Browse content similar to Live Justice Questions. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
Order, order. Questions to the Secretary of State for Justice. | :00:07. | :00:20. | |
Kevin Foster. Question number one. Mr Speaker, the court and Tribunal | :00:21. | :00:24. | |
service is evaluating all responses to the consultation and no decisions | :00:25. | :00:32. | |
have been made. Announcements on the future of Torquay Magistrates' Court | :00:33. | :00:35. | |
will be made in due course. I thank the Minister for his answer. At the | :00:36. | :00:42. | |
end of this month, a successful team at the building is due to be | :00:43. | :00:49. | |
evicted. Is this a sign that the decision has not yet taken and... ? | :00:50. | :01:03. | |
I'm grateful to clarify the issue. No decisions have been taken. The | :01:04. | :01:09. | |
arrangements for the turnaround integrated offender management team | :01:10. | :01:12. | |
using the building was always due to end of this month. Alternative | :01:13. | :01:18. | |
arrangements have been made for them to continue to provide valuable | :01:19. | :01:21. | |
services locally. Question number two. The Conservative election | :01:22. | :01:30. | |
manifesto included a commitment to introduce a new victims' law and | :01:31. | :01:36. | |
enshrined the rights of victims including the right to a personal | :01:37. | :01:42. | |
statement before prisoners are considered for release. I believe in | :01:43. | :01:45. | |
the importance of giving victims a voice. I thank him for the answer. | :01:46. | :01:54. | |
And Forbes, his son was murdered by five men in Corby in 1993, has this | :01:55. | :02:00. | |
year had to read out three of these victim statements. This has taken a | :02:01. | :02:05. | |
toll on her family and her health. Will he meet with us to discuss the | :02:06. | :02:09. | |
role of victim statements and how they can work better for victims and | :02:10. | :02:15. | |
their families? The whole idea of a victim statements is for the victims | :02:16. | :02:19. | |
to fuel that they are part of the process and not for it to be a | :02:20. | :02:25. | |
burden. I will meet with them to see how her experiences could improve | :02:26. | :02:32. | |
the situation. The average time taken from charging to Crown Court | :02:33. | :02:39. | |
trial is close to one year. That is lamentable for victims. What is the | :02:40. | :02:48. | |
justice in that -- what is the Justice Minister going to do? I | :02:49. | :02:55. | |
agree that this length of time should be improved and the whole | :02:56. | :02:58. | |
experience for victims must be improved. The Justice Secretary has | :02:59. | :03:05. | |
announced measures to increase the process and more will be coming | :03:06. | :03:11. | |
forward shortly. Victims always remain victims were as criminals | :03:12. | :03:15. | |
eventually served their sentence in full so will the Minister insurer, | :03:16. | :03:18. | |
especially in cases of violent crimes, parole is rarely given? This | :03:19. | :03:26. | |
is a matter for the Parole Board but my honourable friend is absolutely | :03:27. | :03:29. | |
right that victims are victims for life, which is why the support the | :03:30. | :03:36. | |
Government intends and continues to give to victims is important. One of | :03:37. | :03:46. | |
my constituents'. Was murdered and her body was never found. The | :03:47. | :03:54. | |
killer, whilst reviewing to review the whereabouts of her remains, is | :03:55. | :04:00. | |
being considered for parole. Can he ensure cases like these are never | :04:01. | :04:07. | |
released? I would like to meet the constituent is possible to make sure | :04:08. | :04:11. | |
we can help her and her family as much as possible, but it is | :04:12. | :04:16. | |
imperative that I think that where victims feel like they can and want | :04:17. | :04:24. | |
to, their statements are taken into account. When are the wider | :04:25. | :04:29. | |
community going to get a say on parole hearings? Violent crime might | :04:30. | :04:36. | |
affect a whole community. When will they get a say alongside presentence | :04:37. | :04:40. | |
reports so they are represented and their voices heard regarding the | :04:41. | :04:50. | |
impact violent crime has an people? He raises an important point. But we | :04:51. | :04:54. | |
must be careful that we do not take away from the individual victims | :04:55. | :04:58. | |
feeling they are part of the process which is something that everyone in | :04:59. | :05:02. | |
this House has been trying to do for years. We must also be careful we | :05:03. | :05:10. | |
did not create a vigilante situation. I understand his point | :05:11. | :05:16. | |
but we must make sure the criminal justice system works for every body. | :05:17. | :05:25. | |
Question number three. Crime is falling and the female prison | :05:26. | :05:28. | |
population is consistently under 4000 for the first time in ten | :05:29. | :05:34. | |
years. Last year over 70% of women successfully completed their | :05:35. | :05:37. | |
sentence in the community that we want to do more so in partnership | :05:38. | :05:40. | |
with the Government equalities office we are making a ?200,000 | :05:41. | :05:47. | |
grant available to support local areas and pilot multi-agency | :05:48. | :05:52. | |
approaches to female offending. It remains that across the UK the | :05:53. | :05:55. | |
number of women in prison has doubled since 2000. Many are mothers | :05:56. | :06:02. | |
serving six months or less for minor offences and this car as irreparable | :06:03. | :06:07. | |
damage to family life. Will the Minister follow the example of the | :06:08. | :06:11. | |
SNP Scottish Government on working harder to reduce the number of women | :06:12. | :06:16. | |
in prison and get community services were possible? -- sentences? This is | :06:17. | :06:25. | |
what these pilot schemes are about. Female offenders often have complex | :06:26. | :06:30. | |
needs, are more likely to self harm or be victims of abuse than male | :06:31. | :06:36. | |
counterparts. This pilot will help to divert women away from it pathway | :06:37. | :06:45. | |
into prison. These are schemes which recognise sending them to prison can | :06:46. | :06:48. | |
have a devastating effect on them and their dependents and children. | :06:49. | :06:53. | |
Will the Minister confirm that for every single category of offence, a | :06:54. | :06:58. | |
man is more likely to be sent to listen than a woman, for longer, and | :06:59. | :07:02. | |
will serve more of their sentence in prison than a woman? In this age of | :07:03. | :07:10. | |
gender equality that the Government believes in, what possible | :07:11. | :07:13. | |
justification can there be for further releasing women from prison | :07:14. | :07:17. | |
rather than men and what assessment as she made as to whether or not | :07:18. | :07:26. | |
