Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking with the Attorney General to ensure that people who carry knives are prosecuted.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
We work closely with the Attorney General and Home Office Ministers to ensure the Criminal Justice System commands public confidence and tackles crime effectively.
To address this and other serious crimes we’re recruiting 20,000 new police officers, investing £85 million in the CPS and building 10,000 additional prison places, together with the work of PCCs setting up Violence Reduction Units.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to increase prison capacity.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Prime Minister has made clear his focus on tackling crime and recently announced an investment of up to £2.5 billion to transform the prison estate and provide 10,000 additional prison places.
The 10,000 places are additional to the 3,500 places already announced, with construction already underway at Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, a new houseblock at HMP Stocken in Rutland, which was opened in June, and works at Glen Parva in Leicestershire, due to commence next year.
Our recent Spending Review settlement provides the funding for the Ministry of Justice to begin delivering the 10,000 additional places, with outline planning permission approved in September for a new prison at Full Sutton in East Riding of Yorkshire.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reduce levels of crime in prisons.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
We are taking decisive action to reduce the level of crime in prisons which has a devastating impact on prison safety and undermines our ability to protect the public and rehabilitate offenders.
We are investing £100 million in prison security as part of a crackdown on crime behind bars. We are targeting those who bring contraband, such as drugs and mobile phones, into prisons through enhanced gate security for staff and visitors and x-ray body scanners for prisoners. We are also stepping up our counter corruption capability and strengthening (in scale and reach) intelligence-led operations and investigations with law enforcement partners against those that present the greatest threat of harm to prison security and the community.
In May, we published the new Crime in Prison Referral Agreement between Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service, the police and the Crown Prosecution Service. This sets out how crimes committed within prison, such as serious assaults, will be referred to law enforcement, investigated and prosecuted. It provides a more consistent approach to dealing with these matters.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to help reduce rates of prisoner reoffending.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
This Government is committed to keeping the public safe and reducing reoffending by ensuring that all offenders have the tools they need to turn their backs on crime.
We know that offenders can have a range of needs, which often drive offending behaviour. Therefore, prisons and probation must provide the opportunity for rehabilitation. That is why we are focusing our efforts on supporting offenders to address any health and wellbeing issues; raise their levels of educational attainment and skills; get a job; and rebuild or reinforce their relationships.
A concerted cross-government effort is required to address reoffending. We recently announced a National Partnership Agreement with the DWP, which sets out how the departments will jointly drive rehabilitation and reduce reoffending. We also continue to work closely with our health and justice partners, and are collaborating with MHCLG and local authorities on our offender accommodation pilots.
In addition, we are making positive progress in implementing the recommendations set out by Lord Farmer in his report on strengthening prisoners’ family ties.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to modernise the courts and tribunal system.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Our £1bn modernisation programme has already started improving the experience of those who use and need our courts and tribunals.
More than 150,000 people used our new online justice services in 2018, taking the total number to just under 300,000 in the past four years.
The public can now apply for uncontested divorce online, apply for probate online, make pleas online for low-level offences (such as traffic offences or evading bus fare), respond to jury summonses, track social security appeals online, and issue and respond to civil money claims. Feedback from those who use our new services has been extremely positive.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to improve probation services.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
In May, we announced plans to strengthen probation by ending Community Rehabilitation Company contracts early and streamlining responsibilities for public, private and voluntary sector partners.
This means the National Probation Service taking on supervision of all offenders, the private sector continuing to drive innovation in interventions, and greater voluntary sector involvement in rehabilitation.
In July we published a Draft Operating Blueprint setting out further detail on our plans. We are continuing to test and refine the design for the future model with partners and stakeholders as plans for the transition take shape. In Wales we are proceeding with plans to move the responsibility for supervision of all offenders into the NPS by the end of 2019. Our experience there will help inform the approach to transition in England.
We continue to drive improvements in service delivery under existing arrangements, including investing £22m per year to support an additional 500 CRC staff in prisons delivering sustained support for offenders to find accommodation and employment on release.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government is taking to improve education in prisons.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Since the publication of the Education and Employment Strategy last year, we have overhauled the prison education system, giving governors control over their education budgets and have implemented a new approach to education provision
These fundamentally change how prison education is delivered. Governors now have the tools, and budget, to commission the education provision that best meets the needs of their prisoners and the local labour market.
To complement the Prison Education Framework which provides core education, we have developed a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS). This enables governors to commission bespoke education often from smaller suppliers, local and third sector organisations. This will enhance governors’ ability to find the training most responsive to employers’ requirements and most appropriate for prisoners’ learning needs.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department has taken to review the use of Out Of Court Disposals for shop theft; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rory Stewart
We recognise that shoplifting is not a victimless crime. It causes cost and disruption to businesses, as well as damage to communities and consumers. We encourage all victims, including shop workers, to report these crimes to the police so that they can be recorded and dealt with accordingly.
A report by the Centre for Social Justice issued last year concluded that people addicted to heroin and crack cocaine account for 70% of shop thefts. We are committed to ensuring the most vulnerable offenders, including those with drug addictions, are able to access support at the right time. This includes diverting offenders away from custody where appropriate.
Out of Court Disposals are one important tool available in addressing shop theft – they allow the police to deal quickly and proportionately with low-level offending. Where an Out of Court Disposal is appropriate, we encourage the use of disposals which have a condition attached (be that rehabilitative, reparative, punitive or restrictive). This can achieve rapid compensation and/or divert offenders into rehabilitative services to address the root causes of their offending behaviour.
We pay attention to trends and changes in the use of Out of Court Disposals on an ongoing basis.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to implement simplified Out of Court Disposals following the 2014 pilot on Adult Out of Court Disposals; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Out of Court Disposals (OOCDs) allow police to deal quickly and proportionately with low-level offending without recourse to the courts.
We are committed to ensuring the most vulnerable offenders can access community-based support, and recognise the benefits of early intervention. So, where an OOCD is appropriate, we encourage the use of disposals which have a condition attached (be that rehabilitative, reparative, punitive or restrictive), which can achieve rapid compensation for victims and/or divert offenders into rehabilitative services to address the root causes of their offending behaviour.
We are working in partnership with the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) whose Charging and Out of Court Disposals strategy supports forces moving to the simplified two-tier framework when it is operationally and financially viable.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing tougher sanctions for people attacking shop-workers; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Everyone has the right to feel safe at work and assaults on shop-workers are unacceptable.
There are a range of offences someone can be convicted of if they assault a shop-worker. Maximum penalties for offences are set by Parliament and include five years’ custody for assault occasioning actual bodily harm and life imprisonment for the most serious cases of causing grievous bodily harm. There are no plans to increase sentences for assault offences.
When making sentencing decisions the courts must follow the relevant sentencing guidelines, produced by the independent Sentencing Council. The Overarching principles: seriousness Guideline and Assault Guideline include an aggravating factor where ‘an offence is committed against those working in the public sector or providing a service to the public’. Where applied, this would merit an increased sentence within the maximum available. The Sentencing Council is reviewing its guidelines on assault and a consultation on a revised guideline is anticipated later this year.
On 21 January the Home Office announced the launch of a call for evidence on violence and abuse towards shop workers. The aim of this work is to strengthen our understanding of the issue, including how existing legislation is being applied. The National Retail Crime Steering Group will continue to provide input on tackling this issue.