Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Watts Excerpts

Tuesday 31st January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Dave Watts (St Helens North) (Lab)]

10. What steps he plans to take to maintain public safety when implementing his plans for the future of the Probation Service.

[Martin Caton (Gower) (Lab)]

12. What steps he plans to take to maintain public safety when implementing his plans for the future of the Probation Service.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Mr Kenneth Clarke)]

Public safety will always be of paramount importance when we are considering the way in which probation services are delivered. We are working on proposals to deliver more effective and efficient probation services, and will present them for consultation shortly.

[Mr Watts]

How does the Secretary of State plan to help the probation service to deal with the increased risk to the public, given his proposal for the abolition of indeterminate sentences for public protection?

[Mr Clarke]

We debated that at great length in the House. IPPs were regarded by most people in the field of criminal justice as a complete disaster when they were approved in the last Parliament, and our proposed reform of them was strongly welcomed by most who practised in that field. We are replacing them with tough determinate sentences, of which people will serve two thirds before they are eligible for release. Even then, they will not be released unless the Parole Board is satisfied that they have completed their sentences. We were acquiring an impossible system before that, under which thousands of people were accumulating in prison with no real prospect of a rational basis for their release.