that breaks discrimination law? I am happy to answer this. Obviously | :07:27. | :07:31. | |
sentences are on the individual offence and male offenders will come | :07:32. | :07:38. | |
to knew to be supported through existing processes to address their | :07:39. | :07:40. | |
needs but let's not forget our prison and privation service were | :07:41. | :07:50. | |
designed with men in mind because that is 95% of the people. What | :07:51. | :07:56. | |
levels of support are being considered for the dependents of | :07:57. | :08:00. | |
those women, many who are young children. An excellent point. In our | :08:01. | :08:11. | |
women's prisons we have made an effort to engage with families and | :08:12. | :08:19. | |
children. Some prisoners have the opportunity to hold overnight visits | :08:20. | :08:24. | |
with their children. These pilots are about recognising behaviour | :08:25. | :08:30. | |
early on so we can divert women and bring in local authorities to divert | :08:31. | :08:35. | |
women from ending up in prison. Question number four. The Government | :08:36. | :08:43. | |
is committed to the residence test and plans the next steps following | :08:44. | :08:48. | |
success in the Court of Appeal. Individuals should have a strong | :08:49. | :08:52. | |
connection to the UK to benefit from the legal aid scheme. The Minister | :08:53. | :08:56. | |
was forced to admit last year that there were no precise figures for | :08:57. | :09:03. | |
savings from this. It was also criticised by the joint committee on | :09:04. | :09:08. | |
human rights and is subject to further Supreme Court legal | :09:09. | :09:12. | |
scrutiny. Is it not time he gave up the ghost on this? Given the | :09:13. | :09:19. | |
judgment of the Court of Appeal when they sided with the Government, we | :09:20. | :09:23. | |
have no intention of giving up. People who seek to benefit from UK | :09:24. | :09:29. | |
taxpayers should show connections to the country and it is reasonable | :09:30. | :09:32. | |
that people should have a continues to month residency in the UK before | :09:33. | :09:38. | |
the benefit from tax payer money for legal aid. When the Minister | :09:39. | :09:44. | |
considers legal aid and potential for change, as he thought of the | :09:45. | :09:48. | |
disparity between one parent to abuses of legal aid to get an upper | :09:49. | :09:54. | |
hand in contact cases with their children, against another parent who | :09:55. | :10:01. | |
has to self finance? There are rules and regulations as to who qualifies | :10:02. | :10:06. | |
or not and I can't comment on individual cases but the legal aid | :10:07. | :10:10. | |
agency choice to make sure only those who qualify tried to make -- | :10:11. | :10:22. | |
get access. He criticised the two nation justice system but by | :10:23. | :10:26. | |
restricting legal aid according to residency time, it widens the gap | :10:27. | :10:32. | |
between those afforded access to justice and not. The residence test | :10:33. | :10:38. | |
would have denied justice to the family of John Charleston Jean | :10:39. | :10:58. | |
Charles De Menezes. It is right that British people in their millions say | :10:59. | :11:07. | |
they have some connection before they are given access. It has gone | :11:08. | :11:13. | |
to the processes and the Court of Appeal and if it goes further than | :11:14. | :11:17. | |
this government will object robust leader defend its on the residence | :11:18. | :11:18. | |
test. Question five. Thank you, Mr | :11:19. | :11:38. | |
Speaker. We will be reviewing the entire structure and purpose of the | :11:39. | :11:41. | |
orders handed down by the courts to offenders. Reviewing similar options | :11:42. | :11:50. | |
for further improvement. Objections have been raised, in light of those | :11:51. | :11:55. | |
concerns I decided to pause while the wider review is carried out. | :11:56. | :12:02. | |
May I take this opportunity to congratulate the secretary of state | :12:03. | :12:06. | |
for scrapping yet another proposal which was put forward by his | :12:07. | :12:10. | |
predecessor. May I remind him that his cheap weapon at the time did | :12:11. | :12:16. | |
vote for the policy? Individuals have incurred high levels of | :12:17. | :12:22. | |
personal debt because of this cost. Bearing that in mind, will be | :12:23. | :12:27. | |
secretary of state reveal and waive the outstanding payments which do | :12:28. | :12:32. | |
nothing but blight our finances and our justice system and place an | :12:33. | :12:36. | |
administrative cost on the taxpayer? I'm grateful for the kind words... | :12:37. | :12:43. | |
LAUGHTER While I was not an unprecedented | :12:44. | :12:49. | |
success as Chief Whip I did manage to vote with the Government for the | :12:50. | :12:52. | |
majority of time while I was in that post. | :12:53. | :12:57. | |
It is the case that people will pay penalties under this charge, that | :12:58. | :13:04. | |
will be the law until the 24th of December, after which people will | :13:05. | :13:06. | |
not be paying the criminal courts charge. | :13:07. | :13:10. | |
Members on both sides of this house will be pleased at the fixed charge | :13:11. | :13:13. | |
will no longer apply from this month. But does the secretary of | :13:14. | :13:18. | |
state agreed that it is right that criminals should contribute not only | :13:19. | :13:26. | |
towards supporting victims but also towards the costs? | :13:27. | :13:30. | |
My honourable friend makes an important point. One of the ways in | :13:31. | :13:34. | |
which we are reviewing the system is that there is a triple purpose. | :13:35. | :13:42. | |
Remedies need to be paid, those that cross the threshold of a lonely to | :13:43. | :13:48. | |
be punished, but there should also be a motion to the support of | :13:49. | :13:52. | |
victims. Until the 24th of December, | :13:53. | :13:57. | |
magistrates will be forced to impose watches now a discredited charge | :13:58. | :13:59. | |
which has caused many of them to resign. What finances will the | :14:00. | :14:07. | |
Secretary of State give to those people in the meantime? | :14:08. | :14:11. | |
It is my responsibility to uphold the rule of law. We will take steps | :14:12. | :14:17. | |
after the proper review of the criminal courts charge and after the | :14:18. | :14:21. | |
spending review to suspend the charge. 21 days after this statutory | :14:22. | :14:27. | |
instrument was laid, that is the 24th of December, then will be no | :14:28. | :14:34. | |
further imposition of the charge. Can I also welcome the Lord | :14:35. | :14:42. | |
Chancellor's fifth or sixth U-turn. Will he now clean up the mess he has | :14:43. | :14:47. | |
made rather than walking away from it? When will the Chancellor deal | :14:48. | :14:59. | |
with legislation was Mack? Will the Chancellor tell us the cost of this | :15:00. | :15:03. | |
debacle and how it adds to the 15 million he has already wasted on the | :15:04. | :15:07. | |
