Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Dominic Raab and Elizabeth Truss(8 years ago)
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Mr Dominic Raab (Esher and Walton) (Con)
Does the Secretary of State agree that we need bold reform to cut reoffending and that that must mean giving prison governors the powers and the accountability to innovate, especially when it comes to skills training and drugs rehabilitation in the prisons that they run?
Elizabeth Truss
My hon. Friend is nothing but bold. I absolutely agree with him that we need to change the way we are doing things, because the fact is that we have had a persistently high reoffending rate. Almost half the people in prison will reoffend within a year, and that is not acceptable. We need to give governors the power to turn lives around, to get people off drugs and to get them into work.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Dominic Raab and Elizabeth Truss(8 years, 2 months ago)
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Mr Dominic Raab (Esher and Walton) (Con)
The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Elizabeth Truss)
First, I would like to pay tribute to my hon. Friend’s work on human rights reform as a Minister in this Department. He is a great champion of liberty.
The Government are committed to scrapping the Human Rights Act and introducing a British Bill of Rights.
Mr Raab
May I say at the outset that it is an honour to be the first Member to welcome the new Justice Secretary and the new Front-Bench team to their posts? I wish them every success. I also reassure my right hon. Friend, from experience, that being a lawyer is of very limited value in her Department—no offence to the Minister of State.
Britain’s decision to leave the EU will remove the jurisdiction of the Luxembourg Court, which is probably the biggest obstacle to delivering a Bill of Rights. May I welcome my right hon. Friend’s statement on the intention to continue this reform and encourage the Government to proceed to consultation as soon as possible?
Elizabeth Truss
This is an important reform; we need to get it right. We will be introducing proposals in due course. We will deliver on this manifesto commitment.