Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the risks faced by prison officers in London; and what steps he is taking to improve the safety of prison officers.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Violence against our dedicated staff will never be tolerated. We work closely with the Police and the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure that prisoners who are violent towards staff will face the full consequences of their actions. We continue to support the effective use of the current 6,000 Body Worn Video Cameras across the estate, enabling every operational band 3-5 officer on duty to carry a camera, gathering vital evidence to enable prosecutions, and improve safety outcomes.
Continuous analysis is being undertaken to look at staff assaults within prison, and we are committed to making prisons a safe place to work and providing prison officers with the right support, training, and tools to empower them to do their jobs. As London prisons ease restrictions, they will be focusing on analysing regime and violence data to improve our understanding of the links between the two, using the opportunity we have in re-opening our regimes to engage in conflict resolution and restorative justice work. Safety is a key priority area for prisons, and we have committed to invest £34m of ring-fenced investment over the next three years to improve key safety outcomes by making prisons safer for both prisoners and staff. Further, we are continuing to deliver on our £100 million security investment programme with X-ray body scanners being installed in prisons across the estate along with the establishment and expansion of our Serious Organised Crime unit, and Crime in Prisons taskforce.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the findings in Human Rights Watch's 4 March 2022 publication, The UK Sees no Evil in Bahrain’s Detention of Children, that were critical of the Government statements on Bahrain’s Restorative Justice Law for Children, if the Government will make it its policy to (a) confirm its opposition to Bahrain’s Restorative Justice Law for Children and (b) make representations to the Government of Bahrain calling for the immediate release of six children detained in Bahrain who had their detention renewed on 6 March 2022.
Answered by Amanda Milling
The UK takes account of a wide variety of sources when assessing its policies. We continue to believe that Bahrain's Restorative Justice Law for Children provides greater protections for children's rights than the law it replaces, and is consistent with Article 37 of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. We welcome its entry into force and continue to support the Government of Bahrain's efforts to ensure the law is fully and effectively implemented. We encourage those with concerns to raise them directly with the relevant oversight bodies.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Streatham and Croydon North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department holds on the proportion of victims who are told about the option of Restorative Justice and how to access it.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Government supports and funds the provision of good quality, victim-focused restorative justice, to help victims cope and recover from the effects of crime.
Under the Victims’ Code, all victims have the right to receive information about how to access restorative justice services in their local area. This information may be provided at any stage of the criminal justice process. The Ministry of Justice does not collect data on the number of victims who receive this information.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of Bahrain regarding the reported detention of six children without clear justification or allowing their parents to be present during questioning.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
We welcome the entry into force in August 2021 of the Restorative Justice Law for Children and support Bahraini Government efforts to ensure the law is fully and effectively implemented. It would not be appropriate to comment further on the specific case mentioned while it is sub judice. We encourage those with concerns to raise them directly with the relevant oversight bodies.
Asked by: Brendan O'Hara (Scottish National Party - Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2022 to Question 114769, if she will make an assessment of the compatibility of the statement in that Answer that Bahrain’s Restorative Justice Law for Children specifically addresses Article 37 of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child, and the findings of Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy and Human Rights Watch report of 7 February 2022 that Bahrain continues to arbitrarily detain six children and that Bahrain should revise the Restorative Justice Law for Children.
Answered by Amanda Milling
We welcome the entry into force in August 2021 of the Restorative Justice Law for Children and support Bahraini Government efforts to ensure the law is fully and effectively implemented. It would not be appropriate to comment further on the specific case mentioned while it is sub judice. We encourage those with concerns to raise them directly with the relevant oversight bodies.
Asked by: Baroness Debbonaire (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department plans to make an assessment of the (a) nature and (b) impact on victims of crime of restorative justice in the context of the Victims' Bill consultation.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Under the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime all victims must be told about the option of restorative justice and how to access it. We have just consulted on how we can enshrine the Victims’ Code in legislation, to send a clear signal about what victims can and should expect from the criminal justice system. We also provide grant funding to Police and Crime Commissioners for victims’ support services, including restorative justice. In 2021/22, we are providing c£115m of grant funding to Police and Crime Commissioners for victims’ support services, including restorative justice. We will further bolster support for victims of crime, by increasing MoJ funding for victim and witness support services to £185 million by 2024-25. PCCs are required to report to the Ministry of Justice every six months on the delivery of the funding, which we monitor closely. The National Probation Service is developing a new framework for restorative justice to ensure a more consistent approach, focusing on the people for whom it will make the biggest difference. I am carefully considering the recommendations of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Restorative Justice’s report and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Debbonaire (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reason restorative justice is not included in the Victims Bill consultation.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
We have just consulted on how we can enshrine the Victims’ Code in legislation through the Victims’ Bill, to send a clear signal about what victims can and should expect from the criminal justice system. Under the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime all victims must be told about the option of Restorative Justice and how to access it. In 2021/22, we are providing c£115m of grant funding to Police and Crime Commissioners for victims’ support services, including Restorative Justice. We will further bolster support for victims of crime, by increasing MoJ funding for victim and witness support services to £185 million by 2024-25.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will bring forward a new Restorative Justice Action Plan, to replace the previous Plan that expired in 2018.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
Under the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime, all victims must be told about the option of Restorative Justice and how to access it. We will use the Victims’ Bill to enshrine the Code into legislation, sending a clear signal that the justice system must deliver for victims.
We provide grant funding to Police and Crime Commissioners for victims’ support services, including Restorative Justice. In the 2020-21 year, they spent £3.7 million from the funding we provided on restorative justice services. We will further bolster support for victims of crime, by increasing MoJ funding for victim and witness support services to £185 million by 2024-25.
The probation service is also working on a new framework for restorative justice, to ensure a more consistent approach, focusing on the people for whom it will make the biggest difference. I am carefully considering the recommendations of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Restorative Justice, which includes publication of a new action plan, and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Brendan O'Hara (Scottish National Party - Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the impact of the Bahraini legislation entitled Justice law for children and their protection from ill-treatment on preventing detention of children; what representations the Government plans to make to the government of Bahrain on (a) due process violations in respect of the detention of children in that country and (b) releasing children who have been detained; and what information his Department holds on the reported ongoing detention of six children in Beit Batelco in Bahrain since 27 December 2021.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
On 1 February, the Public Prosecutor in Bahrain announced the detention of six children at a child protection centre following an assessment by a behavioural expert and referral to a judge in the Child Corrective Justice Court in accordance with the provisions of the Restorative Justice Law. We welcome the entry into force in August 2021 of the Restorative Justice Law for Children which specifically addresses Article 37 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and support Bahraini government efforts to ensure the law is fully and effectively implemented.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent steps he has taken to ensure that judges receive training in restorative justice.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
To preserve the independence of the judiciary, the Lord Chief Justice (LCJ), the Senior President of the Tribunals, and the Chief Coroner have statutory responsibility for judicial training, under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, and Coroners and Justice Act 2009 respectively. These responsibilities are exercised through the Judicial College. The judiciary and professional staff in the Judicial College are responsible for the design, content, and delivery of judicial training.
The Judicial College uses sentencing exercises as part of both induction and continuation training. One of the topics covered in those exercises is restorative justice.