Contributions
1,309 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDOperation Safeguard: November 2022There was an unprecedented short-term rate of growth in the requirement for places in adult male prisons in October and November, and Operation Safeguard creates a contingency to…10 Jan 2023HANSARDOperation Safeguard: November 2022As I said, Operation Safeguard is a contingency that provides additional headroom; we are not currently housing prisoners in cells as a result of Operation Safeguard. The hon.…10 Jan 2023HANSARDTopical QuestionsI am delighted to hear that result and I totally agree with my hon. Friend on the importance of youth offending teams. They have been a great success since 2010 in reducing the…10 Jan 2023HANSARDOperation Safeguard: November 2022That is similar to the point of the hon. Member for Eltham (Clive Efford). Of course, all the services are linked, but as with the Prison Service—it is a fact across many…10 Jan 2023HANSARDTopical QuestionsWe are also locking up fewer women and that is right where it is possible to avoid incarceration. We are investing large amounts of money into an increased accommodation offer. I…10 Jan 2023HANSARDOperation Safeguard: November 2022My hon. Friend is correct that there are a large number of foreign national offenders in our prisons, and facilitating the movement back to their home country is important. We…10 Jan 2023HANSARD Offenders (Day of Release from Detention) BillI start by congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Barrow and Furness (Simon Fell) on bringing forward this important Bill. It is a simple change, but the measure he has…02 Dec 2022HANSARD Prison CapacityI commend my hon. Friend and thank him for everything that he did while he was prisons Minister at the Ministry of Justice, where he is much missed. He is right to identify both…30 Nov 2022HANSARD Prison CapacityThe hon. Lady made two important points. First, there is quite rightly screening and prioritisation to do with individual characteristics, including individual risks, when…30 Nov 2022HANSARD Prison CapacityYes—twice. We are not embarking on the policy that the previous Labour Government instituted in 2007, along the lines that my right hon. Friend mentioned. He is also right that a…30 Nov 2022HANSARD Prison CapacityThank you, Mr Speaker. May I open with a sincere apology for what you have just referred to? With the way timings have worked out today, we got this wrong, and I apologise for it.…30 Nov 2022HANSARD Prison CapacityForeign national offenders are a significant minority of the prison population and it is important that we have a good process to remove them. As my hon. Friend will know, in the…30 Nov 2022HANSARD Prison CapacityThe criminal justice system and imprisonment have a number of different objectives, but what they all have in common is public safety. The single most important thing we can do to…30 Nov 2022HANSARD Prison CapacityI thank the Chair of the Select Committee for those important questions and points. He is right that the prison population has been growing of late, although it is not at its…30 Nov 2022HANSARD Prison CapacityIt is always a pleasure to meet my hon. Friend and discussing that report would be an admirable reason to do so. There is much more awareness of this issue now than in times past.…30 Nov 2022HANSARD Prison CapacityThe Government make no apologies for all we are doing to keep dangerous criminals off the street, and I make no apologies for the programme to recruit 20,000 more police officers,…30 Nov 2022HANSARD Prison CapacityThe hon. Gentleman is right that this is a devolved policy matter, but I am open—indeed, keen—to speaking to colleagues in the devolved Administrations and other jurisdictions. I…30 Nov 2022HANSARD Prison CapacityI will be honest: I was not familiar with that particular scheme. I imagine that, in the right hon. Gentleman’s usual fashion, he will ensure that I am fully versed in it by the…30 Nov 2022HANSARD Prison CapacityThe right hon. Lady raises an important point about probation, which is an incredibly important profession. It can be an attractive career for many people, with a real, strong…30 Nov 2022HANSARD Prison CapacityAs ever, I thank the Select Committee that covers the Department for its work, including on that report. As my hon. Friend knows, a response to that particular report will be…30 Nov 2022