advertising and of the secure college? | :15:08. | :15:13. | |
That was something of a multifaceted question. I think we can rely on the | :15:14. | :15:17. | |
secretary of state to respond with his customary elegant simplicity. | :15:18. | :15:24. | |
Thank you, Mr Speaker. There was more questions in that particular | :15:25. | :15:28. | |
Sally then in a multiple-choice GCSE maths paper. I hesitate to say what | :15:29. | :15:37. | |
the mark would be. I suggest we move as expeditiously as possible to | :15:38. | :15:42. | |
suspend the charge, the advice of the legal department was that this | :15:43. | :15:45. | |
was the most effective way of relieving magistrates of the | :15:46. | :15:49. | |
obligation to impose it. Question six, Mr Speaker. | :15:50. | :15:57. | |
With permission, I wish to group this with numbers ten and 17 as | :15:58. | :16:02. | |
well. I'm delighted we have secured many millions of pounds of funding. | :16:03. | :16:10. | |
We have enacted a plan to reform our court system to deliver swift and | :16:11. | :16:14. | |
fairer justice to everyone in England and Wales at a lower cost. | :16:15. | :16:22. | |
Mr Speaker, my constituents face the close of their two local courts in | :16:23. | :16:28. | |
Pontypridd and Bridgend. Can I ask the Minister Howley responds to the | :16:29. | :16:35. | |
president of the Law Society when he responds when reductions in court | :16:36. | :16:41. | |
fees and legal aid, many of these closures will serve to deepen the | :16:42. | :16:48. | |
inequalities in the justice system. How does you respond to that? | :16:49. | :16:52. | |
What I would say to the honourable gentleman is that it is important | :16:53. | :16:56. | |
that we recognise in the 21st-century that of the justice | :16:57. | :17:02. | |
buildings we have, one third are used less than 50%. Many of these | :17:03. | :17:07. | |
buildings are not fit for purpose. They are listed, they are not in | :17:08. | :17:12. | |
compliance with equalities legislation, the cost of running | :17:13. | :17:16. | |
them is phenomenal. We need to make sure we have a reformed and | :17:17. | :17:19. | |
up-to-date modern court system which will, I can assure you, provide | :17:20. | :17:27. | |
access to justice for all. I thank the Minister for that | :17:28. | :17:30. | |
answer. Does he agree with me that it is high time in the 21st-century | :17:31. | :17:37. | |
that we update our outdated court practices, particularly in regard to | :17:38. | :17:41. | |
those with the way those with learning disabilities are treated? | :17:42. | :17:49. | |
Absolutely. Can I just say to my honourable friend that as a | :17:50. | :17:52. | |
consequence of the ?700 million investment that we received in the | :17:53. | :17:57. | |
spending review, we have a once in a generation opportunity to create and | :17:58. | :18:00. | |
what, user focused Courts Tribunals Service. The form of this | :18:01. | :18:09. | |
service is crucial to provide better access for all, critically those | :18:10. | :18:13. | |
with learning difficulties. We want to make sure everyone has access to | :18:14. | :18:17. | |
all the facilities that are public facilities offer. | :18:18. | :18:26. | |
As part of the Government's operation Cheltenham and Gloucester | :18:27. | :18:29. | |
Magistrates' Courts can expect to receive cases from across the | :18:30. | :18:35. | |
region. What steps will be taken to make sure this Court has the | :18:36. | :18:39. | |
staffing resources they need? It is already the case that all | :18:40. | :18:45. | |
Magistrates' Court work in Gloucestershire is heard at this | :18:46. | :18:51. | |
Court. Should more work be moved into Cheltenham following the | :18:52. | :18:55. | |
outcome of the consultation, then the Courts Tribunals Service will | :18:56. | :18:58. | |
continue to assess the resources available at the court to make sure | :18:59. | :19:04. | |
the meat operational requirements. I should emphasise that no decisions | :19:05. | :19:11. | |
had been made for this Court as yet. My constituents in Stockport would | :19:12. | :19:14. | |
probably understand where the Minister is coming from. Where they | :19:15. | :19:21. | |
are Court has knocked down for closure. It is one of the busiest in | :19:22. | :19:25. | |
Greater Manchester, refurbished as recently as 2010, and it has | :19:26. | :19:29. | |
specialist facilities for witness support and protection. Isn't this a | :19:30. | :19:34. | |
short-sighted moved by the Ministry of Justice? Will he now save | :19:35. | :19:41. | |
Stockport courthouse? There is a think short-sighted about | :19:42. | :19:45. | |
is to make sure that people such as is to make sure that people such as | :19:46. | :19:48. | |
the honourable gentleman and his constituents can have their say and | :19:49. | :19:54. | |
make a contribution, and try to persuade us that, perhaps after all | :19:55. | :19:57. | |
things are being considered, the court should be retained. As I said, | :19:58. | :20:01. | |
no decisions have been made so far, we are very careful and considering | :20:02. | :20:07. | |
also missions that are made. I listen to stories MPs and | :20:08. | :20:14. | |
ministers -- Tory MPs and ministers talking about localism. How can this | :20:15. | :20:19. | |
be a form of localism when people, in order to get justice, are having | :20:20. | :20:25. | |
to travel 50 and 60 miles instead of going to the local courts? It | :20:26. | :20:32. | |
nothing but hypocrisy. Mr Speaker, I have utmost respect | :20:33. | :20:37. | |
for the honourable gentleman. May I just gently bring him into the | :20:38. | :20:40. | |
21st-century, which he may not be familiar with, on the basis that | :20:41. | :20:47. | |
with modern technology, such as video conferencing, telephone | :20:48. | :20:50. | |
facilities, people will actually be able to have access to justice | :20:51. | :20:55. | |
without having to go to court. Having access to justice doesn't | :20:56. | :20:58. | |
simply mean attending a court and the physical building that it | :20:59. | :21:04. | |
represents. I fully realise the rationale for | :21:05. | :21:08. | |
court modernisation which will help create a more streamlined and | :21:09. | :21:11. | |
responsive justice system, whilst also generating substantial savings | :21:12. | :21:15. | |
to the taxpayer. I'm grateful to the Minster for a meeting with me to | :21:16. | :21:19. | |
discuss the proposed closure of Stockport court. Can he provide any | :21:20. | :21:29. | |
update on this Court's situation, and can he confirm that any | :21:30. | :21:33. | |
considerations which may make the court Bible had been considered? | :21:34. | :21:40. | |
In this proposed closure of 91 courts I have tried to make myself | :21:41. | :21:44. | |
available to as many colleagues are possible. As far as I'm aware I have | :21:45. | :21:48. | |
met with every single person has wanted a meeting. As virus this | :21:49. | :21:51. | |
