Simon Hoare
Main Page: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)Department Debates - View all Simon Hoare's debates with the Ministry of Justice
Prisoner Early Release Scheme
Simon Hoare Excerpts(1 day, 11 hours ago)
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Jake Richards
My hon. Friend is right that a disproportionate amount of the prison estate is taken up by those who have been in care. It goes to the heart of the debate about how we confront reoffending. We know that reoffending makes up such a large degree of the criminality that we see on our streets. When people come into contact with the criminal justice system, they too often leave it more likely to commit crimes, and we have got to tackle that. It is an issue not only of capacity, but of investment in probation. In fact, just earlier today, the Leader of the Opposition said that she wants to support dealing with reoffending. That was a sensible, grown-up intervention by her, and I was surprised to read it. I look forward to working with her on those issues in the months ahead.
Simon Hoare (North Dorset) (Con)
I have Guys Marsh prison in my constituency. It provides valued jobs, and I pay tribute to the prison officers who work there. The Minister will know that all of these policies flow from the pressure on spaces in our prison estate. Not that long ago, the Government had Crown prerogative powers to bring forward new prisons or to extend prisons without going through a lengthy planning process. That would solve the problem at a stroke. Why will the Minister not investigate that in order to speed up an expansion in prison spaces?
Jake Richards
The hon. Member has raised that point on a number of occasions when we have had the opportunity to debate this issue. He is right that we need to look at how we can fast-track planning infrastructure projects of real national importance, such as prisons, and I know that the Prisons Minister and the Justice Secretary are keeping a close eye on that. I just gently push back that some of the hon. Member’s colleagues on the Conservative Benches spend a lot of their time opposing the building of prisons in their constituencies. The hon. Member for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston (Neil O’Brien), who has apologised for the Conservatives’ record on criminal justice, spends a lot of time opposing the building of the prison in his constituency.