Prisons Strategy

Debate between Victoria Atkins and Robert Halfon

Tuesday 7th December 2021 Commons Chamber

[Victoria Atkins]

I thank the hon. Lady for her question, because it gives me an opportunity to reassure the House about the construction of the new female facilities. We want these new facilities to be trauma-informed and trauma-responsive. That includes details such as ensuring that there are no dark corridors, which might sadly trigger memories of sexual violence and abuse, for example. We very much want these new facilities be seen as a step towards the 21st-century prison estate. She makes a fair point about women’s centres, and she will know that plans are under way for our first female residential centre, in Wales. It is taking a little bit of time, but we will get there. We very much want to explore these alternatives, to help to ensure that the figures keep reducing.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

I welcome the statement. My hon. Friend will be aware that the Select Committee on Education has undertaken an inquiry on prison education, and there is a lot of evidence on the inability of offenders to undertake apprenticeships and do on-site training, which is hampering skills development. The proportion of offenders in employment one year after release is just 17%, which contributes to high levels of reoffending, as she knows, and there is the welfare cost. The prisoner apprenticeship pathway does not go far enough. Will she support an amendment to the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill and work with me to allow offenders to hold and start apprenticeships in prison?

[Victoria Atkins]

I regret that I am unable to make that commitment at the Dispatch Box, but I join my right hon. Friend in the principle that we want our prisons to be as effective and as meaningful as possible for those who are incarcerated. Apprenticeships, training and using part of the prison as a jobcentre are different ideas for increasing the vital statistic he cites so that people do not reoffend and instead turn over a new leaf, making our communities safer as a result.

Domestic Abuse and Hidden Harms during Lockdown

Debate between Victoria Atkins and Robert Halfon

Thursday 14th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Victoria Atkins]

Yes, I most certainly will. Again, I refer to the contribution made by my right hon. Friend the Member for South Northamptonshire (Andrea Leadsom), who is already preparing work on the effects of adverse experiences in the early years of a child’s life. Our understanding is improving as to, for example, the effect that living in an abusive household can have on a child’s life chances.

In my work on tackling serious violence, we are very clear about the theme of violence in the home being very common for those who commit violence outside the home. There are many reasons why this work is invaluable, and I look forward to working with the hon. Lady and the APPG on this.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con) [V]]

My hon. Friend will be aware that organisations such as the Safeguarding Alliance have reported that there is a new frontier of vulnerable children exposed to county lines drug gangs, online harms and domestic abuse, and the BBC found that reports of online child abuse images increased by 50% during the last lockdown. Furthermore, many children on the fringes of care are often not attending school during this lockdown, even if permitted to do so.

Will my hon. Friend ensure that these children are identified by schools and checked by social services? Will she set out what measures the Government are taking to ensure that we do not have a safeguarding crisis in the offing for these young children? Finally, will she meet the Safeguarding Alliance to discuss these issues?

[Victoria Atkins]

Yes. I am very grateful to my right hon. Friend for all the work he does on the Education Committee to scrutinise our work. We are all concerned about the welfare of the most vulnerable children. That is why, for example, in the first lockdown we enabled vulnerable children to still attend school, sending out the message to parents, carers and children and young people themselves that if they need that extra bit of help and support, schools are open to give them access to that. That continues under today’s restrictions, because schools are open to vulnerable children.

In terms of the work that we are doing over and above keeping schools open, I have already referred to the vital work that social workers are conducting and our efforts to increase the number of social workers available to help with that work. Some of our children’s charities have also been fantastic. I have seen for myself the work that Barnardo’s and the Children’s Society are doing to help children, particularly those who are potentially being ensnared by county lines gangs. This comes back to how we can reach these poor, poor children before those gangs really get their fists on them. It is about a combination of education at school, education and support for families—because mums, dads and carers can be very worried about their child—and ensuring that we have robust law enforcement measures in place against those gangs. One thing the police were able to do during the last national lockdown—the first one—was concentrate on targeting drug gangs. We are seeing some of the results of that work, alongside the safeguarding and early intervention work we are doing.