Oral Answers to Questions

Mark Sewards Excerpts

Tuesday 10th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Alex Davies-Jones]

I will ensure that the hon. Member’s comments are passed to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Minister responsible for water quality. I can confirm that we are committed to delivering for nature, taking action to meet our targets in the Environment Act 2021, and that we work in partnership with civil society, communities and businesses to restore and protect our natural world.

[Mr Mark Sewards (Leeds South West and Morley) (Lab)]

8. What steps her Department is taking to help reduce reoffending.

[Dan Aldridge (Weston-super-Mare) (Lab)]

15. What steps her Department is taking to help reduce reoffending.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Sir Nicholas Dakin)]

We will expand our transitional accommodation service and launch employment councils to strengthen the relationship between employers and HM Prison and Probation Service.

[Mr Sewards]

People who commit crimes should be prosecuted and put in prison as quickly as possible. It is also clear that we need to do more to reduce reoffending rates in order to keep the public safe. To keep up with the current demand for prison places, we need to build three mega-jails a year, costing the taxpayer millions. Given those facts, does the Minister agree that we need to invest in technology to bring reoffending rates down, so that we can help those people turn their lives around and, crucially, keep the public safe?

[Sir Nicholas Dakin]

Absolutely; public safety is our No. 1 priority and new technology gives us every advantage to do things differently. That is one of the things that the independent sentencing review under David Gauke will be looking at.