Contributions
923 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDOffenders: Pregnant WomenI will pick up on that last point first. We are seeking to ensure that courts have all relevant information when making bail and sentencing decisions. The default is that, if…17 Nov 2021HANSARDOffenders: Pregnant WomenThe obligation to have regard to whether somebody is a primary carer is part of the sentencing guidelines, which are mandatory and must be followed by all sentencers in all parts…17 Nov 2021HANSARDOffenders: Pregnant WomenThe noble Lord is absolutely right to identify that this is an area where we need my department and the NHS to work together. The important thing is that women in prison must have…17 Nov 2021HANSARDOffenders: Pregnant WomenThe noble Lord is absolutely right that the design of prisons is important in this context. We are providing more, newer and better-designed places in the women’s estate. That has…17 Nov 2021HANSARDOffenders: Pregnant WomenMy Lords, there is rather a lot in that. As far as the ombudsman is concerned, we and the Prison and Probation Service have accepted and completed the implementation of the…17 Nov 2021HANSARDOffenders: Pregnant WomenMy Lords, I am afraid that I am not convinced that a new statutory duty is the way to resolve this. I think the statutory framework is sufficient. What we need to ensure is that…17 Nov 2021HANSARDOffenders: Pregnant WomenMy Lords, all new prison officers working within the women’s estate will complete a new module on pregnancy, which is starting in January. We are also developing a two-day course…17 Nov 2021HANSARDOffenders: Pregnant WomenIt is very important that the implementation of sentencing guidelines is a matter for independent judges and not government Ministers. What I can say is that judges and sentencers…17 Nov 2021HANSARDPolice, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill17 Nov 2021HANSARDPolice, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill17 Nov 2021HANSARDPolice, Crime, Sentencing and Courts BillMy Lords, as the amendments’ explanatory statements make clear, and as the noble Lord, Lord Marks of Henley-on-Thames, identified, the intention is to provide for the…17 Nov 2021HANSARDPolice, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill17 Nov 2021HANSARDPolice, Crime, Sentencing and Courts BillMy Lords, these amendments in my name make two straightforward revisions which will allow these provisions to operate more effectively and support the principle of open justice…17 Nov 2021HANSARDPolice, Crime, Sentencing and Courts BillMy Lords, this probing amendment from the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, would require the courts to impose a sentence with the requirement to attend a residential…17 Nov 2021HANSARDPolice, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill17 Nov 2021HANSARDPolice, Crime, Sentencing and Courts BillMy Lords, this was an especially thoughtful and constructive debate. I agree with the words that the noble Lord, Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede, used to describe the debate. His…17 Nov 2021HANSARDPolice, Crime, Sentencing and Courts BillI was going to come to that point, but let me deal with it now. BSL is treated as a language. It has its own grammatical structure and syntax; it is recognised as a minority…17 Nov 2021HANSARDPolice, Crime, Sentencing and Courts BillMy Lords, I am grateful again to the Committee for a very interesting and wide-ranging debate. I thank my noble friend Lord Deben for the most back-handed compliment I have ever…17 Nov 2021HANSARDPolice, Crime, Sentencing and Courts BillAbsolutely. I do not disagree that face to face is better; no doubt that is what we all feel in this Committee—that it operates much better when we are in the same room than it…17 Nov 2021HANSARDPolice, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill17 Nov 2021