Violence Reduction, Policing and Criminal Justice

Gavin Williamson Excerpts

Wednesday 15th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Darren Henry (Broxtowe) (Con)]

I would like to start by thanking His Majesty King Charles III for his speech and echoing the comments of many of my hon. Friends and colleagues regarding how special it is to be speaking in the first King’s Speech debate for 70 years. Today’s debate on policing and the criminal justice system is of particular significance, as these are issues I am often contacted about as the Member of Parliament for Broxtowe. The safety of our families and loved ones must be of the highest priority.

It was reassuring to see the Sentencing Bill announced in the King’s Speech. Tougher sentences for the worst offenders will ensure that dangerous individuals are off our streets and not endangering the public. I would like to put on record my personal thanks to all those police officers in the UK who serve our country, especially those within Nottinghamshire, and also to thank all those who work for the police in supporting roles. I will single out one individual in particular: neighbourhood policing inspector, Inspector Mike Ebbins, who I regularly meet to discuss the specific crimes affecting people in Broxtowe. It is essential that we are keeping our communities safe. This will also be achieved through the Criminal Justice Bill, which seeks to empower our police forces and justice system to prevent crimes such as digitally enabled crime.

I am glad to see a focus on the welfare of victims. Keeping victims at the centre of our criminal justice system and ensuring that as much support as possible is in place for them is essential. I welcome these new measures, especially the proposals in the Victims and Prisoners Bill to monitor how criminal justice bodies comply with the victims code. The Bill also sets out plans to improve support for victims, including a statutory duty for partner agencies to collaborate. The Bill will have a hugely positive impact on those most needing our support.

I would like to put on record my deep disappointment that a mental health Bill was left out of the King’s Speech. Since first being elected, I have been campaigning for mental health reform and the increased support that is desperately needed across the UK. I was encouraged recently when the Government published the suicide prevention strategy, but it does not go far enough. I stood in this Chamber in 2020 and debated the huge merits of the Mental Health Act White Paper. Having a person-centred approach to in-patient facilities, and removing autism and learning disabilities from being categorised in the Act as mental health disorders, are changes that are missing today, and that is of course a detriment to many throughout the UK. I implore the Government to start prioritising mental health reform as soon as possible.

The King’s Speech also discussed the importance of looking after veterans. As a veteran myself, I am passionate that the UK should become the best country in the world for a veteran to live. The Government have made huge strides in veteran care in recent years, and we have the first ever Minister for Veterans’ Affairs attending Cabinet in order to prioritise that care. We have had many successes in improving services for veterans since establishing the Office for Veterans’ Affairs, such as the dedicated referral pathways for mental health, physical health and homelessness established by Operation Courage, Operation Restore and Operation Fortitude.

I recently had the pleasure of opening the first ever military service leavers pathway into policing, which I am proud to champion. The course is the first of its kind, and I look forward to seeing service leavers take up their place in Nottinghamshire police.

[Sir Gavin Williamson (South Staffordshire) (Con)]

My hon. Friend makes a very interesting point on the value that veterans can contribute not just to public sector employers such as the police but to so many private sector employers. Military service is a driver in raising skill levels. Does he have any thoughts on how these skills could be better used in future?

[Darren Henry]

I completely agree with my right hon. Friend about the value of veterans’ transferable skills, teambuilding and sense of duty. Those things are important and can be transferred to many forms of employment, particularly policing.

The military-to-policing scheme gives veterans a direct pathway into the police via the police constable degree apprenticeship, ensuring that skills gained in the military are transferred to a new career following a shortened training scheme.

It would be remiss of me not to mention my disappointment at seeing incredibly important areas, such as mental health, not addressed in the King’s Speech, as they should have been. However, I welcome the proposed Bills and believe that many will have a directly positive impact on my constituents in Broxtowe.

Oral Answers to Questions

Gavin Williamson Excerpts

Thursday 18th April 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Vaizey]

I have worked closely with my hon. Friend on some of the community projects that she has championed in her constituency. If her constituents are watching this morning, I can tell them that they have no more doughty champion. She stops me at every possible occasion to raise these issues. She and I have worked together to push through the bureaucracy and get these innovative community projects up and running, so of course I welcome them.

[Gavin Williamson (South Staffordshire) (Con)]

4. What steps she is taking to promote tourism on inland waterways.

[The Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Hugh Robertson)]

The Government, through VisitEngland, promote tourism on inland waterways in a number of ways. Inland waterways have benefited from Government funding through the £25 million rural growth fund and a £1 billion contribution to the Canal and River Trust.

[Gavin Williamson]

South Staffordshire has some of the finest canals in England, with the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal and the Shropshire Union canal. What more can my right hon. Friend do to encourage not only more domestic tourists, but more international tourists to discover the delights of our canals, which would bring much-needed business not just to rural communities, but to our towns and cities?

