Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Grayling and Bob Blackman

Tuesday 11th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

The chief inspector of probation has done a detailed piece of work on the Transforming Rehabilitation programme, and that report will be published shortly. He has highlighted a number of areas we are addressing. The report will set out in detail some issues, many of which preceded the current reforms and go back many years, on how to improve performance on probation. As I said to the House recently, I have asked the chief inspector and all inspectors to come to my office immediately and tell me if they identify anything in the reforms that gives cause for concern about public safety. They have not done so.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

T3. Will my right hon. Friend update the House on the risks and penalties of using a mobile phone while driving?

[Chris Grayling]

The offence of using a mobile phone while driving is very serious and should be dealt with effectively by the courts. It is an area where the Government are giving active consideration to strengthening the penalties, as part of our driving sentences review. It is wholly unacceptable in our society, and the courts should deal with it appropriately.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Grayling and Bob Blackman

Tuesday 18th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

8. What recent representations he has received on the role played by the London mayoralty in the delivery of justice in London.

[The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Chris Grayling)]

I have had a number of conversations with the London Mayor regarding the provision of services, particularly those for victims, which I regard as extremely important. We have now been able to release an extra £12 million of victim funding for areas most affected by crime and, subject to the proposals that are made, that will potentially include the capital.

[Bob Blackman]

As we devolve more power to the Mayor of London, is it not important to devolve the Prison Service and the probation service so that Londoners can hold the Mayor of London to account for the entirety of keeping London safe?

[Chris Grayling]

We continue to involve the Mayor and the Mayor’s office specialising in justice matters closely in our plans for prisons and probation, but I urge my hon. Friend to be careful about what he wishes for. There are others who are keen to take over MOPAC—the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime—and I have more concerns about their ability to do so. To pick an example purely at random, the right hon. Member for Tooting (Sadiq Khan) was asked recently about his ambitions to be Mayor of London, and he replied that

“if I was at the edge of the box and the ball came my way and I thought I had the best chance of scoring then I might go for it”.

That might explain why he has written a manifesto for London that has no justice policies at all.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Grayling and Bob Blackman

Tuesday 4th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

14. What progress he has made on reducing the cost to the public purse of legal aid.

[The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Chris Grayling)]

I welcome the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, my right hon. Friend the Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark (Simon Hughes) to my Front-Bench team. I also inform the House that Lord Faulks has joined my team in the House of Lords. I pay tribute to Lord McNally, who has left the Front-Bench team, for the excellent work that he did on behalf of the Government.

I will shortly publish final proposals covering the two areas that are subject to consultation in the “Transforming Legal Aid: Next Steps” document: the procurement of criminal litigation services and reform of the advocacy fee scheme. I anticipate that the total saving from the transforming legal aid proposals will be £220 million per year by 2018-19. That is in addition to the £320 million that has been saved as part of the Government’s previous reforms, which were enacted in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Grayling and Bob Blackman

Tuesday 12th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

I wish the right hon. Gentleman well with his campaign, but I know that the right hon. Member for Tottenham (Mr Lammy) is the frontrunner at the moment, so he has a bit of catching up to do.

Only in the world of Labour party mathematics and economics could an increased budget be described as a cut.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

T3. The modern scourge of human trafficking is still with us. What action is my right hon. Friend taking to bring perpetrators to justice and to compensate the victims?[Official Report, 20 November 2013, Vol. 570, c. 6MC.]

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Grayling and Bob Blackman

Tuesday 13th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

It is simply not the case that we are seeing the kind of problems the hon. Lady mentions across the prison system. The reality is that we have no choice but to deal with the financial challenges left behind by the previous Government. The trick is delivering a more effective system for less money, and that is what we are doing.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

16. What steps he plans to take to reduce the number of offenders serving repeated short sentences.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Grayling and Bob Blackman

Monday 14th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

As the right hon. Gentleman knows, we ourselves had one review carried out last year by Professor Harrington, and we also inherited a set of recommendations from an internal review carried out by the previous Government. I considered carefully the recommendations left to us by the right hon. Gentleman and his party, and the internal review recommended changes that would increase the number of people with mental health problems who go into the support group and receive unconditional support. His party was right to make that recommendation, and I am pleased to accept it, but we will take all further steps necessary to ensure that people with mental health problems are treated fairly and properly by the system.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

3. What assessment he has made of the likely effect of the introduction of universal credit on the level of the couple penalty.