Prisoners: Imprisonment for Public Protection

Debate between Lord Bellamy and Lord Morris of Aberavon

Wednesday 1st March 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bellamy (Con)]

My Lords, the then Government decided that the abolition of the IPP sentence should not be retrospective. The existing IPP action plan has had a certain degree of success, and the revised IPP action plan will, we hope, fully address the problem.

[Lord Morris of Aberavon (Lab)]

My Lords—

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[Lord Morris of Aberavon (Lab)]

My Lords, to simplify the situation and make it abundantly clear: are the numbers rising or lowering in each category?

[Lord Bellamy (Con)]

My Lords, I am not sure I entirely understood the noble and learned Lord’s question.

[Lord Morris of Aberavon (Lab)]

My Lords, what I want to know is whether the numbers of these prisoners are rising or lowering in each category.

[Lord Bellamy (Con)]

They are currently, in broad terms, about the same. We have 1,400 who have never been released; we have 1,500, roughly speaking, on licence; we are releasing, including rereleases, about 600 a year; and recalls are running at slightly less than that.

Rape: Prosecutions and Support

Debate between Lord Bellamy and Lord Morris of Aberavon

Tuesday 29th November 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bellamy (Con)]

My Lords, first and with respect, we are making progress on this matter. Your Lordships will perhaps recall that, after 2016 and the Allan case, where a prosecution collapsed for lack of disclosure, prosecutions for rape fell until 2019. Then we had the pandemic. That is why the Government are now committed to returning to 2016 levels.

I will give one example of progress. In 2016, a total of 766 rape cases per quarter were referred by the police to the CPS. In Q2 2022, we had 901 such referrals, up on 2019 by 97% and even up on 2016 by 18%. Many other examples can be seen on the criminal justice system delivery data dashboard at justice.gov.uk, to which I respectfully refer your Lordships. You can see the progress we are making on every offence, across every region of the country. That is a considerable achievement and I commend it to your Lordships. In response to the noble Baroness, I do not doubt that difficulties remain, but we are making progress.

[Lord Morris of Aberavon (Lab)]

My Lords, an accusation of rape is a very serious matter for both the victim and the accused. I have repeatedly asked for a breakdown of figures for rape cases where the defence is consent and where there is a failure to convict—a situation of which I have long experience. Will the Minister go back to the Attorney-General, who supervises the CPS, to ask why these figures cannot be provided? This may be the heart of the problem.

[Lord Bellamy (Con)]

I will certainly do my best to accommodate the noble and learned Lord.

Rape: Criminal Prosecutions

Debate between Lord Bellamy and Lord Morris of Aberavon

Tuesday 28th June 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bellamy (Con)]

I thank the noble Baroness for her intervention and take note of what she says. We are working as hard as we can to introduce a co-ordinated and effective support service for victims. There is in prospect a further victims’ Bill, due later this year, which I hope will reinforce support for victims. It is a matter of co-ordinating, improving and building on what I suggest to your Lordships is the encouraging start we have already made.

[Lord Morris of Aberavon (Lab)]

My Lords, having spent most of my professional life at the criminal Bar, I am deeply concerned about the entry of young people to—and now their exodus from—the criminal Bar, loaded with debt from degrees, conversion courses, Bar finals and pupillages. I have two specific questions. First, why will the proposed increase in fees not come into effect until September and will it affect trials? Secondly, if the Attorney-General, as the head of the Bar, has not met the Criminal Bar Association, will she do so to discuss what other practical steps can be taken to deal with the appalling delays in rape cases? Delays in consensual cases rapidly diminish the chances of conviction in my experience.

[Lord Bellamy (Con)]

My Lords, part of the noble and learned Lord’s question puts me in a difficult position because last year I was responsible for a quite separate, independent review of criminal legal aid. The matter of criminal legal aid and fees will therefore be dealt with by my noble and learned friend Lord Stewart on another occasion. Having carried out that independent review, I am not in a position to enter into that matter—much as I would wish to, I am not able to.

On the question of delays in criminal trials, as I indicated, the delays are falling—slowly, but they are falling—and we are taking very large, important steps to reduce the waiting time before these cases take place.