proposal is concerned, I'm seriously considering them. -- as far as these | :21:52. | :21:59. | |
proposals. With permission, Mr Speaker I want | :22:00. | :22:07. | |
to groupies with questions 12 and 13. | :22:08. | :22:13. | |
It is designed to make it easier to get prisoners learning and working. | :22:14. | :22:20. | |
At the employers Forum for reducing reoffending I have works to increase | :22:21. | :22:30. | |
opportunities. A telecom firm in Pendle are working | :22:31. | :22:37. | |
to increase unemployment opportunities. Will my honourable | :22:38. | :22:43. | |
colleague Johnny and welcoming this work to rehabilitate offenders and | :22:44. | :22:46. | |
region just into society? I'll heartedly join the honourable | :22:47. | :22:55. | |
member. As many as 90% of companies have expressed an interest in | :22:56. | :23:00. | |
employing ex-offenders. I hope the example of the employer in this | :23:01. | :23:08. | |
constituency will inspire others. With my right honourable friend | :23:09. | :23:12. | |
agree with me that it makes moral sense to give these people who wish | :23:13. | :23:16. | |
to turn their lives around an opportunity? Does he is agree with | :23:17. | :23:20. | |
me that it makes sound business sense that these people are often | :23:21. | :23:29. | |
hard-working, very loyal employees? My honourable friend makes a very | :23:30. | :23:33. | |
powerful point. It is both economically sensible to make sure | :23:34. | :23:37. | |
that ex-offenders are in work. Something like 22% of those in | :23:38. | :23:41. | |
receipt of out of work benefits are ex-offenders. It also makes moral | :23:42. | :23:45. | |
sense to give people dignity and a chance to redeem themselves. | :23:46. | :23:51. | |
My right honourable friend will be aware of my interest in the Cascade | :23:52. | :23:58. | |
foundation who do amazing work in rehabilitating them -- ex-offenders | :23:59. | :24:05. | |
with learning difficulties. I wonder if you might meet with me to explore | :24:06. | :24:11. | |
ways they may further improve? I would be delighted to meet the | :24:12. | :24:19. | |
honourable lady and her constituent. There are many outstanding firms | :24:20. | :24:26. | |
which are doing more and more to employ offenders, but we do need to | :24:27. | :24:30. | |
reduce the bureaucratic burden standing in their way. | :24:31. | :24:34. | |
When I was part of the justice Select Committee earlier in the | :24:35. | :24:40. | |
summer I visited Holloway prison. There was a licence scheme allowing | :24:41. | :24:46. | |
women to carry out jobs. Well that worked out extremely well and | :24:47. | :24:50. | |
Holloway, what can this secretary of state do to make sure this is | :24:51. | :24:54. | |
consistently good across all the women's prisons in the UK? | :24:55. | :25:01. | |
It is not just women's prisons, I would like to see this expanded | :25:02. | :25:05. | |
across the whole prison estate. We need to make sure there is a | :25:06. | :25:10. | |
appropriate assessment of the risk protest in releasing prisoners in | :25:11. | :25:21. | |
this way. -- risk posed. Can I take the Secretary of State | :25:22. | :25:26. | |
not to forget the past and ask him to look to the experience of a | :25:27. | :25:36. | |
cluster of companies working in Reading prison - which I believe is | :25:37. | :25:42. | |
due to close - the employment rate was a great success, let's make sure | :25:43. | :25:44. | |
that model is not forgotten. In my open... Own constituency, we | :25:45. | :26:00. | |
worked with offenders to work again. What specific measures are | :26:01. | :26:08. | |
being put in place to reduce the bureaucracy that companies have too | :26:09. | :26:12. | |
overcome in order to employ offenders? The first thing we must | :26:13. | :26:19. | |
do is give governors a greater sense of freedom to invite employers in | :26:20. | :26:24. | |
and ensure they can make use of prisoners while they are still on | :26:25. | :26:27. | |
the prison estate and employ them through the gate and the specific | :26:28. | :26:32. | |
reforms we hope to bring forward will give more of that freedom and | :26:33. | :26:38. | |
flexibility. Does he agree that key to improving employment in prisons | :26:39. | :26:42. | |
is giving more power to governors and control over what goes on in | :26:43. | :26:48. | |
prisons and giving them in Camden ability -- accountability and | :26:49. | :26:50. | |
control to make sure the quality is appropriate. Many members will be | :26:51. | :27:00. | |
aware of a restaurant social enterprise. It has expanded and Parc | :27:01. | :27:10. | |
prison is also part of the initiative, because of great | :27:11. | :27:12. | |
governor 's leading institutions, which we can learn from. Question | :27:13. | :27:22. | |
number eight. The Government is determined to help all offenders | :27:23. | :27:27. | |
including ex-Armed Forces personnel in the criminal justice system to | :27:28. | :27:29. | |
turn their lives around away from crime. I was surprised when I took | :27:30. | :27:37. | |
over as the veterans Minister that we do not ask prisoners if they have | :27:38. | :27:43. | |
served in the forces and we are now doing that. The vast majority of | :27:44. | :27:50. | |
military personnel successfully transition back into civilian life | :27:51. | :27:55. | |
however veterans represent the largest single cohort in our | :27:56. | :28:01. | |
prisons. Will he join me in praising the excellent work of care after | :28:02. | :28:06. | |
combat, whose project Phoenix aims to reduce reoffending rates by | :28:07. | :28:12. | |
mentoring veterans in prison and upon release? We should praise the | :28:13. | :28:21. | |
entire voluntary sector which help, particularly with veterans. Project | :28:22. | :28:31. | |
Phoenix, which was started by care after combat seems to be very | :28:32. | :28:37. | |
successful. They were successful in getting ?1 million from the libel or | :28:38. | :28:52. | |
fund -- Libor fund. Can we help with reducing reoffending rather than | :28:53. | :28:58. | |
dealing with it in prison, by identifying the causes? It is a good | :28:59. | :29:09. | |
and important point. I served in the armed forces and I left early and | :29:10. | :29:14. | |
the support was minimal. We must support them because they have | :29:15. | :29:23. | |
fighting for us. A similar sort of question but will the Secretary of | :29:24. | :29:27. | |
State work with this victory as it for defence and the MOD to review | :29:28. | :29:30. | |
the transition process so we understand why so many are going | :29:31. | :29:37. | |
into prison? One of the reasons this government brought in the military | :29:38. | :29:41. | |
covenant act was exactly this sort of situation and I have the honour | :29:42. | :29:49. | |
of sitting on that committee sought these discussions take place | :29:50. | :30:01. | |
