | |
draw the link between an -- accommodation and employment. If | :32:02. | :32:05. | |
more prisoners were to leavd prison being able to pay a deposit, a first | :32:06. | :32:13. | |
month's rent, that would help. If we can get more offers of employment to | :32:14. | :32:19. | |
prisoners, they will find it easier to get accommodation. Betwedn now | :32:20. | :32:27. | |
and 2020, the European Union is investing over 9 billion in the UK | :32:28. | :32:31. | |
on skills, training and support for those at risk of social exclusion. | :32:32. | :32:39. | |
One example is here in London at the Brixton prison bad boys bakdry | :32:40. | :32:42. | |
project which trains inmates to become beggars and find work when | :32:43. | :32:46. | |
they are released. Since thd Justice Secretary believes in giving inmates | :32:47. | :32:51. | |
a second chance and has talked about the importance of such scheles, | :32:52. | :32:55. | |
would he not use his loaf and encourage people to vote to remain | :32:56. | :33:04. | |
on June 23? I can say that H am a huge fan of schemes like thd bad | :33:05. | :33:08. | |
boys bakery which I have visited in Brixton. I can still remembdr the | :33:09. | :33:13. | |
smell of the delicious lemon cake wafting out when I went to visit. | :33:14. | :33:19. | |
More seriously, when we see the purpose of prisoners when they are | :33:20. | :33:23. | |
given a real opportunity to do working presence that offers the | :33:24. | :33:27. | |
prospects of a job on release, they do engage that is exactly what we | :33:28. | :33:32. | |
need to see a lot more of. Bad boy bakers felt privileged to bd visited | :33:33. | :33:43. | |
by the honourable gentleman. We will bring forward our proposals for a | :33:44. | :33:47. | |
British Bill of Rights to rdplace the Human Rights Act. We have made | :33:48. | :33:51. | |
progress on the develop of our plans with input from academics and many | :33:52. | :33:54. | |
others right across the UK. Our proposals will be given in due | :33:55. | :33:59. | |
course and we will consult fully on them. He says the plans will be | :34:00. | :34:05. | |
published in due course but plans to repeal the Human Rights Act were | :34:06. | :34:13. | |
considered in 2010 and 2015 and in the Queen's Speech in 2015 `nd 016. | :34:14. | :34:18. | |
Could the minister explain why his department has so far failed to | :34:19. | :34:22. | |
publish any proposals or begin a consultation on these plans? She is | :34:23. | :34:30. | |
eager to get involved in a debate on human rights have been disthnguished | :34:31. | :34:34. | |
people on her high -- side of the House by the way through to the | :34:35. | :34:38. | |
current Shadow Justice Secrdtary who talked about the defects in the | :34:39. | :34:42. | |
Human Rights Act. We intend to act on them and look forward to debating | :34:43. | :34:50. | |
this in due course. Improving safety is a top priority and the governing | :34:51. | :34:56. | |
-- the governor at HM Prison Lewes has put safety issues in pl`ce with | :34:57. | :35:02. | |
additional training to support vulnerable prisoners. A task force | :35:03. | :35:05. | |
has been created to support and challenge establishments with a high | :35:06. | :35:09. | |
rate of violence and an addhtional ?10 million has been allocated to | :35:10. | :35:12. | |
those prisoners facing the greatest safety challenges. I am surd the | :35:13. | :35:20. | |
Minister has seen the Indepdndent report which highlights significant | :35:21. | :35:24. | |
security issues not just for inmates but for prison officers as well | :35:25. | :35:28. | |
Will he give an assurance that he will look at the findings in that | :35:29. | :35:34. | |
report but also the recommendations? I can give absolutely that | :35:35. | :35:39. | |
assurance. I believe she is visiting the prison shortly and we whll learn | :35:40. | :35:44. | |
from every report there is currently stuck there is a probation ombudsman | :35:45. | :35:51. | |
repeat on a recent incident and we will learn from that and continue to | :35:52. | :35:56. | |
make improvements in this ilportant area. It is not just HM Prison Lewes | :35:57. | :36:03. | |
that has a problem with violence. Franklin prison has a prison and one | :36:04. | :36:10. | |
woman says she is dreading this time she gets a phone call to sax her son | :36:11. | :36:14. | |
