Charlie Dewhirst
Main Page: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)Department Debates - View all Charlie Dewhirst's debates with the Ministry of Justice
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Charlie Dewhirst Excerpts(5 days, 16 hours ago)
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Jake Richards
My hon. Friend has raised that particular issue, and indeed the issue more generally, with me on numerous occasions. To the extent that I am allowed to make such promises at the Dispatch Box, I will ensure that he has the right meeting with the appropriate Minister.
Charlie Dewhirst (Bridlington and The Wolds) (Con)
I must take umbrage at the idea that the last Government were too slow to react. HMP Millsike, in my constituency, was given planning approval in September 2019, but it took six years to build, and according to the latest figures it still has 344 empty cells. Should the Minister not be moving heaven and earth to ensure that we fill every available cell, rather than releasing dangerous criminals back on to our streets?
Jake Richards
As I have said, the Leader of the Opposition has apologised for the Conservatives’ record, but some of them have not got the message. As for the use of space, the hon. Member is right to say that we need to maximise the prison estate. The Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary, from this Dispatch Box, made it clear that he was looking at how we could maximise all parts of the estate. However, as I said earlier, it is not quite as straightforward as a simple numbers game, because there are different categories of prison and different geographical demands. One in seven of the prison population are on recall and many are on remand, so they need to be near the appropriate courts. It is not quite as straightforward as the hon. Member would like to suggest, but of course we are determined to use every single space that we can.