[Hugh Robertson]

I have a very simple and, I hope, positive answer for my hon. Friend. VisitBritain will actively market all of Britain’s canals and waterways on its public-facing website. I hope that that will achieve the effect that he desires.

Oral Answers to Questions

Gavin Williamson Excerpts

Tuesday 19th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

I have met personally with representatives of Big Society Capital and other organisations in the social finance sector. I believe that this is an enormous opportunity for the sector, and I want it to be involved in the work that we are doing. Combining the skills of the voluntary sector with the social finance sector could play a powerful part in what we are trying to achieve.

[Gavin Williamson (South Staffordshire) (Con)]

9. What powers there are to confiscate unauthorised property found in prisoners’ possession.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Jeremy Wright)]

Prison governors or directors have the power under prison rules to confiscate any unauthorised item found in the possession of a prisoner or elsewhere within a prison. In addition, following the excellent stewardship of my hon. Friend the Member for Pudsey (Stuart Andrew), the Prisons (Property) Act 2013, which received Royal Assent on 28 February, will, when commenced, provide prison governors and directors with a statutory power to destroy or otherwise dispose of unauthorised property confiscated from a prisoner.

[Gavin Williamson]

Many of my constituents in South Staffordshire believe that many prisoners have far too many home comforts in their cells, and that there is far too much contraband in the prison system. What action has my hon. Friend taken to make sure that we run a spartan regime, and not a holiday camp?

[Jeremy Wright]

My hon. Friend can reassure his constituents that prisoners will no longer watch Sky subscription television channels, and they will no longer watch 18-rated DVDs. As my hon. Friend knows, we are looking comprehensively at the incentives and earned privileges scheme in prisons to make sure that prisoners earn any incentives and privileges that they receive.

Presumption of Death Bill

Gavin Williamson Excerpts

Friday 2nd November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Gavin Williamson (South Staffordshire) (Con)]

It is a privilege to be called to speak in this debate. I echo the congratulations to my hon. Friend the Member for Salisbury (John Glen) on his success in the ballot and choosing this Bill. I also note the immense work on this issue that has been done by the Justice Committee and the all-party parliamentary group on runaway and missing children and adults. Other hon. Members have also mentioned the immense amount of work done by the charities Missing People and The Children’s Society.

Far too often we forget how many people go missing every year. I was looking at the statistics just yesterday for 2009 and 2010, and there were more than 1,000 reports every day, amounting to 356,000 people being reported missing. Of course, many of those people quickly returned home or were found. In fact, the vast majority are back home with their loved ones within 24 hours, but many others do not return home. Indeed, in that year, some 2,000 people were still missing after a long period. Many of those people have not passed away, thankfully, but they are never heard of again. Many families are left in limbo, not knowing what to do or which way to go. After they have experienced that amount of stress and level of concern, they may be faced with the reality that their loved one will never return, that their life may have been taken. What can the families do? Unfortunately, there is no simple process in England and Wales, as my hon. Friend clearly demonstrated. It is an immensely complex system.

On rare occasions, the procedure has been overridden, such as after the tsunami in 2004, when very swift action was taken to deal with that devastating and horrendous loss of life. But that, I am afraid, is the exception. We have so often heard that there are processes in place for families to follow to deal with this situation, but in fact they are immensely complex. I am not a solicitor—I am very much a layperson—and when I read through what had to be done I was shocked by the complexity. The coroner’s inquest under section 15 of the Coroners Act 1988 provides that a coroner may report to the Secretary of State where he or she has reason to believe that a violent, unnatural or sudden death with unknown cause has occurred in or near his or her district but that the body is irrecoverable or has been destroyed. On receipt of such a report the Secretary of State, if he considers it desirable, may issue a direction to the coroner to hold an inquest. A death certificate will be issued as a result of the inquest.

That procedure was used after the tsunami struck, but it is very difficult to go down that route. In the past, Ministers have said that there are other options, including the decree of presumption of death and dissolution of marriage or the presumption of death order under section 19 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 and section 37 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004. There is also the leave to swear death, when a person goes missing and a member of the missing person’s family wishes to obtain a grant of probate in order to administer the estate of the missing person, and the certificate of presumed death. When people are at their lowest, faced with a dreadful trauma, they must deal with this incredibly legalistic and complex process. It does not help families in great distress. It is absolutely right, therefore, that my hon. Friend the Member for Salisbury has introduced this Bill. He has been very thoughtful in trying to ensure that it goes through.