has been murdered. What can be done for these prisoners who fear their | :36:15. | :36:21. | |
lives and for the anguish c`used to the families? The Secretary of State | :36:22. | :36:29. | |
has said very clearly that reducing violence in our prisons is ` top | :36:30. | :36:34. | |
operational priority. He has allocated an additional ?10 million | :36:35. | :36:37. | |
and a lot of the violence is caused by these terrible new psychoactive | :36:38. | :36:45. | |
substances coming into prisons. We have now made them illegal thanks to | :36:46. | :36:49. | |
the work of my right honour`ble friend through these psycho`ctive | :36:50. | :36:53. | |
substances act. That is a hdlp. Shortly we are rolling out world's | :36:54. | :36:58. | |
leading testing and that will also make a difference. There is a link | :36:59. | :37:12. | |
between violence and drugs. With permission I would like to take | :37:13. | :37:16. | |
question 30 and 15 together. The review will report in due course and | :37:17. | :37:20. | |
will assess how effective the introduction of employment Tribunal | :37:21. | :37:24. | |
fees has been in achievement of the original objectives. We still await | :37:25. | :37:32. | |
the official report but it hs obvious that tribunal fees have a | :37:33. | :37:37. | |
jet that have affected the number of cases and especially by womdn. In | :37:38. | :37:46. | |
2013 now 80,398. 2015, just 642 . Will the Minister elaborate on these | :37:47. | :37:50. | |
figures and also elaborate on the mass cases bought by men. Wdre they | :37:51. | :38:00. | |
from the private sector, whhte paper, blue collar or white collared | :38:01. | :38:08. | |
workers? I think I should s`y it is only fair and reasonable th`t those | :38:09. | :38:11. | |
using tribunal is make some contribution to the cost whdre they | :38:12. | :38:14. | |
are able to. It is not right that the whole bill which is arotnd 71 | :38:15. | :38:22. | |
million a year should be taken up by the tax payers. There is a system of | :38:23. | :38:26. | |
free remissions for protecthng vulnerable workers and we h`ve taken | :38:27. | :38:31. | |
steps to raise awareness of that scheme and have encouraged voluntary | :38:32. | :38:34. | |
reconciliation which is a good way to get disputes settled awax from | :38:35. | :38:37. | |
the costly environment in a court room. I received assurances from the | :38:38. | :38:44. | |
Government that the post-implementation of tribtnal fees | :38:45. | :38:48. | |
will be published last year. We now find ourselves six months bdyond | :38:49. | :38:52. | |
that deadline and we are sthll waiting. Evidence suggests that | :38:53. | :38:57. | |
tribunal fees act as a barrher to justice and of compounding pregnancy | :38:58. | :39:01. | |
and maternity discrimination. While we wait for this Government to get a | :39:02. | :39:06. | |
move on, women are discriminated daily. When will the Ministdr | :39:07. | :39:09. | |
finally published the post-implementation of revidw and | :39:10. | :39:15. | |
scrap tribunal fees completdly? She makes powerful points. We are going | :39:16. | :39:20. | |
to publish this shortly. It is right to point out that we are sedking to | :39:21. | :39:25. | |
divert people away from costly and acrimonious tribunal hearings. Fees | :39:26. | :39:34. | |
are part of that. Although reconciliation isn't compulsory | :39:35. | :39:38. | |
coming 75% of cases, parties agree to participate in it and thd | :39:39. | :39:43. | |
satisfaction levels are high. With the Minister agree that employment | :39:44. | :39:46. | |
tribunal fees have played an important part in reducing the | :39:47. | :39:52. | |
threat of litigation that h`ngs over businesses particularly small | :39:53. | :39:56. | |
businesses? These fees play an important part in the resurgence of | :39:57. | :40:03. | |
our economy and job creation. He has a lot of experience of this and he | :40:04. | :40:08. | |
is right to look at the jewdl impact this has an impact on small | :40:09. | :40:15. | |
businesses. At the same timd this isn't a binary gain. Early | :40:16. | :40:20. | |
conciliation is used by over 80 000 litigants in the first year and over | :40:21. | :40:24. | |
80% of those participating reporter back they were satisfied with the | :40:25. | :40:30. | |
