James Wild
Main Page: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)Department Debates - View all James Wild's debates with the Ministry of Justice
(2 weeks, 4 days ago)
Commons ChamberWe value youth services, such as the Duke of Edinburgh’s award scheme, that enable young people to develop new skills to turn their lives around. In fact, the D of E scheme is available in all five of our young offender institutions, and 36 people in YOIs were enrolled in the scheme in August.
Last week I met former prisoners who had taken part in Greene King’s Releasing Potential scheme, which is now being expanded with two further training kitchens going into prisons to help people turn their lives around. What are the Government doing to boost such programmes, and the employment advisory boards that we set up, to ensure that while prisoners are rightly punished they are also rehabilitated?
Such schemes and initiatives are exactly the sort of thing that this Government want to celebrate as best practice and replicate in other settings.
The shadow Secretary of State has not necessarily been in position long enough to have acquainted himself with all aspects of his Government’s performance in this area. We will spend more this year on building the prison places that the last Government failed to deliver, and we have launched our landmark sentencing review to ensure that we never again have to make emergency releases.
HMP Garth has been likened to an airport because of the number of drones that illegally fly drugs into that prison. What urgent action is the Lord Chancellor taking to end that unacceptable situation?
Drugs getting into prison is a huge issue, and I am very aware of the issues at Garth. The Minister with responsibility for prisons will meet the governors and think about how to deal with those problems in the medium and long term.