Criminal Justice Reform
Debate between Alex Norris and Tulip Siddiq(3Â weeks, 3Â days ago)
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Tulip Siddiq (Hampstead and Highgate) (Lab)
Happy birthday, Madam Deputy Speaker.
I thank the Secretary of State for his statement. Officials will have given him a date or timeline for when the current prison system will reach full capacity. Could I ask how that compares to the previous assessment?
Alex Norris
Like pretty much every Lord Chancellor for a number of years now, the first thing in my inbox on day one was a note saying, “By the way, we are going to run out of prison places”—my note said in November. I am pleased to say that as a result of changes made by my two immediate predecessors, the Sentencing Act improves on that saturation date, moving it comfortably into the future. Where we are on that will be set out when we publish our capacity report later this year, but my commitment is to go much further. Colleagues will have heard the Prime Minister say that he wants us to take a 10-year arc on these things, and the same is true for prison capacity.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Alex Norris and Tulip Siddiq(1Â year, 2Â months ago)
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Tulip Siddiq (Hampstead and Highgate) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Alex Norris)
In June, we announced over ÂŁ1 billion of investment to accelerate cladding remediation by giving social landlords the same access to Government remediation schemes as that afforded to private building owners. We will shortly publish revised guidelines on how to access the funding, and a joint plan with social landlords and regulators, in order to accelerate remediation and improve resident experience.
Tulip Siddiq
May I thank the Minister and his Department for pushing forward Awaab’s law? It cannot come soon enough, especially the 24-hour deadline for dealing with mould and damp, and especially for my constituent Yasmin, who has been living in an unacceptable situation with very young children for four years. However, I have real concerns about how ready housing associations are to implement the regulations, which are coming in very soon, in October. I have raised this issue with the National Housing Federation, but what assessment has the Minister made of housing associations’ ability to fully comply with all the regulations under Awaab’s law by October, so that we can ensure that all my constituents can live in a safe and healthy environment?
Alex Norris
First of all, may I say how sorry I am to hear that my hon. Friend’s constituent Yasmin has been living in those conditions for so long? We have published draft guidance for social landlords to make sure that they understand the requirements under Awaab’s law. As my hon. Friend would expect, we are working very closely with them to support their operational readiness. We took a phased approach, but we are encouraging social landlords to act now. They should raise any concerns with us now, so that we can consider how to best support them. In the meantime, they must meet their existing legal obligations.