outcome. I have met many constituents who say they whll not | :40:31. | :40:33. | |
pursue their cases to the tribunal because of the introduction of fees. | :40:34. | :40:40. | |
Doesn't it show that this acts as a deterrent? The honourable gdntleman | :40:41. | :40:43. | |
makes an important point but you have also got a factor in the | :40:44. | :40:47. | |
proportion of those that have been diverted into conciliation `nd often | :40:48. | :40:51. | |
for resolving disputes, a DS is going to be the best outcomd in | :40:52. | :40:55. | |
terms of resolving the disptte and the claimants who would othdrwise | :40:56. | :40:57. | |
struggle to pay the cost. Questionable 14, Mr Speaker. As I | :40:58. | :41:13. | |
have said, we are looking to report on this, and layered howl stccessful | :41:14. | :41:20. | |
it has been with all of these objectives. Does this mean the | :41:21. | :41:32. | |
Government has plans to repdal the Human Rights Act, has that been | :41:33. | :41:40. | |
shelved? We absolutely resolute about revising the Human Rights Act | :41:41. | :41:42. | |
with the British Bill of Rights We are working on those were bozos and | :41:43. | :41:48. | |
she will not have do wait long to engage the substance rather than the | :41:49. | :41:51. | |
scare stories in the media. Number 16. | :41:52. | :41:59. | |
Thank you, Mr Speaker. The Government is concerned abott the | :42:00. | :42:02. | |
number and cost of whiplash claims, in particular the impact on | :42:03. | :42:11. | |
insurance claims. The consultation will be accompanied by a further | :42:12. | :42:16. | |
impact assessment. How does the Minister responded to | :42:17. | :42:26. | |
my constituents you have -- who have concerns, that they will be unjust | :42:27. | :42:32. | |
and will not provide the robber compensation for those injured | :42:33. | :42:35. | |
through negligence? The Govdrnment's propose reforms will ensure that the | :42:36. | :42:41. | |
current cost of ?2 billion `nnually for whiplash claims should be | :42:42. | :42:46. | |
reduced to ?1 billion for the insurance industry. It will also | :42:47. | :42:49. | |
ensure that the average person's insurance premium should go down by | :42:50. | :42:57. | |
up to ?50. In the UK, 80% of road traffic | :42:58. | :43:01. | |
accidents generate the whiplash claim. In France, 3% of road traffic | :43:02. | :43:13. | |
accidents do that. Insurancd premiums in the UK are 52% higher, | :43:14. | :43:17. | |
meaning that many young people cannot afford insurance. I'l go full | :43:18. | :43:25. | |
to my honourable friend for making that point. He is right, it is | :43:26. | :43:29. | |
important to benefit all other constituents that we deal whth this, | :43:30. | :43:34. | |
and the way to deal with it is with the reforms that we are proposing, | :43:35. | :43:37. | |
for which there will be a consultation in the not too distant | :43:38. | :43:39. | |
future. That will ensure th`t premiums do go down. | :43:40. | :43:50. | |
I thank the rubble friend. -- my honourable friend. I | :43:51. | :43:59. | |
understand they have plans to approach the stalking guidelines | :44:00. | :44:02. | |
next year. The Justice Minister has re`d our | :44:03. | :44:17. | |
paper on the stalking laws. Mr Speaker, what does my rubbld friend | :44:18. | :44:21. | |
think can be done to assess the case for extending the maximum sdntence | :44:22. | :44:25. | |
for a few very dangerous st`lkers who severely damage the livds of | :44:26. | :44:29. | |
their victims? I thank my honourable friend. He made his point in a | :44:30. | :44:32. | |
lyrical way this morning. Hd knows we are looking at a range of issues, | :44:33. | :44:42. | |
to make sure we best protect the public. We had to bring it serious | :44:43. | :44:53. | |
consideration. Topical questions, Tom Elliott. Number one, Mr Speaker. | :44:54. | :45:01. | |
There were a number of disthnguished figures who were recognised in Her | :45:02. | :45:06. | |
Majesty's birthday honours list at the weekend. One I took ple`sure in | :45:07. | :45:10. | |
seeing recognise, L Wright Palmer, who is an ex-offender and now works | :45:11. | :45:18. | |
helping young people avoid crime and make constructive use of thdir | :45:19. | :45:25. | |
lives. -- Elroy Palmer. His testimony and experience and his | :45:26. | :45:29. | |
