Draft Criminal Justice Act 2003 (Suitability for Fixed Term Recall) Order 2024

Debate between Shailesh Vara and Ruth Cadbury

Monday 11th March 2024 General Committees

[Shailesh Vara]

The hon. Lady is making an important point on the work levels of probation officers. However, does she agree that it is better that low-level offenders are not kept in prison unnecessarily for long periods, associating with more hardened criminals from whom they may pick up habits that would be to their detriment when they are released? It is better that they are outside if, all matters considered, they are of a low level. That is notwithstanding the pressures on the probation service; I recognise that problem, but it is one to be dealt with.

[Ruth Cadbury]

I agree with the principle that the right hon. Member mentions. However, we are talking about people who have been recalled—those who have been in prison, released and then recalled for some reason. It is a small part of the serious problem of the high level of reoffending, which we do not have time to go into today. We need to address the reoffending rate, but that is for a different debate.

I have a lot of respect for the Minister, but I believe that we have had a dozen Prison Ministers in the last decade. We have had more Ministers than new prisons. The prisons that we have are in a dreadful state: they have sewage in cells, urine on walls and, in the case of HMP Dartmoor, radioactive radon gas seeping in, which has resulted in the closure of more than 150 cells.

This SI is part of the Government’s prompt response to the prisons crisis. As the right hon. Member for North West Cambridgeshire has said, it is shifting the pressure from prisons on to, as I have said, the overstretched probation service. Probation staff are overworked and undervalued, and we know that there are huge vacancies and problems with staff retention. The Minister will no doubt respond by saying that 2,000 new probation officers have been recruited, but we know that 19% of the new starters left within the first year.

Cases that require experience are being left to probation officers with too little of it and who have been in post only a few months, sometimes with tragic consequences. Many officers leave because they are stressed. Nearly 50,000 work days were lost in 2022 because of stress among probation staff.

Some of those being released early have committed offences relating to domestic abuse. I know that there are some exceptions in the SI, but will there be enough time to ensure that victims are informed before their release? As I have said, cutting from 28 to 14 days means that a lot will have to be done. Will there be time for that key element to be addressed on behalf of the victims?

Additionally, I have heard from probation officers that we are back to offenders being released early on a Friday afternoon, which is contrary to Ministry of Justice policy stating, quite rightly, that release must take place early in the week. We know that those Friday releases make it extremely difficult for probation staff and the charities that support the work to ensure that adequate housing and other support are in place as soon as the prisoner comes out of the gates. Can the Minister confirm that the MOJ still has a policy of no Friday releases from prison, and why is that not being fully implemented? Why am I hearing from probation officers that they are dealing with Friday releases?

One of the core functions of the probation service is public protection. We have seen warning after warning—there have been too many damning cases, whether it was Damien Bendall, Jordan McSweeney or Joshua Jacques. Our probation service is at breaking point, and the public are the ones at risk from that. The Government have pointed to the Sentencing Bill as a way out of the crisis, but I am taking this opportunity to ask the Minister to confirm on the record when the Sentencing Bill will be returning. Can he confirm that Committee stage will be happening and, if so, when? Will he confirm that the Bill will not get pulled?

We have all read the latest account of blue on blue in The Times today, which suggested that No. 10 are dragging their feet because they are worried about their Back Benchers. I remind the Minister that we are in this Committee today because we do not have enough prisons or enough prison places—and that is because the Government have failed to stand up to their own Back Benchers with the new prison proposals.

This crisis is not victimless. The capacity crisis in prisons is also hitting victims of crime. As the reoffending rate continues to rise, prisoners are not getting the access they need to the classes, training or sessions that help to reduce their reoffending, improve their behaviour, treat their addiction or anger management and so on. This measure is not going to reduce reoffending if there has not been time to put together the elements of an essential support package once through the prison gate.