regularly. Number nine. We are interest in using sports -based | :30:02. | :30:08. | |
initiatives. We have part funded initiative called the national | :30:09. | :30:12. | |
alliance of support for the assistance of crime which will | :30:13. | :30:16. | |
provide evidence for whether and how sport may assist. The often troubled | :30:17. | :30:23. | |
people who fall prey to extremist ideology, instead of having their | :30:24. | :30:27. | |
anger on strike directed elsewhere, are to be pitied. Is the Minister to | :30:28. | :30:38. | |
be aware of the success of boxing in rehabilitation and will he look at | :30:39. | :30:41. | |
piloting noncontact boxing schemes in more prisons and for more | :30:42. | :30:49. | |
categories of fender? I thank her for question and she has been | :30:50. | :30:52. | |
persistent on this issue and she is right there is promising evidence | :30:53. | :30:57. | |
for the positive influence of sport in rehabilitation. Across the UK we | :30:58. | :31:07. | |
have 183 programmes, although not in all reasons. I will be very happy to | :31:08. | :31:13. | |
meet with my honourable friend to speak further about these | :31:14. | :31:20. | |
initiatives. I am not convinced that teaching potential jihadists table | :31:21. | :31:28. | |
tennis or boxing will form part of anti-radicalisation programmes. But | :31:29. | :31:40. | |
an officer should monitor radicalisation. We will proceed | :31:41. | :31:48. | |
according to the evidence of what we find for the initiative we have just | :31:49. | :31:53. | |
launched. He will know the Secretary of State has launched an independent | :31:54. | :31:57. | |
review of extremism across the prison estate. I met with the former | :31:58. | :32:02. | |
governor who was conducting that review yesterday and we will report | :32:03. | :32:12. | |
in due course. I'm afraid there is a widening chasm between what the | :32:13. | :32:15. | |
Secretary of State and the Minister says about what is happening in | :32:16. | :32:21. | |
prisons, and the reality. I do not doubt that he is sincere in his | :32:22. | :32:26. | |
belief that improvements are happening but when in most prisons | :32:27. | :32:31. | |
exercise in the fresh air that the honourable lady wishes to see is | :32:32. | :32:36. | |
limited to half an hour and purposeful activity outcomes are at | :32:37. | :32:40. | |
the lowest level inspectors ever recorded, due to understaffing, how | :32:41. | :32:46. | |
can he suggest there is anything other than a crisis in prisons? What | :32:47. | :32:58. | |
I can say to that is that we have been successful in getting more | :32:59. | :33:02. | |
prison officers onto the landings in the country. A net increase in 540 | :33:03. | :33:12. | |
prison officers which means less restricted regimes, more activities, | :33:13. | :33:16. | |
and we will carry on recruiting at that number to the end of March next | :33:17. | :33:24. | |
year when we seek an additional 1700 to 2000 officers. The Government | :33:25. | :33:32. | |
believes it is a modern for children and young people to have access to | :33:33. | :33:35. | |
justice and that is why we made sure legal aid funding is available for | :33:36. | :33:39. | |
the highest priority cases, including many related to children. | :33:40. | :33:47. | |
It is said many children are relying more on the advice and support of | :33:48. | :33:54. | |
their security guard them legal term. What steps are being taken to | :33:55. | :34:07. | |
help children? We are closely impacting any changes. We have this | :34:08. | :34:15. | |
constantly under review and would be concerned if vulnerable children | :34:16. | :34:17. | |
were not getting the help they needed. Number 14, please. In the | :34:18. | :34:25. | |
past five years we have taken action to put country's finances back on | :34:26. | :34:31. | |
track, while rejecting legal aid for those who need it most. It remains a | :34:32. | :34:35. | |
vital part of the justice system and we should make sure it is | :34:36. | :34:39. | |
sustainable and fair for those who need it. I am pleased the recent | :34:40. | :34:47. | |
spending review led to no further reductions in criminal legal aid. I | :34:48. | :34:53. | |
thank him for the response. All victims of domestic violence must be | :34:54. | :34:59. | |
fully supported. Does the Minister agree that it is vital we continue | :35:00. | :35:05. | |
to maintain full access to justice for victims of domestic violence all | :35:06. | :35:11. | |
the way through the legal system? Yes, I agree. We have made sure that | :35:12. | :35:19. | |
legal aid remains available for victims of domestic violence who | :35:20. | :35:24. | |
need it. We have made recent changes to make it easier to obtain legal | :35:25. | :35:29. | |
aid when domestic violence is a factor and once it is granted no | :35:30. | :35:33. | |
further applications need to be made for the duration of the case. | :35:34. | :35:39. | |
Chester is a centre for the legal industry and I am told numerous | :35:40. | :35:43. | |
criminal legal aid solicitors have been forced out of business or to | :35:44. | :35:47. | |
amalgamate with large firms and barristers are being forced to | :35:48. | :35:54. | |
subsidise the access to justice of legal cases because they are not | :35:55. | :35:57. | |
being paid enough through the current legal aid system. Will the | :35:58. | :36:02. | |
Minister review changes to legal aid and deal with it by reversing these | :36:03. | :36:13. | |
disastrous changes? We have a legal aid budget of 1.6 billion pounds, | :36:14. | :36:21. | |
one of the largest in the world. In terms of other common law due | :36:22. | :36:25. | |
restrictions like Australia, Northern Ireland, Canada, we have | :36:26. | :36:28. | |
double the expenditure per inhabitant. We have started a | :36:29. | :36:33. | |
process and will see it through and I can assure him that those who are | :36:34. | :36:37. | |
in need of legal aid will be able to have it where necessary. Number 15. | :36:38. | :36:50. | |
We can't rule out ever withdrawing from the EC HR but our proposals are | :36:51. | :36:57. | |
focused on remaining within the convention which retains a | :36:58. | :37:04. | |
common-sense list of rights. A constitutional court could | :37:05. | :37:08. | |
potentially have primacy over Strasbourg decisions and that should | :37:09. | :37:12. | |
be a part of further consultation? He makes a powerful point. We | :37:13. | :37:19. | |
respect that the convention includes a common-sense list of rights and | :37:20. | :37:21. | |
wants to make sure we have the proper interpretation of those | :37:22. | :37:25. | |
rights and a Supreme Court that remains supreme. It should also be | :37:26. | :37:32. | |
said that where the goals posts are shifted, it ought to be this House | :37:33. | :37:39. | |
who has the last word. It was reported last week that the | :37:40. | :37:43. | |
