Oral Answers to Questions
John Milne Excerpts(5 days, 22 hours ago)
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Shabana Mahmood
I believe the Prisons Minister may well be attending the event that the right hon. Member mentioned. I will happily pick that up in my regular conversations with trade union officials. She is right to highlight the scale of violence across our prison system. We are already taking measures, and I hope that the combination of sentencing reform and investment in our prisons will bring down the level of violence we are currently seeing.
John Milne (Horsham) (LD)
Katie White (Leeds North West) (Lab)
The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (Sarah Sackman)
This Government inherited a record and rising courts backlog from the previous Tory Government across every jurisdiction. Whether for a victim of crime, a parent, a business or an employee, backlogs mean waiting years for their day in court. We have taken swift action to invest in our courts, and courts in every jurisdiction are sitting at or close to maximum judicial capacity. We have announced record investment this year of £2.5 billion across all courts and tribunals, which will make a real difference to clear up the Tories’ mess.
John Milne
In my constituency of Horsham, I have been asked to support a woman left in limbo regarding the trial of her ex-partner on a domestic abuse charge. When she was finally given a date, the trial was pulled as a result of an administrative error as she sat waiting in the courtroom. A new date was set for a whole year later. She suffered emotional distress and had to take time off work, which cost her £500. She installed CCTV at her own expense and endured months of further intimidation. Will the Minister undertake to set clear guidelines about maximum waiting times for trials to solve the problem now and in the future?
Sarah Sackman
I am terribly sorry to hear about the case of the hon. Member’s constituent, which exemplifies exactly why we are so determined to grip the backlog in our Crown courts. That is also why we have asked Sir Brian Leveson to recommend a once-in-a-generation reform to deliver swifter justice for victims such as the hon. Member’s constituent. Ultimately, getting the backlog down so that we can look her in the eyes and say, “We can deliver swifter justice,” will make the real difference.
Oral Answers to Questions
John Milne Excerpts(1 month, 1 week ago)
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Shabana Mahmood
I think the country will hold to account those responsible for the absolute mess that this Government inherited. Nowhere in the right hon. Gentleman’s question did he acknowledge that under the Government of which he was a member and for which he campaigned, prisons were brought to the brink of collapse. These reforms are necessary. This Government will not allow our prisons to run out of places—the one thing everybody agrees we cannot allow to happen. The only reason that is a possibility is because of the Tory party.
John Milne (Horsham) (LD)
The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (Sarah Sackman)
I am well aware of the hon. Gentleman’s campaign to support young adults who lack mental capacity in accessing their child trust fund. I know that he met my predecessor, and following work that I am carrying out with counterparts in other Departments, I will be very pleased to meet him.
John Milne
My constituent has been through no fewer than eight Justice Secretaries, looking for a solution to the problem of locked child trust funds; he has had to start over again each time from scratch. Will the Minister give me and Mr Turner a clear understanding of what exactly the legal impediment is to a solution, and of what part of Government the objection is coming from, so that we can make a legal challenge to it, if necessary?