example show what can be achieved if an individual in custody decides to | :45:30. | :45:34. | |
change their lives. His lifd has changed for the better, Hadley has | :45:35. | :45:40. | |
changed -- and he has changdd other's lives for that well. | :45:41. | :45:50. | |
Could the minister in for md if there is any requirement of Her | :45:51. | :46:00. | |
Majesty's government under human rights if there is a further inquest | :46:01. | :46:07. | |
request by a family member of the deceased? | :46:08. | :46:16. | |
Can I thank hymn for his qudstion. This was an issue that was of | :46:17. | :46:20. | |
concern for him and many people in Northern Ireland. There must be an | :46:21. | :46:23. | |
inquest where there may havd been state involvement in the de`th of | :46:24. | :46:27. | |
any individual. In such casds, the coroner not only investigatds the | :46:28. | :46:34. | |
wire when, but also the of the death. There may be an enquhry | :46:35. | :46:40. | |
instead of an inquest if thd coroner's investigation cannot | :46:41. | :46:47. | |
ascertain all of these mattdrs. Roughly 20% of prisoners have spent | :46:48. | :46:53. | |
some time in care, and beathng some young care leavers in my | :46:54. | :46:59. | |
constituency, prison is seen as an attractive proposition becatse it | :47:00. | :47:02. | |
provides a roof over the he`d and a warm meal every day. What c`n we do | :47:03. | :47:05. | |
to make sure they have bettdr options than prison? I thank my | :47:06. | :47:11. | |
honourable friend for raising this important issue. I can tell her that | :47:12. | :47:20. | |
some of the recommendations will touch on the criminal justice | :47:21. | :47:24. | |
system. I can tell my honourable friend that the care and supervision | :47:25. | :47:29. | |
of young offenders in custody is not good enough, and that is whx the | :47:30. | :47:34. | |
Government has asked Charlid Taylor, a former Chief Executive of the | :47:35. | :47:38. | |
National college teaching and leadership to lead a review of the | :47:39. | :47:43. | |
whole youth justice system, and that final report will be out shortly. So | :47:44. | :47:48. | |
far today, we have asked thd Secretary of State about thd risk | :47:49. | :47:52. | |
Brexit poses to human rights, workers' rights, to the transfer | :47:53. | :47:57. | |
directive and even to his Prison Reform Trust. We have had no answer | :47:58. | :48:04. | |
from him on any of that. For those who want to protect your rights and | :48:05. | :48:15. | |
-- human rights, etc, should vote to remain. | :48:16. | :48:22. | |
It is not a view universallx shared by Labour voters. I respect the way | :48:23. | :48:28. | |
he put his case. Speaking on behalf of the Government, and the | :48:29. | :48:31. | |
Governor's position is clear on this matter. Some of us as ministers have | :48:32. | :48:35. | |
been given leave to depart from that position for is that I have done so | :48:36. | :48:40. | |
outside of this House, but H don't intent to dwell on the issud now. | :48:41. | :48:45. | |
Let me have one more try, bdcause the Justice Secretary is right to | :48:46. | :48:48. | |
recognise that human rights and MM shivered EU you are linked, -- our | :48:49. | :48:55. | |
membership of the EU are linked but we think that is a good thing. It | :48:56. | :49:00. | |
strengthens democracy and the role of Lott. His recipe for ble`k | :49:01. | :49:07. | |
isolationism has him much into the drum of Nigel Farage, Donald Trump | :49:08. | :49:16. | |
and so on. I understand why the honourable gentleman makes the case | :49:17. | :49:21. | |
in the way he does, and he does with weight force and fluency as he often | :49:22. | :49:24. | |
does. One thing I would say is that, whatever the decision of thd British | :49:25. | :49:29. | |
people, I have confidence in them to insure that workers' rights and | :49:30. | :49:33. | |
human rights, friendly corporation and the principles of decency and | :49:34. | :49:39. | |
fair treatment for all be preserved, come what may. I have ultim`te | :49:40. | :49:42. | |
confidence in the British pdople and in debt collector -- in thehr | :49:43. | :49:49. | |
elected representative is to protect decent values. I would not suggest | :49:50. | :49:54. | |
that anyone, whether advocating to remain or leave, as anything other | :49:55. | :50:05. | |
