"It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Mundell. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Irene Campbell) for securing this important debate.
I echo colleagues from across the House in thanking Paris Shears, who is in the Public Gallery, for bringing this …..." Jake Richards - View Speech
"We debated that legislation as it passed through the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Indeed, I was in the main Chamber last week when we had an urgent question on that issue, and the Lord Chancellor was there in September. We will no doubt debate the issue …..." Jake Richards - View Speech
As I have already touched on, my hon. Friend the Member for Forest of Dean (Matt Bishop) and others made the point that early guilty pleas and discounts must be considered very carefully in the context of controlling and coercive behaviour. It is a …..." Jake Richards - View Speech
"This Government inherited a prison system on the brink of collapse. In July 2024, men’s prisons were operating at 99% capacity. At one point, fewer than 100 places were available across the male estate. Without intervention, we risked running out of prison places, leaving courts unable to sentence offenders and …..." Jake Richards - View Speech
"I am grateful for the hon. Member’s questions. I noticed over conference recess that the hon. Member for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston (Neil O’Brien), who I think is the Conservatives’ policy chief, apologised for the lack of investment and action on criminal justice over 14 years of Conservative Governments. It …..." Jake Richards - View Speech
"My hon. Friend is right to highlight the importance of not just having a tagging regime that works, but making sure that that regime is robustly monitored and scrutinised. Since March of this year, there have been improvements by Serco, the company that is operating the tagging regime. My hon. …..." Jake Richards - View Speech
"I thank the hon. Member for her questions. Of course, we want to ensure that when prisoners are released and it is necessary for them to be tagged—there is a presumption that those who will be released will be tagged—they will be tagged at source as soon as possible. Of …..." Jake Richards - View Speech
"We have debated the cohorts who are subject to the new regime at length in this place, both during the passing of the Sentencing Act and in relation to the changes that were made over the summer. When we returned to this place, the Justice Secretary rightly came to the …..." Jake Richards - View Speech
"I thank my hon. Friend for her question. Of course, she is a long-standing campaigner on these issues, and she is right that the criminal justice system has failed domestic abuse victims for too long. The Minister for Victims is working at pace with the Minister for Prisons, Probation and …..." Jake Richards - View Speech