Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Selous and Elizabeth Truss

Tuesday 25th April 2017 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

The Prime Minister is absolutely right to call a general election. We need strong and stable leadership of this country, and we need to ensure that the Prime Minister has a mandate to deliver for Brexit and beyond.

[Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)]

The all-party group on preventing modern slavery, chaired in an excellent manner by the sadly departing right hon. Member for Slough (Fiona Mactaggart), heard from the parents of a young man who had been imprisoned for 15 years as a slave. The culprits were sent to prison for only two and a half years. Will the Justice Secretary agree to speak to the Sentencing Council about the severity of sentences for those who imprison our fellow citizens as slaves?

[Elizabeth Truss]

First, I echo my hon. Friend in paying tribute to the right hon. Member for Slough (Fiona Mactaggart) for her work on modern slavery. I also pay tribute to our Prime Minister, who has made huge strides in putting people away for these heinous crimes. We are doing more, and I am working closely with the Home Secretary to make sure that we crack down on this further.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Selous and Elizabeth Truss

Tuesday 7th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right that, as we have got better at dealing with issues of domestic violence, there is more we can do. That is why I am leading a joint taskforce with the Home Secretary to look at the law around domestic violence. We are also ensuring that domestic violence victims are protected in the family court. Under the Prisons and Courts Bill, abusers will no longer be able to cross-examine domestic violence victims, and that is an important step forward.

[Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)]

I am sure the Secretary of State will welcome the fact that companies such as Boots, Barclays, Carillion, Land Securities, Ricoh and many others have “banned the box” to improve the chances of ex-offenders getting jobs. However, does she share my concern that some quite big household names have not yet stepped up to the plate? Will she do her bit to get them over the line alongside those other good employers?

[Elizabeth Truss]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on the work he did to get more employers involved in this when he was a Minister. We are following on from his good work by setting up an organisation called the New Futures Network, which will comprise businesses and charities. The network will encourage more employers to take on ex-offenders, who are often very loyal and hard-working employees, and who can help to address some of the skills shortages we face.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Selous and Elizabeth Truss

Tuesday 24th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. We know that when somebody gets into work on leaving prison, they are much less likely to reoffend. We are going to launch an employment strategy later this year to encourage more employers like Timpsons, which already does a fantastic job, to participate. We also want to get the third sector involved in that rehabilitation programme. We will also announce reforms to the probation system, and one key focus will be on how the probation service gets people into employment.

[Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)]

Has there been progress on getting accurate job vacancy data from the Department for Work and Pensions in the areas to which prisoners will be released, to focus work preparation in prisons as effectively as possible?

[Elizabeth Truss]

We are working with the Department for Work and Pensions to get the data and make sure that they are much more linked up. By giving governors more power we will enable them to work with local employers in making sure that jobs are available. We are training people in prison and getting them into apprenticeships so that they can continue those apprenticeships and that work when they leave prison.

Prison Officers Association: Protest Action

Debate between Andrew Selous and Elizabeth Truss

Tuesday 15th November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

I support prison officers, who do a fantastic job. The people I am attacking are those in the Prison Officers Association who have called this illegal action, despite the fact that we were in talks with them and there was an offer on the table, which has not been responded to. I wholeheartedly support the good work of prison officers across the country, and I want them to benefit from the improvements we are making on the frontline and to safety. We are launching a new apprenticeship programme to recruit more people, and we have a new programme encouraging the brightest and best graduates to become prison officers. Of course these things will take time, but I have also talked today about the measures we are taking in the short term to stabilise the situation in our prisons.

[Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)]

Testing for psychoactive substances has the potential to be a game changer, so has there been an increase in the number of charges for possession? Has the message finally got through to people that if they take Spice, we will know they are doing it, they will be charged and they will take the consequences?

[Elizabeth Truss]

My hon. Friend clearly has much experience in this area and what he says is absolutely right. The prisons and probation ombudsman described psychoactive substances a game changer in our prison estate, and they are one of the reasons why we face the current situation. We rolled out testing in September, and we have trained 300 sniffer dogs to detect those substances. That will have an impact, and we are already beginning to see it in some of our prisons.

Prison Safety and Reform

Debate between Andrew Selous and Elizabeth Truss

Thursday 3rd November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

I can confirm we are developing the idea of women’s community prisons, which will be smaller-scale prisons specifically designed to address the needs of women. We will outline more about that in due course, and look at overall reform in respect of women offenders in the new year.

[Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)]

A little while ago a former prisoner said to me that when he left prison he could mop a floor very well but that was not going to pay the bills. In the recent Dame Glenys Stacey in-depth look at 86 prisoners, not one left to go to a job, so may I urge in particular a focus on construction skills from day one of a sentence, given that we need 300,000 construction workers to build the houses this country needs and the infrastructure for our economy?

[Elizabeth Truss]

I commend my hon. Friend for the work he did as prisons Minister in promoting employment. I have seen some excellent schemes in prison. For example, Costa Coffee is offering jobs and training people as baristas, and I have mentioned Land Securities looking for scaffolding and dry-lining workers and training them in prison. I completely agree with my hon. Friend that rather than doing work in prisons and then seeing what jobs are available on the outside, we need to look the opposite way round; we need to see what is available on the outside and make sure those are the skills we are training up in prisons, preferably with the employers who are then going to take those offenders on.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Selous and Elizabeth Truss

Tuesday 6th September 2016 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

There are many factors driving prison violence and self-harm. I am looking at the evidence about what will work and what steps we can take, but I am determined to tackle this. I am very clear that the current levels of violence are unacceptable.

[Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)]

May I also warmly congratulate the Secretary of State and the new ministerial team on their appointments? Of course we need more prison officers in prisons, but may I urge the Secretary of State and her Ministers to consider the greater use of prisoners as mentors? Wandsworth is leading the way, with 50 mentors providing teaching and education, but that could also be used in employment, for therapeutic purposes and to cut down the use of drugs.

[Elizabeth Truss]

As a Prisons Minister, my hon. Friend did tremendous work in this area; we are very much learning from the work that he carried out in the Department. He makes an important point, and I think we need to look at the overall culture in some of our best prisons. We have exemplary work going on, such as mentoring, and we need to make sure that that is happening right across our prison estate.