Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Diana Johnson and Phillip Lee

Tuesday 25th April 2017 Commons Chamber

[Dr Lee]

I thank the right hon. Lady for her question. I should have wished her the best of luck as she stands down at the election. She represents a town that I know very well, and I also know that she is a particularly popular Member of Parliament.

The building of the prisons should not be interpreted as increasing the number of places to lock women up in—that should be clear. On women’s centres, I agree that women often have very complex problems, and that is a reason why I, for one, am trying to increase the number of women’s centres in the country. As the right hon. Lady has rightly said, bringing everything under the same roof can really help those women to make the right turn in life, away from crime.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Diana Johnson and Phillip Lee

Tuesday 6th December 2016 Commons Chamber

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

Three Secretaries of State—for Justice, for Health, and for Communities and Local Government—believe that parents in Hull should have an independent inquiry to find out what happened to their babies’ ashes. Does the Secretary of State fully understand the disappointment of those parents that she will not stand up for justice for them by establishing an independent inquiry to find out what happened to those ashes?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Dr Phillip Lee)]

I am sympathetic to the hon. Lady’s concerns and I offer my sympathy again to her constituents. We are supportive of local historical investigations, but we do not plan to order an historical inquiry in Hull or elsewhere. Hull has made significant improvements, including by putting in place measures to improve practices across, and communication between, the cremation authority, local funeral directors and NHS trusts.