-- once anything other than to protect UN rights. | :50:06. | :50:14. | |
-- human rights. What services will be avail`ble for | :50:15. | :50:18. | |
people with mental health problem is in the justice system? | :50:19. | :50:22. | |
This is a serious point. He may know that mental health provision within | :50:23. | :50:27. | |
prisons is provided by NHS Dngland, and local health boards in Wales. It | :50:28. | :50:35. | |
is based on locally assessed need. We are keen to give governors | :50:36. | :50:40. | |
increased freedoms and flexhbilities to respond to the needs of their | :50:41. | :50:43. | |
populations, and we are acthvely talking to ministers in the | :50:44. | :50:51. | |
Department of Health on this issue. Could the prisons minister simply | :50:52. | :50:55. | |
confirm for me that despite his patients of recruitment, thdre are | :50:56. | :50:59. | |
still 7000 fewer prison offhcers in post today than there were hn May | :51:00. | :51:05. | |
2010? As a former distinguished prison | :51:06. | :51:12. | |
minister himself, I do not deny what he is saying. Since the 1st of | :51:13. | :51:18. | |
January 2015, we have appointed 2830 new prison officers, a net hncrease | :51:19. | :51:24. | |
of 530. That is since the start of last year. I would also point out | :51:25. | :51:31. | |
that in the average prison population in 2010... It has | :51:32. | :51:42. | |
remained reasonably stable over the last six years. | :51:43. | :51:50. | |
Hampshire's new lease and Crime Commissioner has put restor`tive | :51:51. | :51:56. | |
justice at the heart of this policy were to ensure that the concern | :51:57. | :52:04. | |
crime are not ignored. This is the first opportunity I've had to | :52:05. | :52:10. | |
congratulate Michael on his election. I was conscious | :52:11. | :52:15. | |
restorative justice was part of the campaign. It is an important part of | :52:16. | :52:23. | |
the support for victims, but we have to make sure that they want to be | :52:24. | :52:26. | |
part of that and it is not forced on them. Has the Minister got `ny plans | :52:27. | :52:46. | |
to fund eligibility in employment tribunal 's? | :52:47. | :52:51. | |
The review will be published shortly, and it is a fact that a lot | :52:52. | :52:57. | |
of people who would have prdviously gone to implement tribunal 's are | :52:58. | :53:01. | |
now going to be considered the siege, and we will certainlx be | :53:02. | :53:07. | |
making sure that they are covered in the review. | :53:08. | :53:14. | |
At justice questions in March, I raised concerns about the sxstematic | :53:15. | :53:20. | |
failure of the SRA in regards to a case in my constituency. In Mike | :53:21. | :53:23. | |
Spears in dealing with this case, it is clear that self-governing as are | :53:24. | :53:28. | |
a needs reforming to improvd accountability and confidence. We | :53:29. | :53:38. | |
need to work together to ensured the art funded properly and | :53:39. | :53:41. | |
independently. The solicitors regulatory atthority | :53:42. | :53:47. | |
is an independent body, and if she wishes to have a meeting, I am happy | :53:48. | :53:53. | |
to do so. I wonder if the Secretary of State | :53:54. | :53:59. | |
would be good enough to tell us in the wake of the atrocity in Orlando, | :54:00. | :54:04. | |
what steps he is taking to lonitor and address homophobic hate crime | :54:05. | :54:08. | |
against lesbian and gay people in this country? | :54:09. | :54:13. | |
I think the honourable jet `nd for his question. Everyone in this House | :54:14. | :54:19. | |
will have been utterly disgtsted by the atrocity perpetrated in Orlando. | :54:20. | :54:29. | |
The hate in that killer's hdart was the prejudice, a homophobic | :54:30. | :54:32. | |
prejudice which everyone in this House would want to denouncd. For | :54:33. | :54:37. | |
that reason, I think he is right to say that we need to be vigilant I | :54:38. | :54:41. | |
will pay tribute to everyond who attended the vigil last night to | :54:42. | :54:48. | |
show our solidarity with thd victims, and I will pay to be to the | :54:49. | :54:51. | |
Home Secretary, who has been leading work to insure that we can | :54:52. | :55:00. | |
anticipate threats to the LGBT unity here, and we need to keep pdople | :55:01. | :55:12. | |
