Oral Answers to Questions

Simon Fell Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Christian Wakeford (Bury South) (Con)]

What plans he has to include proposals on improving the protection of the public in the forthcoming sentencing White Paper.

[Simon Fell (Barrow and Furness) (Con)]

What plans he has to include proposals on improving the protection of the public in the forthcoming sentencing White Paper.

[Jonathan Gullis (Stoke-on-Trent North) (Con)]

What plans he has to include proposals on improving the protection of the public in the forthcoming sentencing White Paper.

--- Later in debate ---

[Robert Buckland]

My hon. Friend is right to talk about changes in technology that can be harnessed to improve the way in which we monitor offenders and drive out crime. The White Paper contains important measures to utilise GPS technology. For example, we will use electronic location monitoring to track burglars following their release from custody. That will allow probation to monitor the whereabouts of an offender and, where appropriate, share that data with the police, which will help in the investigation and prosecution of further offences.

[Simon Fell]

Protecting the public cuts both ways. I welcome the plans in the sentencing White Paper to ensure that those convicted of the most serious crimes spend longer in prison, but given the impact of covid on the court system, those on remand face long delays to have their cases heard. What plans does my right hon. and learned Friend have to ensure that those in that position will see justice sooner rather than later, the public will be protected and community tensions will be tamped down as much as possible?

[Robert Buckland]

My hon. Friend will be glad to know that, as a result of the hard work of Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service and the judiciary, we are already reaching a turning point in our magistrates courts, with disposals exceeding receipts. In the Crown court, we continue to scale up jury trials, with more than 100 jury trials being heard every week in our Crown courts. We will have 250 courtrooms ready for jury trials by the end of October, which includes using existing capacity, with safety measures such as Perspex screens, up to 30 Nightingale courtrooms, experiments with different court hours and a range of measures that are designed to reduce the wait for the victims of crime.