consultation on government plans to scrap the Human Rights Act will not | :37:44. | :37:48. | |
be published until the New Year. Can the Secretary of State confirm when | :37:49. | :37:52. | |
he intends to them for a British bill of rights and will he commit to | :37:53. | :37:56. | |
ensuring there is full consultation and adequate time will be given to | :37:57. | :38:03. | |
consider and answer responses? We have made clear that the proposals | :38:04. | :38:08. | |
will be brought forward in the New Year for full consultation. We want | :38:09. | :38:14. | |
to look at the impact of the jurisprudence of the Court of | :38:15. | :38:20. | |
Justice in Luxembourg as well as a Strasbourg but I can reassure her | :38:21. | :38:24. | |
that we will take the Scottish views very seriously. I have met with the | :38:25. | :38:29. | |
Scottish Justice Minister and a range of practitioners and NGOs. In | :38:30. | :38:38. | |
June, the Secretary of State assured this House that in his view human | :38:39. | :38:42. | |
rights were a reserved matter. However last week he told the House | :38:43. | :38:46. | |
of Lords Constitution offers admitted that legislation is about | :38:47. | :38:54. | |
human rights are not there reserved nor devolved -- night reserved nor | :38:55. | :39:02. | |
devolved. Would a Bill of Rights require the consent of the Scottish | :39:03. | :39:07. | |
Government and is here where there is no question of such consent being | :39:08. | :39:13. | |
given? Revising the Human Rights Act can only be done by the UK | :39:14. | :39:18. | |
Government but implementation of human rights is devolved. SNP policy | :39:19. | :39:25. | |
suggests Westminster is attacking human rights but the SNP agree that | :39:26. | :39:29. | |
they do not want to give prisoners the vote. After the Scotland Bill | :39:30. | :39:35. | |
becomes law, the Scottish parliament will be able to decide who votes in | :39:36. | :39:43. | |
Scottish elections so the only way they can continue to back prisoners | :39:44. | :39:46. | |
is by relying on Westminster legislation. She has no | :39:47. | :39:54. | |
responsibility to confirm anything. He engages in rhetorical | :39:55. | :40:00. | |
pyrotechnics but we did not need a treat as an SNP party matters. The | :40:01. | :40:08. | |
Government policy of bringing in a British Bill of Rights I'm sure will | :40:09. | :40:14. | |
be welcome across the whole house. With the Minister confirm that | :40:15. | :40:17. | |
rather than rushing it we get it correct and bring it forward so | :40:18. | :40:23. | |
everyone has had their say and we get it so it will stand the test of | :40:24. | :40:29. | |
time? He is right. We make no apology for thinking through tricky | :40:30. | :40:33. | |
constitutional issues and if only the Labour government has done them | :40:34. | :40:41. | |
the same -- had done the same. Tony Blair is said he had opted out from | :40:42. | :40:49. | |
the EU chartered only to find it looked like a sieve. -- leak. I | :40:50. | :41:01. | |
think we nearly missed the honourable gentleman. | :41:02. | :41:10. | |
Your very kind, Mr Speaker. I returned to Scotland. Clarity on | :41:11. | :41:16. | |
this issue is now extremely important. Will the Minister say | :41:17. | :41:21. | |
quite clearly that the deputy leader of the house was wrong when she said | :41:22. | :41:25. | |
human rights were, a reserved right for the UK Parliament. Would you say | :41:26. | :41:30. | |
she was wrong? I have made very clear the position. | :41:31. | :41:35. | |
We have consistently made clear that revising the Human Rights Act can | :41:36. | :41:40. | |
only be done by the UK, Mack. It is very clear. -- UK Government. | :41:41. | :41:49. | |
Question 16. The Government is monitoring | :41:50. | :41:55. | |
caseloads. It is too early to draw any firm conclusions at this stage. | :41:56. | :42:00. | |
We will continue to keep the impact of any changes under review. We | :42:01. | :42:04. | |
realise the changes are not popular, but at every stage we have moved to | :42:05. | :42:08. | |
protect the most honourable by making sure they will not have to | :42:09. | :42:12. | |
pay new and higher fees. In the current climate it is only right | :42:13. | :42:17. | |
that we are taking any opportunity to raise fees. | :42:18. | :42:24. | |
In March 2015 the Court issued fee for a ?200,000 claim was raised by | :42:25. | :42:30. | |
over 600%. Does the Minister appreciate the impact that has an | :42:31. | :42:34. | |
small, start-up companies, many of which are in my constituency? Will | :42:35. | :42:40. | |
he assure them they will not be a further rise after the consultation? | :42:41. | :42:45. | |
It is important that the honourable gentleman appreciates the court | :42:46. | :42:48. | |
system needs to be properly funded. We also need to have an effective | :42:49. | :42:51. | |
admission system so that people cannot afford, do not pay those | :42:52. | :42:57. | |
fees. I should also state that the honourable gentleman should remember | :42:58. | :43:01. | |
that the court fees are a tiny fraction of the total fees incurred. | :43:02. | :43:07. | |
Topical questions. Number one, Mr Speaker. | :43:08. | :43:13. | |
With your position to their schmo and permission, Mr Speaker, I hope | :43:14. | :43:19. | |
that the whole house will agree that we are on the date of prison | :43:20. | :43:22. | |
officers who will work over the Christmas period. I wish to | :43:23. | :43:29. | |
congratulate the newly elected leader of the prison officers | :43:30. | :43:33. | |
Association, and my department will work with them to improve their | :43:34. | :43:36. | |
situation and support them in every way we can. | :43:37. | :43:40. | |
Can I associate myself with the Justice Secretary's remark. Court | :43:41. | :43:49. | |
charges and similar matters, millions of pounds wasted so far. | :43:50. | :43:54. | |
Could the Justice Secretary lay before the house the full cost of | :43:55. | :43:59. | |
these changes in policy, and which minister is responsible for the | :44:00. | :44:02. | |
waste of public money? The honourable lady started any | :44:03. | :44:09. | |
admirable way in a bipartisan manner. The by-product of each of | :44:10. | :44:14. | |
the policies she mentioned is that we take the decision in the best | :44:15. | :44:19. | |
interest of the taxpayer. Paul gamba Cheney, Jim Davidson, | :44:20. | :44:27. | |
Jimmy Tarbuck have all talked of the appalling trauma and stress of | :44:28. | :44:31. | |
having an investigation following allegations being conducted in the | :44:32. | :44:35. | |
full glare of publicity. And then for the case to be closed with no | :44:36. | :44:39. | |
further action, never mind the inclusion of the BBC over the | :44:40. | :44:47. | |
investigation of Cliff Richard. Has the Government given any | :44:48. | :44:49. | |
consideration to turning the clock back to where it used to be, so that | :44:50. | :44:54. | |