say. It is a key part that people should be allowed to live and love | :55:13. | :55:20. | |
as they choose. As a house, we stand resolutely behind the vital | :55:21. | :55:24. | |
importance of recognising and celebrating difference in otr | :55:25. | :55:30. | |
society. Earlier this month, my right | :55:31. | :55:33. | |
honourable friend, the Lord Chancellor, expressed his | :55:34. | :55:36. | |
frustration at the inabilitx of that country to be able to prevent the | :55:37. | :55:40. | |
entry of foreign national criminals and even terror suspects into our | :55:41. | :55:44. | |
country. Can my right honourable friend tell the House how things | :55:45. | :55:48. | |
will change when we leave the European Union? I pick my honourable | :55:49. | :55:56. | |
friend. It is well-known th`t the present tests for denial of entry in | :55:57. | :56:01. | |
the EU is the must prove a genuine threat, that has created thd | :56:02. | :56:03. | |
faculties over the years. Last week the Public Accounts | :56:04. | :56:15. | |
Committee published a report and one of our conclusions was the criminal | :56:16. | :56:19. | |
justice system is not good dnough at supporting victims and witndsses. | :56:20. | :56:24. | |
Only 55% of victims would s`y they would go through the process again. | :56:25. | :56:29. | |
Does the Secretary of State agree with our conclusion? Yes, I do. It | :56:30. | :56:39. | |
has been the habit when gredted by the Public Accounts Committde, to | :56:40. | :56:46. | |
attempt to suggest this is `n exercise in... Well, there have been | :56:47. | :56:51. | |
criticisms in the past. This report is a welcome wake-up call. Ly | :56:52. | :56:55. | |
honourable friend will bring forward a green paper in how we can better | :56:56. | :57:00. | |
help victims and witnesses but there is so much that we need to do to | :57:01. | :57:09. | |
improve the system. Having `lso attended the APPG for autisl's visit | :57:10. | :57:13. | |
and have been inspired by what the governor and his team are doing can | :57:14. | :57:17. | |
I ask that prison's Minister if you cannot cut the bill to improve the | :57:18. | :57:22. | |
life chances of the 5% of the prison population you're estimated to | :57:23. | :57:30. | |
suffer with autism? He has shown a serious interest in this issue and I | :57:31. | :57:34. | |
was pleased he was able to go there yesterday. I am not sure whdther we | :57:35. | :57:38. | |
need to legislate. We need to spread the good practice across thd prison | :57:39. | :57:43. | |
system and I hope the reforl prison governors will be in the le`d in | :57:44. | :57:51. | |
doing that. On the 19th of @pril, the secretary said there is a | :57:52. | :57:57. | |
restraint to do the things he was elected to do. Providing it can only | :57:58. | :58:04. | |
be a good thing, what did hd have in mind? My view is any ministdr in | :58:05. | :58:17. | |
this house should be accountable to the people of this country further | :58:18. | :58:21. | |
decisions that they make and when we have a situation where the Duropean | :58:22. | :58:26. | |
Court of Justice can rule in a way in which there is no recourse or | :58:27. | :58:29. | |
appeal, then our democracy hs undermined by that. Our democracy is | :58:30. | :58:35. | |
pressure -- pressures and the European system is no friend of | :58:36. | :58:40. | |
that. Next week the Parliamdntary Assembly of the Council of Durope | :58:41. | :58:46. | |
will point a British judge to replace the judge on his retirement. | :58:47. | :58:51. | |
Is that now an appropriate loment for us to recognise and thank him | :58:52. | :59:03. | |
for the work he has taken ott? He makes a very important point. The | :59:04. | :59:07. | |
European Convention on Human Rights was offered in large part bx a | :59:08. | :59:12. | |
British lawyer, a former Lord Chancellor. The rights cont`ined in | :59:13. | :59:16. | |
that convention, whatever one thinks of the operations of the cotrt, the | :59:17. | :59:21. | |
rights contained very precious rights. Can I thank Judge M`honey | :59:22. | :59:26. | |
for his expanding work and know there are some lawyers who stand | :59:27. | :59:33. | |
ready to replace him and I `m sure the Council of Europe will give | :59:34. | :59:35. | |
careful thought to insuring we have the right candidate in placd to | :59:36. | :59:44. | |
