Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Edward Argar and Ed Davey

Tuesday 5th May 2020 Commons Chamber

[Edward Argar]

The Government did act in looking at all previous modelling and all previous exercises. That is why the UK was well prepared. Let me take the example of ventilators, which she mentioned. The UK has massively increased the number of ventilators available to our NHS, meaning that at no point thus far in this pandemic has there been a shortage of ventilators. I reiterate, returning to the original question, that participating in those four initial joint procurement schemes with the EU would not have allowed us to do anything we have not already been able to do for ourselves.

[Sir Edward Davey (Kingston and Surbiton) (LD)]

What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of personal protective equipment for the social care workforce.

Justice

Debate between Edward Argar and Ed Davey

Monday 22nd October 2018 Ministerial Corrections

[Sir Edward Davey (Kingston and Surbiton) (LD)]

I am glad that the Minister prefers sport to chain gangs, but can he tell the House when the use of sport for prisoner rehabilitation will be the norm, rather than the exception?

[Edward Argar]

The right hon. Gentleman is right to highlight again the importance of sport. The report published by Professor Meek in the summer, of which we have accepted 53 of the 54 recommendations, sets out a clear direction of travel—that is, alongside education and developing skills, and provisions for mental and physical health, sport plays a key role for prisoners in the rehabilitative process.

[Official Report, 9 October 2018, Vol. 647, c. 11-12.]

Letter of correction from the Under-Secretary of State for Justice, the hon. Member for Charnwood (Edward Argar):

An error has been identified in the response that I gave to the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Sir Edward Davey).

The correct response should have been:

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Edward Argar and Ed Davey

Tuesday 9th October 2018 Commons Chamber

[Edward Argar]

My hon. Friend raises an important point; she has done a lot of work in this area and more broadly around mental health. Sport can play a significant role in addressing mental health issues in prison, but so too can arts, education and others approaches, as she highlights. If she feels that it would be useful, I would be happy to meet her to discuss further her visit and what she took away from it.

[Sir Edward Davey (Kingston and Surbiton) (LD)]

I am glad that the Minister prefers sport to chain gangs, but can he tell the House when the use of sport for prisoner rehabilitation will be the norm, rather than the exception?

Victims Strategy

Debate between Edward Argar and Ed Davey

Monday 10th September 2018 Commons Chamber

[Edward Argar]

I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s question. He has raised that issue previously, particularly in his work as a member of the Justice Committee. He will be encouraged to hear that there are a number of references to the operation of the Parole Board in the strategy, and we will see later this year the Government’s response to the consultation about the operation of the Parole Board. On his specific point, the strategy sets out how the Parole Board will move towards a presumption that victims can, if they wish, read out a victim personal statement in that process.

[Sir Edward Davey (Kingston and Surbiton) (LD)]

I warmly welcome the Minister’s statement. Many of the promises the Government are making today have cross-party support. I am sure the Minister will recognise that without adequate funding to put them into practice, many of those promises will be empty. In the 50 pages of the victims strategy, I counted what looked like a commitment to £60 million of new funding. Is that it, or is there any extra funding, to make sure that we are not just legislating but doing?

[Edward Argar]

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his kind words and the tone with which he approaches this important issue. As I set out in response to the hon. Member for Ashfield (Gloria De Piero), around £200 million of funding has already been spent on supporting victims of crime throughout the system. We believe that that can be better spent by joining it up more effectively and spending it in ways that reflect what victims say they need. The right hon. Gentleman will also see in the strategy a commitment, for example, to an additional £8 million to support children who have witnessed domestic abuse and domestic violence. That funding is already secured.