Asked by: Oliver Colvile (Conservative - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the level of drugs in prisons.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The Justice Secretary is clear that safety is fundamental to the proper functioning of our justice system and a vital part of our reform plans. There are a number of factors, including the availability of drugs in prisons, which must be tackled in order to make our prisons safe and places of rehabilitation.
We have introduced tough new laws which will see those who smuggle packages over prison walls, including new psychoactive substances, face up to two years in prison. Those who involve themselves in the distribution of drugs in our prisons should know that they could face prosecution and extra time behind bars. We have a range of security measures and searching techniques in place to detect drugs, and to prevent smuggling into prisons.
I am looking closely at this important issue, and will be setting our further plans in due course.
Asked by: Oliver Colvile (Conservative - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to combat the supply of drugs into prisons.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The Justice Secretary is clear that safety is fundamental to the proper functioning of our justice system and a vital part of our reform plans. There are a number of factors, including the availability of drugs in prisons, which must be tackled in order to make our prisons safe and places of rehabilitation.
We have introduced tough new laws which will see those who smuggle packages over prison walls, including new psychoactive substances, face up to two years in prison. Those who involve themselves in the distribution of drugs in our prisons should know that they could face prosecution and extra time behind bars. We have a range of security measures and searching techniques in place to detect drugs, and to prevent smuggling into prisons.
I am looking closely at this important issue, and will be setting our further plans in due course.
Asked by: Oliver Colvile (Conservative - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what training and information is given to magistrates' clerks to ensure that they operate in accordance with the Armed Forces Covenant.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
The responsibility for the training of Magistrates and their legal advisers lies with the Lord Chief Justice as head of the judiciary and is exercised through the Judicial College.
The Government’s response to the November 2014 Stephen Phillips’ Review into ‘Former Members of the Armed Forces and the Criminal Justice System’, included a commitment by the Judicial College to consider whether the Bench Book should be updated to include former service personnel as a separate group.
The Judicial College concluded that their Equal Treatment Bench Book already sufficiently covers many of the important aspects of fair treatment and makes some suggestions as to the steps that judges can take in different situations, to ensure that there is fairness and equality of outcome for all those involved in the justice process.