Oral Answers to Questions

Phillip Lee Excerpts

Tuesday 24th April 2018 Commons Chamber

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

5. What his policy is on introducing a victims law.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Dr Phillip Lee)]

Supporting victims of crime is a priority for the Government and we have made a commitment to publish a victims strategy by this summer. The strategy will set out our cross-Government approach to make fundamental improvements for victims. It will also consider how compliance with the entitlements in the victims code might be improved and better monitored, and how criminal justice agencies responsible for the delivery of entitlements might be better held to account.

[Nick Smith]

The Minister has promised us a strategy by the summer, but a victims law was offered in the 2015 Conservative manifesto and included in the following Queen’s Speech and reiterated in the 2017 general election. When will this long-promised law finally see the light of day?

[Dr Lee]

We are considering both legislative and non-legislative measures. If any legislation is required to underpin the victims code, we will bring it forward when parliamentary time allows.

[Sir Edward Davey (Kingston and Surbiton) (LD)]

With respect to victims of domestic abuse, will the Minister consider women who are not eligible for legal aid to help with their divorce after domestic abuse, including women who currently fail the means test due to their having a share in a valuable family home? Will he meet me to discuss the problems that such women face in paying for basic legal advice?

[Dr Lee]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for the question. Yes, he has a point with regard to the funding of domestic abuse cases from legal aid. My ministerial colleagues are fully aware of this issue, and I am more than happy to meet him.

[Gloria De Piero (Ashfield) (Lab)]

Mr Speaker,

“Why should victims always have to be fighting their corner? That’s why we need a victims’ law.”

They are not my words, but the words of the Government’s Victims’ Commissioner. Can we be clear: will she and all the other people who are calling for it get a victims law?

[Dr Lee]

My intention in the strategy is to outline the legislative requirements needed to underpin the victims code. By definition, that is a victims law.

[John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (Con)]

7. What steps the Government are taking to ensure that the UK legal system continues to operate effectively after the UK leaves the EU.

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[Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD)]

10. What steps his Department is taking to improve mental health support for prisoners.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Dr Phillip Lee)]

We are committed to improving the provision of and access to mental health services for those in the justice system. We continue to roll out the keyworker role across the closed male estate so that all prisoners will have a named officer to provide them with dedicated support during their sentence. As the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, my hon. Friend the Member for Penrith and The Border (Rory Stewart), said earlier, 14,600 prison staff have now completed at least one module of this training.

[Christine Jardine]

Figures show that, in March 2017, 75% of prisoners in England and Wales with serious mental health problems experienced significant delays in their transfer to hospital for treatment. Last month, an independent review of mental health assessment reported delays to transfer, with one of the reasons being the delay by the Ministry of Justice in sanctioning transfers. Given the pressure on those suffering poor mental health, surely this is important enough to require swifter action. What steps is the Minister taking to address the problem?

[Dr Lee]

I became responsible last September for the unit in the Ministry of Justice that authorises the transfer of patients from the criminal justice system into secure accommodation. We have had some internal difficulties, which I inherited, with the staffing of the unit, but things are improving. I get a weekly update on the number of people in the system who need to be transferred. I am under no illusions about the need to expedite those transfers, and I am in weekly contact with the Department of Health and Social Care about the need to assess the capacity at low, medium and high-security levels in the secure accommodation network.

[Vicky Foxcroft (Lewisham, Deptford) (Lab)]

11. What assessment he has made of reoffending rates since the part-privatisation of probation services.

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[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

16. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to provide a more efficient and accountable criminal justice system for victims of domestic abuse.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Dr Phillip Lee)]

Since 2010, the Government have made tackling domestic abuse an absolute priority. Last month, the Prime Minister launched the violence against women and girls strategy at No. 10, and following on from that I attended the first roadshow event, at Edgbaston cricket ground in Birmingham, to meet victims of domestic abuse and campaigners.[Official Report, 11 May 2018, Vol. 640, c. 12MC.]

[Robert Halfon]

Safer Places is a remarkable and extraordinary domestic violence charity in my constituency. It has highlighted the problem of the delay between domestic violence incidents being reported and finally getting to court. What are the Government doing to reduce the time between the incidents being reported and getting to court, so that the perpetrators of this evil abuse can be brought to trial more quickly?

[Dr Lee]

The police response to domestic abuse has improved in recent years, and action has been taken to address the inspector of constabulary’s recommendation that domestic abuse should be a force-wide priority. The police are referring over 19,000 more cases to the Crown Prosecution Service than they were in 2010. In the courts, the listing of cases is a judicial function, and they have a responsibility to ensure that all cases are heard by an appropriate judge with the minimum of delay.

[Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield) (Lab)]

17. What recent representations he has received on legal aid for families of the victims of the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings.

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[Kevin Hollinrake (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)]

One of my constituents is fighting for justice, having suffered horrific physical and sexual abuse at Medomsley youth detention centre in the 1970s. Will my hon. Friend please update the House on the likely timescales for compensation and further convictions?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Dr Phillip Lee)]

I thank my hon. Friend for the question. The case that he refers to is a tragedy, and I am aware of it. We are in the middle of the independent inquiry into child sex abuse, and the interim report is out this week. Officials from my Department are fully engaged with that, and we are conscious that in some institutions that the Department is responsible for allegations have been made that child abuse has taken place in the past. Once we have a handle on that totally, we can start talking about the possibility of compensation.

[Chris Law (Dundee West) (SNP)]

A failure to agree on arrangements in international family law risks leaving a serious gap in the legal framework for proceedings involving children with family connections to the UK. Can the Secretary of State confirm what contingency planning is being undertaken to deal with that risk?