Secure 16 to 19 Academies Bill

Lord Bishop of Leicester Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 24th October 2025 Lords Chamber

[The Lord Bishop of Leicester]

My Lords, I rise to speak in support of this Bill, at the encouragement of the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Derby, who regrets that she cannot be in her place today.

Noble Lords may be aware that we on these Benches have a team of Bishops—the right reverend Prelates the Bishops of Derby, Gloucester and Lichfield—who regularly visit prisons across the nation, meeting with those in prison, prison chaplains and prison governors, to hear about ongoing challenges and successes. They in particular are pleased to see this Bill enjoy cross-party support and are heartened that so many noble Lords and colleagues in another place share the conclusion that secure academies are a more promising alternative to giving children a custodial sentence. They are, fundamentally, educational establishments at the heart of work to rehabilitate, not simply penalise and ostracise, children.

We on these Benches are also encouraged by the Government’s aim to tailor the educational accommodation offer for children to the needs of each child individually. The teenage years are a crucial time in the emotional, mental and physical development of children. If they become disengaged from society at this critical juncture, it has a profound and enduring impact on the rest of their lives.

The Bill makes an important change to how consultation is carried out for secure academies. It does not, however, specify the appropriate persons to be consulted. We on these Benches would suggest that faith communities and chaplains should play a role in these discussions, as they have a pastoral and spiritual responsibility to the young people they serve. I know that the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Derby is keen to follow progress regarding the temporary closure of the Oasis Restore secure school last month and the potential second secure school that the Youth Custody Service plans to open in the coming months.

I conclude by saying that any policy developed for children in custody must adhere to the principle that criminal justice for children should not, indeed cannot, simply follow a blueprint taken from the criminal justice system for adults. Children deserve their own separate care and consideration, and I am pleased that this Bill recognises that necessity.

Victims and Prisoners Bill

Lord Bishop of Leicester Excerpts

Committee stage
Tuesday 12th March 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hamwee (LD)]

My Lords, I particularly support the amendment from the noble Baroness, Lady Blower, although I support all of them. I also thank the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hope of Craighead, for remembering Lord Lloyd of Berwick in this debate. I recall him very well, indefatigably picking up this baton.

Many of us were alarmed when prisoners were added to victims in this Bill, but this amendment is absolutely with the grain of the first part of the Bill. We talked about ISVAs, IDVAs, child trafficking and guardians, and I recently heard about victim navigators who work as supporters and mentors to victims of modern slavery and human trafficking. We are all accepting the notion that, in slightly different ways, the criminal justice system does not do well by its victims—as has been said, IPP prisoners are victims—and that this needs addressing with a range of support measures. It is very much the direction of travel and I hope that this notion can be pursued.

[The Lord Bishop of Leicester]

My Lords, I support this group of amendments and it is a pleasure to follow noble Lords and benefit from their considerable wisdom—I am in awe of the learning and wisdom on display this evening. I do not want to repeat a lot of what has been said, so I will keep my speech very short.

I have one or two reflections on Amendments 165 and 166, to which my right reverend friend the Bishop of Gloucester has added her name. She is a regular visitor to prisons across the country and supports the network of chaplains in our prisons who have direct evidence in relation to the mental health of prisoners.

As others have said, we know that many IPP prisoners are stuck in the system and that appropriate psychiatric care in the community is not in place to manage their high-support needs. IPP prisoners suffer greater mental distress and disorders than the wider prison population and, in many cases, it can be said that the sentence itself is the cause of the distress. It disrupts relationships and inspires hopelessness, anxiety, despair and alienation.

I welcome the changes proposed through this Bill, but, for the sake of the prisoners in question and the wider community, we need to ensure that they are getting the appropriate aftercare that they are entitled to and that it is extended in the way proposed in Amendment 166.

[Lord Berkeley of Knighton (CB)]

My Lords, I am not a lawyer but I do have some experience of visiting prisons, thanks to the Koestler Trust, which takes art into prisons. I was quite a close friend of the late, much- lamented and learned Lord Brown, so I feel quite strongly about what I have heard. I have been very moved by this discussion and the toing and froing between quite considerable legal minds.

What I took from my time visiting prisons was that essential ingredient of hope. The arts sometimes gave hope but, of course, there were instances, which we have been hearing about with IPP, where hope had been vanquished. I want to make only one simple point. No greater tribute could be paid to the late Lord Brown than that the Government acknowledge the point he made, and that other noble Lords are making, and come to some arrangement to bring to a close this system, which is not only iniquitous but almost cruel. People need to know at the end of the day that there is some chance of once again leading a normal life.