Prison Capacity

Debate between Lord Bellamy and Baroness Wheatcroft

Tuesday 6th December 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Wheatcroft (CB)]

My Lords, many prisoners arrive illiterate or barely literate, yet earlier this year His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons said that

“it is astonishing that prisoners can serve their sentence without being taught to read or to improve their reading skills”.

So they leave prison illiterate, cannot find work and reoffend. Will the Minister undertake the cost-saving measure of ensuring that every prisoner is taught to read?

[Lord Bellamy (Con)]

My Lords, in relation to specific costs, no, but in relation to the general question of whether we should improve and develop educational facilities in prison, particularly so that prisoners can read, yes, the Government entirely agree with that aspiration.

European Convention on Human Rights

Debate between Lord Bellamy and Baroness Wheatcroft

Monday 18th July 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bellamy (Con)]

I will happily give the noble Baroness that assurance, and I assure your Lordships that I will work with any or all of you to ensure that this Bill meets such concerns as you may have, in so far as it is within my power to do so.

[Baroness Wheatcroft (CB)]

My Lords, the Minister is reassuringly adamant in his commitment to the convention. Can he assure the House about how he defends the export of asylum seekers to Rwanda in the face of the convention?

[Lord Bellamy (Con)]

We are entirely satisfied that the Government’s policy on asylum seekers is in compliance with the convention. In this context, I do not think that I can add to that answer.