I also remind the Minister that the Government have acknowledged that the changes they are introducing to address the prison overcrowding crisis are putting huge pressures on our probation service but we have not seen any policy changes since October around probation. We have heard warm words, but we have seen no action.

Frontline probation officers are having to work on their days off and in their holidays in a frantic bid to keep the public safe, but they are being set up to fail. The Ministry of Justice and Ministers seem to be trying to pretend that there is no crisis and seem to be allergic to releasing information on these various schemes that are releasing prisoners early. Probation officers frankly do not have faith in the Government after 14 years of failure, and this SI is yet another admission of failure.

Employment Tribunal Fees

Debate between Shailesh Vara and Ruth Cadbury

Tuesday 1st December 2015 Westminster Hall

[Mr Vara]

I maintain that it is too simplistic to say that the fees were responsible for the drop. If the hon. Gentleman will bear with me for just a moment, I will explain the other reasons that may have contributed to the decline in the numbers. As I have already mentioned, ACAS’s evaluation of the service suggests that the early results are promising. It is noteworthy that the trend was that the number of claims was declining before fees were introduced. It is likely that that was related, at least in part, to the improving economy, which has delivered higher levels of employment. The economy and employment have continued to improve, and it is therefore likely that we would have continued to see a trend of falling claim numbers, irrespective of whether fees were introduced.

[Ruth Cadbury]

The Minister says that there was a decline for other reasons. The figures that we heard earlier in the debate were of 60% drops and even a 90% drop in certain types of cases. Was the level of drop in claims that the Minister saw of that order?

[Mr Vara]

I am giving a general analysis of the number of claims that were made to the employment tribunal. The trend of the total number of claims was declining. The hon. Lady seeks to talk about specific types of cases, and I am not going to go into that. I am talking about the general trend, because the debate and the numbers given so far have been broad and have related to the total number of applications received to employment tribunals.

Draft Maximum Number of Judges Order 2015

Debate between Shailesh Vara and Ruth Cadbury

Thursday 22nd October 2015 General Committees

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Mr Shailesh Vara)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Maximum Number of Judges Order 2015.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this morning, Mr Davies. I anticipate that this sitting will be brief.

The effect of the draft order is simply to increase the number of Court of Appeal judges by one. The number is set by statute under section 2 of the Senior Courts Act 1981, which currently provides for a maximum of 38 Court of Appeal judges. In March 2015, Lord Justice Pitchford, an existing Court of Appeal judge, was appointed by the Home Secretary to lead an inquiry into undercover policing and the operation of the Metropolitan police’s special demonstration squad. The inquiry, which began on 17 July, was established under the Inquiries Act 2005 and is anticipated to conclude around the end of 2018.

Having been appointed as such, Lord Justice Pitchford remains a Court of Appeal judge and remains counted in the current complement of 38. However, he is unable to fulfil any duties in the Court of Appeal while he leads the inquiry. To ensure that the total number of Court of Appeal judges available for deployment remains at current levels, it is necessary to increase their number by one. There is no method for revising the number of Court of Appeal judges other than by this order. This is a reasonable amendment that aims to maintain the complement of Court of Appeal judges while one of their members is engaged in other important work.

[Ruth Cadbury (Brentford and Isleworth) (Lab)]

I note that only eight women are Court of Appeal judges. I do not know how many are black and minority ethnic, but only 7% of judges across all courts and tribunals are BME. Might this be an opportunity to address some of the diversity issues among the judiciary?

[Mr Vara]

The hon. Lady makes a good point. We are very keen that there should be proper judicial diversity. The judiciary should include women and people from diverse ethnic and social backgrounds. I think that the hon. Lady would agree that it is nevertheless important that we have people with the right qualities, but I entirely agree that we should do everything possible to increase diversity. There is a set procedure for appointing a Court of Appeal judge. I am sure that when they consider who to appoint, they will bear in mind what the hon. Lady has articulated and what I know is felt across the political divide. She makes a good point and I thank her for that.