Contributions
215 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDPrisons: ViolenceI agree with my hon. Friend. The additional 4,300 prison officers will help to ensure that we can do this. A particular area on which I have been keen to focus is the education…05 Feb 2019HANSARDPrisons: ViolenceMy hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I pay tribute to the work that she does in this area. I know that she is a frequent visitor to Chelmsford prison in her capacity as its…05 Feb 2019HANSARDPrisons: ViolenceThe hon. Lady makes an important point. We have formed a drugs taskforce and we are working with law enforcement and with health partners across Government to restrict supply,…05 Feb 2019HANSARDPrisons: ViolenceI am grateful for that question, and I would be happy to meet the right hon. Gentleman. I know he regularly meets the Under-Secretary of State for Justice, my hon. Friend the…05 Feb 2019HANSARDPrisons: ViolenceClearly, the figures set out last week, which relate to what was happening in July, August and September 2018, are not acceptable and we need to bring those numbers down. That is…05 Feb 2019HANSARDPrison Officer SafetyWe do not tolerate violence against our dedicated and hard-working prison officers. We are strengthening frontline officer numbers and rolling out the key worker scheme so that we…05 Feb 2019HANSARDPrison Officer SafetyMy hon. Friend makes a fair point, and it is important that crimes committed within prisons are taken seriously, just as crimes committed outside prisons are taken seriously. We…05 Feb 2019HANSARDPrisons: ViolenceThe scourge of violence in prisons must be tackled. To do this, we need to get the basics right. We have strengthened the frontline with more than 4,300 new staff so that we can…05 Feb 2019HANSARDImprisonmentIn reality, sentences and the prison population have gone up in recent years. I maintain that there are circumstances in which significant prison sentences are right as a means of…05 Feb 2019HANSARDImprisonmentI will focus on the approach that I want to take in England and Wales. If we can find effective alternatives to short sentences, it is not a question of pursuing a soft-justice…05 Feb 2019HANSARDImprisonmentI completely agree with the Chair of the Justice Committee. There are serious crimes for which a strong custodial sentence is exactly the right answer, but there are also cases…05 Feb 2019HANSARDImprisonmentThe hon. Lady makes a very important point. If someone is given a short sentence, it can mean that they lose their home, which would put them in a more difficult position, and…05 Feb 2019HANSARDImprisonmentI am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising a very serious incident. Such attacks are truly dreadful and have life-changing consequences, and anyone committing them must feel the…05 Feb 2019HANSARDImprisonmentSentencing must match the severity of the crime, but there is persuasive evidence that short sentences do not work in helping some offenders to turn their backs on crime, which is…05 Feb 2019HANSARDTopical QuestionsI am loth to provide legal advice, but the right hon. Gentleman has clearly raised a significant point. I would like to hear more of what he is saying and I am happy to discuss…05 Feb 2019HANSARDProbation ServiceWe have made it clear that the probation system needs to improve, and we have taken decisive action to end current community rehabilitation company contracts and to develop more…05 Feb 2019HANSARDPrison Officer SafetyMy hon. Friend rightly highlights an horrific incident, and I know the prisons Minister has already replied to a letter from him on this matter. We are fully committed to…05 Feb 2019HANSARDPrison Officer SafetyWe are very focused on reducing violence, which is why we are taking the measures that we are: introducing the extra staff; giving prison officers access to PAVA; increasing the…05 Feb 2019HANSARDPrison Officer SafetyI assure the hon. Gentleman that we are constantly looking at ways in which we can improve the training for prison officers. The prisons Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for…05 Feb 2019HANSARDPrison Officer SafetyAgain, my hon. Friend is right to highlight this issue. The increased use of body-worn cameras can help to ensure that we have evidence that can ensure that wrongdoing by…05 Feb 2019