Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidance his Department has issued on flying flags other than the Union flag on court buildings.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Department of Culture, Media and Sport is responsible for issuing guidance on the flying of flags on Government buildings, including the Union flag and other flags. Any guidance shared with the courts on flag flying by HMCTS has been issued by DCMS.
HMCTS has not shared any guidance on flying flags other than the Union flag in 2023.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect on the number of custodial sentences imposed of the requirement for Gender Recognition Certificates when imposing a custodial prison sentence.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
There is no requirement for Gender Recognition Certificates (GRCs) when imposing a custodial prison sentence. The Government’s policy in relation to the care and management of individuals who are transgender in custody, including those holding a GRC, was published in July 2019 and is available on Govt.UK. The number of transgender offenders in custody is published annually as part of the HMPPS Equality Statistics.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce costs across the prison estate.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
I refer the Hon. Member to my previous response given to PQ 3793 on 30 October 2019.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the findings of the study published in the International Journal of Epidemiology on 29 January 2020, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the effect of drinking alcohol during pregnancy on children's (a) intelligence and (b) weight; and if he will take steps to criminalise excessive drinking of alcohol during a known pregnancy.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
No discussions have taken place between the Justice Secretary and Health Secretary on this matter. Any decision on whether to criminalise excessive drinking of alcohol during a known pregnancy would be a matter for the Department for Health and Social Care.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce costs across the prison estate.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
It remains the case that we are investing in our prisons to deliver value for the taxpayer but, more importantly, rehabilitate offenders to reduce their likelihood of reoffending – which costs society around £18 billion each year.
As part of the Government’s wider law and order agenda we have committed to:
Although we are significantly investing in prisons, we are continuing with efforts to drive efficiencies across the estate to ensure as much money as possible goes back into keeping our prisons safe, decent and secure. This includes empowering Governors to make local decisions on how to spend their budget in a way that creates the most value for money and efficiency, and through better use of technology including video conferencing; facial recognition technology; and kiosks.
In addition, we want to support Governors in reaching out into communities to ensure that we join up across our system and work with others to address the needs of offenders to stop them coming into or returning to custody.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to make whole-life orders mandatory when sentencing people found guilty of the murder of a child; and how many child murderers were released into Hampshire in the last 10 years.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Whole-life orders are the most severe form of punishment that the courts can impose, as such they are reserved for the most heinous cases of murder.
Schedule 21 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 sets out that a whole life order is currently the appropriate starting point for the murder of a child involving the abduction of a child or sexual or sadistic motivation. As part of a forthcoming Sentencing Bill, we will look at extending the range of circumstances where the starting point, in cases of murder, is a whole life order. We do not publish information on the areas that offenders are released to for operational security reasons.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to prevent prisoners uploading footage and accessing YouTube and other social media channels in prison; and if he will provide prison officers with enhanced (a) powers and (b) technology to find and seize mobile phones hidden inside prisoners' bodies.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) is taking decisive action to stop mobile phones from entering prison and, where they do get in, finding them and stopping them from working.
HMPPS already has significant powers to search people on entry to prison. We are investing £100 million in prison security with tough airport-style security and X-ray body scanners to detect contraband such as mobile phones, hidden inside prisoners’ bodies
During a prisoner’s period of detention HMPPS may conduct searches of the person, property, cell and area searches, aided by dedicated search teams, metal-detecting scanners and phone detection technology.
To strengthen HMPPS’ ability to find mobile phones and stop them from working, last year amendments were made to the Prisons (Interference with Wireless Telegraphy Act) 2012. These amendments would enable public communications providers, such as a mobile phone network operator, to be authorised to interfere with wireless telegraphy in prisons. Working with mobile network operators, as industry experts, will place HMPPS in a better position to develop future-proofed solutions. In addition, Telecommunication Restriction Orders have allowed HMPPS to block the use of specific mobile phones in prisons.
In the meantime, HMPPS’ award winning Digital Investigations Unit works with prisons to identify offenders accessing websites and shuts their access down quickly. In 2018, over 594 social media profiles were removed.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce costs across the prison estate.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy (a) to toughen sentencing guidelines for people found to have watched videos of child abuse and (b) to not implement the recommendation of the report, published by JUSTICE on 10 June 2019, entitled Prosecuting Sexual Offences, that calls for people found in possession of indecent images of children to not face prosecution if they successfully complete a Conditional Diversion Scheme.
Answered by Robert Buckland
Sentencing guidelines are a matter for the independent Sentencing Council. The courts are required to follow any guidelines relevant to the case before them, including the definitive guideline on Sexual Offences which came into effect on 1 April 2014.
The Government has no current plans to implement the recommendation of the JUSTICE report to pilot a conditional diversion scheme for individuals who have viewed indecent images of children.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Government response to the consultation on reform of the legal requirements for divorce, what steps he took to consult with the public before proposing change to the divorce laws.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government’s consultation was predicated on the clear need for reform to reduce hostility and conflict between divorcing parents, which leave their mark on children and damage their life chances. We therefore sought views on how best to achieve this, not on the case for reform.
We held a full public consultation over twelve weeks last year to test our detailed proposals in light of the widest possible range of views and insights. We have reflected on the points raised in the consultation from all perspectives, not just from the many individuals and organisations who were supportive. A YouGov poll on the day we set out our proposals suggested 73% support for removing blame from the legal process. We have detailed the final results of the consultation in our response and outlined people’s views on all sides, and we remain grateful to everyone who responded.