Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Damian Green and John Pugh

Monday 28th April 2014 Commons Chamber

[Damian Green]

The hon. Lady is referring, I assume, to the Northern Ireland example, where I know that that kind of recruitment was done. I would point out that although she and I share the Metropolitan Police Commissioner’s desire to make the Metropolitan police force reflect better the community it serves across London, the situation is more complicated and variegated in London: London is a city of very many communities, not two. However, we are encouraging the Metropolitan police, working with it and the College of Policing, to use the parts of the Equality Act 2010 that allow a degree of flexibility to use mentoring and the language provisions that might be necessary for certain skills and to allow them to use the tipping point provisions if they have two candidates of equal merit to choose one from an under-represented community, so that they can achieve the commissioner’s ambition of making the force more representative.

[John Pugh (Southport) (LD)]

19. What assessment she has made of the relationship between recent trends in levels of crime and the cost to the public purse of the prison service.

[The Minister for Policing, Criminal Justice and Victims (Damian Green)]

Police recorded crime figures and the independent crime survey for England and Wales both show that crime has fallen by more than 10% under this Government. Over the same period, the number of people in prison has increased for a number of reasons, including the police detecting more crimes and longer sentences for more serious offences. Between 2010 and 2013, we made almost £400 million in savings across prisons through efficiencies, benchmarking and the capacity management programme.

[John Pugh]

I thank the Minister for that answer, but at what point does the fall in crime get reflected in a substantial decrease in penal and prison costs?

[Damian Green]

As I have just said, we have been imprisoning more serious criminals and locking them up for longer and we have been making savings in the prison system through efficiency programmes, so we are meeting my hon. Friend’s challenge already. Many people would argue that at least one of the reasons for the reduction in crime is precisely that we are locking more criminals up and keeping them in prison for longer.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Damian Green and John Pugh

Monday 27th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[John Pugh (Southport) (LD)]

T4. My constituent, Rebecca Holmes, was murdered by an abusive ex-partner while under the protection of the police. We have waited two years for an Independent Police Complaints Commission report in order to learn the lessons. Can the Minister do anything to hurry such reports along, or at any rate to monitor how slowly they go?

[The Minister for Policing, Criminal Justice and Victims (Damian Green)]

As my hon. Friend knows, the Government have given the IPCC extra resources and extra powers so it can carry out its work more efficiently. It is independent, so it would be inappropriate for me to comment on individual cases, but if he would like to send me more details, I will happily take up the general point with the IPCC.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Damian Green and John Pugh

Tuesday 17th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[John Pugh (Southport) (LD)]

22. What assessment he has made of trends in the number of cracked trials.

[The Minister for Policing, Criminal Justice and Victims (Damian Green)]

The number and proportion of trials which crack and the reasons for this is reported by the Ministry of Justice in quarterly court statistics. As part of the Government’s criminal justice strategy and action plan, Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service is working with the Crown Prosecution Service and the judiciary to improve performance in the summary justice system, including reducing the volume of cracked trials.

[John Pugh]

Has the number of cracked trials been in any way influenced by the reduction in the number of courts and court access?

[Damian Green]

No. The cracked trial rate in magistrates courts has remained fairly stable—between 43% and 45%—since 2006. I am happy to report that the rate in the Crown court has been falling steadily—from 43% in the third quarter of 2010 to 36% in the second quarter of 2013—so progress is being made.