As the hon. Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn) pointed out, there is legislation in Scotland and Northern Ireland dealing with this subject. It is not about inventing something new but about learning from the very best practice and about seeing what is out there and making it relevant here, in England and Wales. That is what my hon. Friend has done. A lot of the equivalent legislation introduced in Northern Ireland dealt with the issue of those who were missing as part of the troubles. Of course, we do not have that legacy in England and Wales, but the distress of families is as acute here as in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

It is comforting to think that this Bill will help families. My hon. Friend mentioned that it was almost impossible to access life insurance and spoke about people losing their home and everything they had. I think of my family’s distress if I went missing—some colleagues might be quite grateful—and how they would deal with it. How would they pay the mortgage? How would they live? How would my children be fed? They would not want to have to worry about that; they would just want the state on their side and, having paid their premiums, would want their insurance company to support them. This Bill goes a long way towards ensuring that people in that incredibly difficult and awful position are not left alone.

It is a great pleasure to support the Bill, and I wish my hon. Friend the best of luck in Committee. I support it wholeheartedly.

Oral Answers to Questions

Gavin Williamson Excerpts

Tuesday 18th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Damian Green]

In the first instance, I find it extraordinary that the hon. Gentleman should attack all PCC candidates, including his own right hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff South and Penarth (Alun Michael), who has just announced that he is a PCC candidate, and that the hon. Gentleman is telling the people of south Wales that his right hon. Friend would not spend the money as well as I would. That is an extraordinary assertion. As for the second half of the hon. Gentleman’s extraordinary question, we will, of course, look at what best to do, and we will want to bring back the scheme, but in a better form so that individual cases can be treated in a more individual and sensitive way. I assure him that if he condemns every PCC candidate as being unable to deal with public money before they are even elected, he really does not understand democracy.

[Gavin Williamson (South Staffordshire) (Con)]

4. What steps he plans to take to reduce the number of foreign nationals in prisons.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Jeremy Wright)]

The UK Border Agency removed 4,649 foreign national offenders from this country in 2011, but there is, of course, much more to do, so we are seeking to negotiate more compulsory prisoner transfer agreements and to improve administrative processes so that foreign national offenders are removed at the earliest opportunity. We also hope to reduce the flow into the criminal justice system through conditional cautions and to reduce the number already serving prison sentences through the early removal scheme and the tariff-expired removal scheme.

[Gavin Williamson]

We would all like to welcome my hon. Friend to his new position and wish him the very best.

Over the last decade, we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of foreign prisoners detained in our prisons. Many people in South Staffordshire feel that we are having greater trouble deporting these prisoners because of the European convention on human rights. What my constituents want to know is: what is my hon. Friend going to do to reverse that trend?

[Jeremy Wright]

My hon. Friend and his constituents are right to be worried. It is true that foreign national offenders will continue to challenge deportation under article 8 of the ECHR, but he will be pleased to know that this Government have changed the immigration rules. New rules came into force in July this year so that only in exceptional circumstances will family life, the best interests of a child or private life outweigh criminality and the public interest in seeing foreign national offenders deported where they have received a substantial sentence. That is a better balance between the interests of foreign criminals and the interests of the British public in being protected from them, which have been neglected for far too long.

Oral Answers to Questions

Gavin Williamson Excerpts

Tuesday 8th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Clarke]

I am sorry, but I missed the second point. Is the point of the question communication disability? [Interruption.] Prison projections are very difficult to make, and that is why we have the equivalent of the fan-shaped projections that the Bank of England produces on inflation forecasts. It has always been the same with prison forecasts.

The future prison population will depend on all kinds of things beyond the control of the Government, but the prison estate is well placed to meet the demand. Eventually it will all depend on whether we have long and protracted youth unemployment, how far the recession has retracted, and how successful we are with our rehabilitation revolution, workplace reform, skills training, education reform and so on. The Prison Service is there to meet the demand, but we expect the demand to be reasonably stable.

[Gavin Williamson (South Staffordshire) (Con)]

I am sure that my right hon. and learned Friend is aware of the importance of the construction of the Featherstone 2 prison, which is currently being built in my constituency, but can he assure the House that he will do all he can to encourage G4S, the operator, to employ people locally, so that we have not just the disadvantages of a prison being built, but some of the advantages?

[Mr Clarke]

Featherstone 2 is one of two new prisons that we have coming on stream in 2012, and I am sure that it will provide a very valuable source of local employment when it opens, as it is quite a large prison. It will also, of course, contribute to our battle against crime and to the need to punish serious criminals.

Prisons Competition

Gavin Williamson Excerpts

Thursday 31st March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Clarke]

None has been terminated due to poor performance, as far as I am aware.

[Gavin Williamson (South Staffordshire) (Con)]

I am sure that my right hon. and learned Friend is aware that not only Featherstone 2 but Featherstone and Brinsford are in my constituency. The latter two are excellent prisons because of the dedication and commitment of their prison staff. Can he assure me that the same levels of training and support offered to the prison officers at those two prisons will be offered to the staff at Featherstone 2?