Asylum Seekers: Legal Aid
Lord Bishop of Sheffield Excerpts(4 weeks, 2 days ago)
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The Lord Bishop of Sheffield
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the availability and accessibility of legal aid for asylum seekers.
The Lord Bishop of Sheffield
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper and declare my interest as a patron of the ASSIST charity in Sheffield.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede) (Lab)
My Lords, I thank the right reverend Prelate for his Question. We are committed to improving the experience of all users and providers of civil legal aid. The Government are determined to improve and stabilise the civil legal aid sector, which was neglected for many years. Civil legal aid fees have not increased since 1996 and were cut by 10% by the previous Government. As an important first step towards this and having considered the evidence from the review of civil legal aid, we will consult on uplifting legal aid fees for immigration and asylum and for housing and debt this month, two sectors which we believe are particularly under pressure.
The Lord Bishop of Sheffield
I thank the Minister for that Answer. The Public Accounts Committee determined last year that there is a supply crisis in the immigration and asylum legal aid market. As a result, increasing numbers of asylum seekers are removed from the UK before being able to evidence their claim properly or mount a meaningful appeal. It cannot be right for justice to be sacrificed on the altar of cost saving. Given that in the year ending June 2024 48% of asylum appeals were successful, what support can the Government provide to those unable to lodge an appeal because they simply cannot find a legal aid representative to assist them?
Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Lab)
My Lords, we are working within the sector to try to build up the support for people able to provide support for those making potential appeals. We are working with and funding the Law Society to enable it to fund the accreditation of suitably qualified people to enable this work to be undertaken. We are increasing the base of lawyers and others who can take on this work.
Humanist Weddings
Lord Bishop of Sheffield Excerpts(4 months ago)
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Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Lab)
Unfortunately, the answer is the same as the one I gave to earlier questions: it will be in due course. I understand the strength of feeling on this matter. There are a lot of other issues to be considered within this context, and the Government want to take time to do it properly.
The Lord Bishop of Sheffield
My Lords, on these Benches we would welcome humanist wedding ceremonies being given legal status, but the recommendations of the Law Commission go beyond that and would create a free market celebrant-based approach to the wedding industry. I gather that Humanists UK shares our concern that such a move could undermine the solemn nature of marriage, which is never a trivial transaction. Given this unlikely alliance between the Lords spiritual and Humanists UK, can the Minister confirm that the Government will not enact the recommendations of the Law Commission without considering carefully the impact of a further commercialisation of weddings?
Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Lab)
I thank the right reverend Prelate for his question; he makes the point very well. I have heard the phrase “free market approach”, and I have heard people speak about the privatisation of weddings, which would not be the right approach. That is indeed the reason we want to look at this question in the round, and that is what we intend to do.
Prison Capacities
Lord Bishop of Sheffield Excerpts(5 months, 1 week ago)
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The Lord Bishop of Sheffield
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Burt, for enabling this debate and for the opportunity to speak in it. My right reverend friend the Bishop of Gloucester, lead Bishop for prisons, is unable to be here today. I know she wishes that she had been able to contribute. I share her interest in the welfare of prisoners and of those called to work in prisons, not least in the four prisons in my diocese in and around Doncaster.
Ministers have made plain their deep concern at the capacity problem in our prisons and have set out their plans to address it in both the short and longer term. I urge the Government to think deeply about the factors that have led us to this crisis and to respond creatively and boldly when considering the purpose of prison and the alternatives to custody. At their best, prisons are places of transformation. Every person supported to turn away from offending makes our country safer for everyone. But truly effective rehabilitation almost always takes place in a context of care and trust. It surely goes without saying that overcrowding in prisons is not conducive to a transformative culture.
On these Benches we celebrate the important role that prison chaplains play in helping to create the sort of culture of respect and trust which maximises the chances of rehabilitation. Those working in prisons rightly expect to be protected from harm and to carry out their duties with dignity. Current overcrowding has made a difficult role immensely challenging. Hidden from public view, prison staff work in conditions in their place of employment that few of us can appreciate or would tolerate.
Prisons must be safe for staff if a culture of respect and trust is to be built there, yet training and support for prison staff in this regard are limited and staff retention is a concern. What assessment are the Government making of the training and support required for prison staff when working under these pressures?
Prison Capacity
Lord Bishop of Sheffield Excerpts(1 year, 4 months ago)
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Lord Bellamy (Con)
My Lords, I would need notice of that question. I will write to the noble and learned Baroness with respect to the place of residential places in the criminal justice system. Certainly, the focus on dealing with alcohol and, indeed, drugs is very much on the Government’s mind at the moment. One development in GPS tagging is that you can use it for alcohol detection as well—that is a further arrow in the quiver, as it were, to deal with this problem—but the noble and learned Baroness’s question is entirely apposite, as always.
The Lord Bishop of Sheffield
My Lords, nine days ago it was my privilege to lead Sunday worship at HMP Doncaster, where I was reminded by the chaplain that many faith communities and charities do excellent work supporting newly released prisoners as they resettle into their communities, with a demonstrably positive impact on reoffending rates. What more can be done to support such projects?
Lord Bellamy (Con)
The Government very much welcome the contribution that local agencies and other organisations make towards rehabilitation and will continue to take advantage of all the opportunities that arise. If I may trouble your Lordships anecdotally for a moment, I met a man the other day who had been a remand prisoner in Winchester prison. He had been acquitted, so he was free. I asked, “What was your experience in Winchester prison?” He said, “I did very well, actually, because I was able to take the IT course that they offered. I can now do an Excel spreadsheet and a Word document, and I regard it as having been a positive experience”. So it is not all doom and gloom.