these investigations could be conducted with no publicity until | :44:55. | :44:59. | |
charged? I absolutely take account of the | :45:00. | :45:05. | |
very important point raised. It is the Government's position that there | :45:06. | :45:10. | |
should be a right to anonymity before the point of charge. The | :45:11. | :45:14. | |
decision to release the details of the suspect in an investigation is | :45:15. | :45:19. | |
one for the police to take. We should not interfere in the | :45:20. | :45:24. | |
independence of the police, but the points raised is an important one. I | :45:25. | :45:29. | |
think it is vitally important that we recognise the right to be | :45:30. | :45:35. | |
regarded as innocent is an important one, and one that should be | :45:36. | :45:38. | |
respected by everyone involved in the administration of justice. | :45:39. | :45:48. | |
Briefly, if I may, working links which run rehabilitation companies | :45:49. | :45:51. | |
in Wales and the West of England, are announcing redundancies of up to | :45:52. | :45:58. | |
44% of staff, some 600 jobs. If these redundancies go ahead, what | :45:59. | :46:01. | |
will the Secretary of State do to make sure the standard us service | :46:02. | :46:05. | |
and safety of the public is maintained? | :46:06. | :46:09. | |
The reforms introduced in the last Parliament have enhanced the quality | :46:10. | :46:14. | |
of probation support that offenders enjoy, and we need to make sure that | :46:15. | :46:18. | |
the improvements that have been made or built upon. Each of the community | :46:19. | :46:23. | |
rehabilitation companies will make their own decisions on the Nexus | :46:24. | :46:33. | |
staff in order to those decisions. These decisions are made in the | :46:34. | :46:36. | |
interest of safety. The Lord Chancellor has seen the | :46:37. | :46:42. | |
outrageous treatment reported today... Article eight of the ECHR | :46:43. | :46:53. | |
was breached by an NHS Trust which reached a -- placed a do not | :46:54. | :46:57. | |
resuscitate order against the wishes of the family. Is it not time, in | :46:58. | :47:03. | |
the week where we celebrate European human rights Day, for the Chancellor | :47:04. | :47:08. | |
to do another esteemed U-turns and keep the Human Rights Act? | :47:09. | :47:12. | |
The case the honourable gentleman raises is indeed a very serious one, | :47:13. | :47:16. | |
and I cannot imagine any human rights legislation that any of the | :47:17. | :47:22. | |
parties in this house would subscribe to that were in any way | :47:23. | :47:25. | |
countenanced the sort of behaviour that he has described. | :47:26. | :47:33. | |
A recent report revealed that nearly 400 legal travelling campers across | :47:34. | :47:42. | |
Warwickshire in the last four years. These are costing the taxpayer | :47:43. | :47:44. | |
hundreds of thousands of pounds. Previous Justice Secretary 's pledge | :47:45. | :47:50. | |
to deal with this issue, so will my honourable friend agreed to meet | :47:51. | :47:53. | |
with me to discuss the progress that has been made? | :47:54. | :48:01. | |
Mr Speaker, illegal encampment is cause a real worry too local | :48:02. | :48:09. | |
residents. I will meet with the honourable gentleman. Local | :48:10. | :48:13. | |
authorities have substantial powers already. There was a situation in | :48:14. | :48:18. | |
Harlow that has been completely resolved because of some backbone in | :48:19. | :48:27. | |
the local government they are. Many magistrates resigned over the | :48:28. | :48:30. | |
fees which the secretary of state has now reversed because they felt | :48:31. | :48:34. | |
that people were pleading guilty when they were innocent, because the | :48:35. | :48:38. | |
fees would otherwise be excessive. What estimate has the Secretary of | :48:39. | :48:45. | |
State made while making this decision of how many innocent people | :48:46. | :48:48. | |
pled guilty in this time? I take account of the point. I think | :48:49. | :48:54. | |
in certain circumstances we have to let the judgments of those courts | :48:55. | :48:59. | |
rest, but every single magistrate who felt for whatever reason he | :49:00. | :49:02. | |
could not sit on the bench because of that policy, I would invite to | :49:03. | :49:07. | |
reconsider. Wimbledon is the home of one of | :49:08. | :49:11. | |
London's provision services resource centres. There is a focus on | :49:12. | :49:16. | |
providing ex-offenders with education. Given the importance of | :49:17. | :49:21. | |
education skills to rehabilitation, does my friend agree that the | :49:22. | :49:31. | |
rehabilitation service need someone can bring a concentration on that? | :49:32. | :49:37. | |
I agree with my honourable friend. He will be aware of the importance | :49:38. | :49:45. | |
of improving education in prayer the Leigh prisons, as highlighted in the | :49:46. | :49:56. | |
review. I work in the pointy made. Mr Speaker, further to my earlier | :49:57. | :50:03. | |
intervention, could I remind the Minister of the tens if not hundreds | :50:04. | :50:06. | |
of thousands of pounds that had been spent in recent years on the courts | :50:07. | :50:14. | |
in the Pontypridd and Bridgend. When they consider the upgrades, they | :50:15. | :50:18. | |
have been upgraded, do not close them. | :50:19. | :50:22. | |
What I say is that access to justice comes in very spawns. Can I say one | :50:23. | :50:29. | |
thing to him that an African Chief Justice said to me earlier this | :50:30. | :50:34. | |
year? He said that he wanted to see a justice system whereby the people | :50:35. | :50:37. | |
living in the villages outside the capital city could access their | :50:38. | :50:41. | |
courts through their mobile phones. That is how the world is | :50:42. | :50:44. | |
progressing, and we have to make sure we keep pace with it as well. | :50:45. | :50:50. | |
Will keep the majesty of the court building for those serious cases | :50:51. | :50:53. | |
which require it, but we need to recognise that modern technology | :50:54. | :50:56. | |
requires different forms of unification, and accessed to justice | :50:57. | :51:06. | |
is not what it was in the past. The statement last week was welcome | :51:07. | :51:11. | |
on a number of counts, in particular the reference to problem-solving | :51:12. | :51:16. | |
courts in New York which the Justice Select Committee has looked at in | :51:17. | :51:19. | |
on the disgust the Leigh discussions on the disgust the Leigh discussions | :51:20. | :51:25. | |
he is having and how we take this process forward? -- the discussions. | :51:26. | :51:34. | |
We are hearing from the chair of the justice let committee,... Secretary | :51:35. | :51:44. | |
of State. I think it was the case that Lord | :51:45. | :51:47. | |
Woolf when he was Lord Chief Justice and David Blunkett agreed that it | :51:48. | :51:53. | |
was important to exploit the potential of probable scoring | :51:54. | :51:59. | |
