Prisons: Children of Prisoners

Debate between Baroness Vere of Norbiton and Lord Laming

Tuesday 30th October 2018 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

My Lords, this is a very complicated area. The noble Baroness is not quite right: we do encourage courts to ask defendants, whether they are male or female, whether they have dependent children. What happens is that some mothers, in particular, fear that their child might then be taken into care, and they may well have made their own informal arrangements for that child and therefore think, “Actually, I’m not disclosing that I have children”. It is therefore very difficult for us to pick up that information.

The noble Baroness mentioned Barnardo’s. I pay tribute to the work that it has done on the National Information Centre on Children of Offenders, a comprehensive website that was launched in May this year so that all government agencies, both nationally and locally, can find out best practice and work out the diverse needs of these very vulnerable children.

[Lord Laming (CB)]

My Lords, does the Minister agree that one of the reasons why we have these very short sentences of two weeks and the like is that the courts appear to have lost confidence in the non-custodial arrangements that have been made, particularly given the decline in the standing of the probation service? What steps are being taken to recover the position of probation supervision?

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

The noble Lord is right that there has been a move away from community sentences, which perhaps has been because the quality has not been there. However, we are turning that around. We are looking at improving the provision of mental health, alcohol and drugs treatment locally, so that court-ordered treatment can run alongside community sentences. On the point about probation, we have re-established the National Sentencer Probation Forum, in which people who hand out sentences and the probation service can discuss what issues need to be sorted out to ensure that the provisions are there for these community-based sentences. I think all noble Lords will agree with me that the more that we can use them, the better for all involved.

Divorce Law

Debate between Baroness Vere of Norbiton and Lord Laming

Thursday 6th September 2018 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

The noble Lord is quite right: collaboration should be at the heart of all divorcing couples, but, at the moment, three in five divorcing couples use conduct-based allegations, which create a huge amount of conflict. As I said, the Government are looking extremely closely at ways to reduce conflict in divorce, whether that be no fault, financial provisions or enforceable nuptial agreements. I very much hope that noble Lords will see progress in the near future.

[Lord Laming (CB)]

My Lords, building on what the Minister has just said, which was most welcome, as those discussions take place, will there be a rigorous determination to keep the well-being of the children of the marriage in sharp focus, because children are often injured in conflict and we ought to do everything we can to protect them?

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

I should like to reassure the noble Lord. Children are at the heart of many divorces, and we must ensure that orders as to where children spend their time or in terms of financial contributions are made with the children at their heart and are fair to both divorcing people.

Disposable Cups Ban

Debate between Baroness Vere of Norbiton and Lord Laming

Monday 21st May 2018 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

I thank my noble friend for his question. In fact, 88% of all local authorities now recycle the most widely recycled materials, including plastic bottles. Obviously, there is much more to be done; many other types of plastics cannot currently be recycled. We are, for example, looking at black plastic and working with the industry. We expect a sustainable recycling system to be in place by the end of 2018.

[Lord Laming (CB)]

My Lords, does the Minister agree that at least Parliament is moving forward and moving toward producing a range of compostable materials, including cups?

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

The noble Lord is right. However, there is always an issue with biodegradable-type plastic: it does not degrade. When we recycle plastic, we often need the structure of the plastic to hold its form so that it can be used for other materials. Of course, biodegradables and compostables go to mush and are of no use as recycling materials.