Contributions
215 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDTopical QuestionsI thank my hon. Friend for those remarks. I believe it is very important to this country that we respect the independence of the judiciary, and the rule of law is at the heart of…09 Jul 2019HANSARDTopical QuestionsI think the Government will be responding to that in due course.09 Jul 2019HANSARDTopical QuestionsI thank my hon. Friend, who has been tireless on this cause on behalf of his constituent. Having met Marie McCourt, I know the pain that is suffered by those relatives who never…09 Jul 2019HANSARDTopical QuestionsI certainly will. We have recently announced an extension of the community sentence treatment requirement pilots. That is the direction that we need to be going in to address some…09 Jul 2019HANSARDTopical QuestionsThe hon. Gentleman sets out many of the reasons why we brought in the female offender strategy last year. We are seeking to address the root causes of criminality, which are very…09 Jul 2019HANSARDTopical QuestionsI thank the hon. Gentleman for his kind words. Let me look at that particular issue and, if I may, I will write to him.09 Jul 2019HANSARDTopical QuestionsMy hon. Friend raises a very important point about reducing reoffending. I hope that there can be a focus in the comprehensive spending review on what the evidence leads us to do…09 Jul 2019HANSARDProbation ReformTo be fair to the CRCs, I am not sure that any of them is taking steps to get profits—but perhaps to reduce their losses. In truth, the shareholders of CRCs have somewhat…09 Jul 2019HANSARDDivorceI think there is a wider debate to be had about how Government as a whole can address issues that lead to relationship breakdown. Simply funding marriage support services may not…09 Jul 2019HANSARDLeaving the EU: No DealFirst, I can confirm that I suspect we do read different newspapers, but I agree that the loss of access to various law enforcement tools would make it more difficult to protect…09 Jul 2019HANSARDShort Sentences“Shortly” means “shortly”. [Laughter.] I am not going to elaborate on that, but I will say that in considering sentencing reform it is necessary also to look more broadly at the…09 Jul 2019HANSARDShort SentencesI agree with the hon. Lady’s point about the statistics—we should be led by the evidence—and I hope to make further progress on this matter in the time that is left ahead.09 Jul 2019HANSARDDivorceI do agree with my hon. Friend, and I am interested by the insights into the Bottomley household. The fact that our current divorce laws introduce conflict at the point of divorce…09 Jul 2019HANSARDProbation ReformI am pleased to have announced plans to streamline probation delivery, through the National Probation Service, to build on the role of the private and voluntary sectors in driving…09 Jul 2019HANSARDShort SentencesAgain, we have been led by the evidence. Offender management is not working as we need it to work with regard to the CRCs, but some of the other activity CRCs do is done very…09 Jul 2019HANSARDProbation ReformWe will look at the specific case my hon. Friend raises, but we have already intervened to ensure those charities that have lost out as a consequence of what happened with Working…09 Jul 2019HANSARDProbation ReformFirst, “Transforming Rehabilitation” introduced bold reforms, and steps have been taken to ensure there is more innovation within our system, but I recognise that significant…09 Jul 2019HANSARDShort SentencesI entirely agree with the Chairman of the Justice Committee. If we put people inside for a short time—for instance, prolific shoplifters—we want to address that criminality, but…09 Jul 2019HANSARDShort SentencesMy hon. Friend is right to highlight that point, and much though I believe that we should make rapid progress in this area, I think that we should do so in a way that ensures the…09 Jul 2019HANSARDDivorceFamily mediation offers a way to resolve child or financial arrangements without litigation, and child contact centres provide safe, neutral venues where separated couples can…09 Jul 2019