courts, to -- problem-solving courts. I know that the Justice | :52:00. | :52:06. | |
Select Committee has highlighted certain work in America and will | :52:07. | :52:14. | |
make announcements of decisions... The Government's own figures | :52:15. | :52:19. | |
revealed the number of serious crimes committed by violent and sex | :52:20. | :52:23. | |
offenders after leaving prison has risen by more than 28%. 222 | :52:24. | :52:30. | |
offenders under supervision in community were charged with crime | :52:31. | :52:35. | |
including murderers, manslaughter and sexual offences in 2014. This | :52:36. | :52:42. | |
has been said this is partly due to the privatisation, so that | :52:43. | :52:47. | |
information exchange between agencies is not quite enough. Will | :52:48. | :52:51. | |
the Minister explain what urgent steps he's taking to address this | :52:52. | :52:54. | |
issue? The honourable Lido is right that | :52:55. | :53:01. | |
serious offences are serious matters from which we must learn every | :53:02. | :53:05. | |
possible lesson to make sure there is now repeat. But I do not agree | :53:06. | :53:11. | |
with her that the rehabilitation reforms are in anyway responsible | :53:12. | :53:14. | |
for a degradation of the probation service. I would remind her that | :53:15. | :53:21. | |
there are 45,000 criminals who are now receiving probation supervision | :53:22. | :53:24. | |
who did not get it before, because the last government brought in a | :53:25. | :53:36. | |
system where they did not receive probation after being in prison for | :53:37. | :53:40. | |
less than a year. Will the Minister's Department be | :53:41. | :53:48. | |
giving full consideration for the case for Lowestoft magistrate court | :53:49. | :53:53. | |
to remain open? I had to beat it with my honourable | :53:54. | :53:57. | |
friend, and I can assure him that we are giving very serious | :53:58. | :54:00. | |
consideration to all that he and his colleagues have given in regard to | :54:01. | :54:03. | |
his local court. Has the Minister read the recent | :54:04. | :54:11. | |
Locked Out report by Barnardos would say that improvements to a scheme | :54:12. | :54:19. | |
mean that a child's right to see his father being eroded. Does the | :54:20. | :54:26. | |
Minister think this is a good thing for the children whose fathers are | :54:27. | :54:31. | |
in jail? I have met with Barnardos on a | :54:32. | :54:34. | |
number of occasions and pay tribute to the work they do in this area. | :54:35. | :54:37. | |
The secretary of state and I maintain the highest importance on | :54:38. | :54:41. | |
maintaining family links for prisoners. You will continue to look | :54:42. | :54:46. | |
at this policy and all policies which threaten family relationships. | :54:47. | :54:53. | |
On the 27th of November, a transgender prisoner killed herself | :54:54. | :54:59. | |
while serving in a male jail. What is the Government banning to do to | :55:00. | :55:05. | |
address concern of another tragic death by a member of this honourable | :55:06. | :55:12. | |
group of people? We take absolutely every death in | :55:13. | :55:16. | |
custody very seriously. The management and care or transgendered | :55:17. | :55:20. | |
people in prison is very complex and something we take seriously. We are | :55:21. | :55:24. | |
currently undertaking a review of the relevant instruction to make | :55:25. | :55:29. | |
sure that it does provide the correct balance between the | :55:30. | :55:33. | |
individual and responsibility to safeguard all prisoners. This will | :55:34. | :55:39. | |
be widened today to see what provision we can make across all | :55:40. | :55:46. | |
areas of UK prisons. This review will engage with relevant | :55:47. | :55:50. | |
stakeholders, and in addition, Peter Dawson from the Prison Reform Trust | :55:51. | :55:58. | |
and a Dr from Gendered Intelligence which will be completed next year. | :55:59. | :56:08. | |
I say kindly to the Minister that sometimes they may trim the official | :56:09. | :56:18. | |
jargon which is written for them by others. The prison at Wrexham is | :56:19. | :56:24. | |
extremely welcome but has the Minister had a chance to look at | :56:25. | :56:29. | |
concerns made by the First Minister about the health care costs falling | :56:30. | :56:38. | |
on the Assembly? I visited Wrexham a couple of weeks ago and I can tell | :56:39. | :56:42. | |
the House the prison is progressing well and it has excellent work | :56:43. | :56:48. | |
facilities. I am aware of his point and we will continue negotiations | :56:49. | :56:51. | |
with the Welsh government. That is all I can say at this time. Our | :56:52. | :57:01. | |
court system not only provides effective justice but it is also the | :57:02. | :57:09. | |
choice of four for foreign litigation. Will he ensure our | :57:10. | :57:17. | |
courts are not only effective for the resolution of domestic | :57:18. | :57:20. | |
litigation but also international dispute resolution? It is a good | :57:21. | :57:27. | |
point but she should bear in mind that the reason people come to | :57:28. | :57:33. | |
Britain for legislation is not because of fees but expertise and | :57:34. | :57:38. | |
the fact that UK law is used by large part of the world as well. How | :57:39. | :57:43. | |
is transforming rehabilitation in Wales likely to achieve targets if | :57:44. | :57:52. | |
operations are to move to Middlesbrough, making 200 staff | :57:53. | :57:59. | |
redundant? I would say that these reforms give us the opportunity to | :58:00. | :58:05. | |
bring down reoffending rates which have been high for a long time. We | :58:06. | :58:09. | |
are tracking the performance very closely and we will continue to do | :58:10. | :58:14. | |
so and in time I think we will see significant results from these | :58:15. | :58:19. | |
reforms. I wrote to the Lord Chancellor and received on | :58:20. | :58:24. | |
uncharacteristically noncommittal reply. Witty agree that the maximum | :58:25. | :58:35. | |
tariff for child could take -- child cruelty, ten years, is to walk, and | :58:36. | :58:39. | |
whether they will raise its 214 years? -- to 14 years? I'm afraid I | :58:40. | :58:51. | |
will have to retain the enigmatic prevarication which characterised my | :58:52. | :59:01. | |
previous communication with him. The High Court ruling of the 26th of | :59:02. | :59:07. | |
November regarding the benefit cap applies to disabled people and their | :59:08. | :59:12. | |
carers. What advice will he get to the secretary site for work and | :59:13. | :59:18. | |
pensions in light of that? I will discuss it with him later. Order. | :59:19. | :59:27. | |
Will the member wishing to take his seat please come to the table? | :59:28. | :59:54. | |
Raise the Bible in your right hand. I swear by Almighty God that I will | :59:55. | :00:06. | |
be faithful and bear allegiance to Queen | :00:07. | :00:07. |