emulate his work. Constituents including the families of D`vid | :59:45. | :59:51. | |
steel and Mr and Mrs Metcalfe were dismayed that there will be an | :59:52. | :59:55. | |
announcement on criminal drhving but that turned out not be the case | :59:56. | :59:59. | |
When he give an assurance that the review will happen quickly `nd we | :00:00. | :00:03. | |
will get changes to give better to victims of criminal driving? I know | :00:04. | :00:10. | |
the honourable gentleman takes a close interest. Everything we do on | :00:11. | :00:15. | |
sentencing is in need to drhve down reoffending. We will be looking at a | :00:16. | :00:19. | |
range of proposals with those twin objectives in mind. We are looking | :00:20. | :00:24. | |
at proposals around the potdntial for prisoners to earn their release | :00:25. | :00:31. | |
from custody and looking at driving offences and we welcome any ideas | :00:32. | :00:36. | |
along the way. The former Jtstice Secretary was warned legal `id cuts | :00:37. | :00:41. | |
to domestic violence victims were and I quote grossly unfair `nd | :00:42. | :00:45. | |
harsh. That is why the Court of Appeal shut them down. In rdsponse, | :00:46. | :00:50. | |
the Government decided to do a survey with the very limited time | :00:51. | :00:54. | |
frame for people to fill it in. Does the Government think that w`s a | :00:55. | :00:57. | |
reasonable way to take this situation seriously? Wouldn't it be | :00:58. | :01:06. | |
better to have a full and transparent consultation? I say very | :01:07. | :01:10. | |
gently she is completely misinformed and wrong. Following that court | :01:11. | :01:14. | |
judgment, what that Governmdnt had -- did was to increase the time | :01:15. | :01:18. | |
period from two years to five years and we have allowed financi`l abuse | :01:19. | :01:23. | |
to be taken into account. Wd are having those immediate changes to | :01:24. | :01:26. | |
the system and are engaging with the relevant stakeholders so we can | :01:27. | :01:30. | |
bring in a better system whhch will be satisfactory to all concdrned. | :01:31. | :01:40. | |
The Home Office has refused to disclose data on sexual violence | :01:41. | :01:45. | |
towards detainees at yours would immigration centre because the | :01:46. | :01:49. | |
information could damage thd commercial interests of the | :01:50. | :01:53. | |
companies that run the facility Can he give assurances that the Ministry | :01:54. | :01:57. | |
of Justice policy will not put profit before people in prisons like | :01:58. | :02:04. | |
this? The honourable lady is concerned about the fate of | :02:05. | :02:08. | |
detainees but the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office work | :02:09. | :02:12. | |
closely together to ensure that detainees are well looked after and | :02:13. | :02:16. | |
it is my understanding that the reporting in the press may have | :02:17. | :02:19. | |
inadvertently led to the honourable lady raising an issue which is not | :02:20. | :02:24. | |
strictly the case. I know I will be working with the Home Officd to | :02:25. | :02:31. | |
properly address the concerns. Urgent question, Mr Andy Burnham. To | :02:32. | :02:41. | |
ask the Home Secretary to m`ke a statement on the incidence of | :02:42. | :02:44. | |
violence in Marseille over the weekend involving England f`ns at | :02:45. | :02:54. | |
the Euro 2016 football tournament. As I told the House yesterd`y, the | :02:55. | :02:58. | |
trouble that occurred in Marseille involving England supporters was | :02:59. | :03:02. | |
deeply disturbing. I made it clear that coordinated groups of Russian | :03:03. | :03:05. | |
supporters were responsible for instigating a good deal of the worst | :03:06. | :03:10. | |
of islands. You wafer within the last hour has announced that Russia | :03:11. | :03:14. | |
is subject to a suspended disqualification from the | :03:15. | :03:16. | |
tournament. This Government's priority is to work with thd French | :03:17. | :03:20. | |
authorities to ensure the events of the weekend are not repeated. This | :03:21. | :03:24. | |
morning I updated Cabinet colleagues on the full range of measurds that | :03:25. | :03:27. | |
we are taking head of the m`tch between England and Wales on | :03:28. | :03:31. | |
Thursday. It had already | :03:32. | :03:33. |