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1219926

	registered interest
	date	01/07/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Administration of Justice: Coronavirus
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect on access to timely justice for victims of limits on access for legal representatives to clients in custody as a result of the restricted regime on the custodial estate in England and Wales.
	tabling member constituency	West Ham
	tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
	uin	67589
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2020 answer text <p>Alongside the closure of courts, the government suspended all but exceptional visits to prisons in March 2020. This was to ensure the safety of both prisoners and our staff through the pandemic.</p><p>HM Courts and Tribunal Service and HM Prison and Probation Service are working closely to reduce the backlog of court cases. As a result, crime recovery work is now moving at pace and we are operating jury trials in 41 crown courts. This has been a significant achievement, involving close working with public health partners. Further crown courts will be resuming jury trials throughout the course of this month. Throughout the pandemic, crown courts have continued to deal with pre-trial preparation hearings, case management and sentencing custody cases, among other hearings.</p><p>Despite the absence of physical visits, prisoners do maintain the right to access legal advice, and we have looked to ensure that prisoners continue to have the tools to make contact with their legal representatives via telephone, video link or written correspondence.</p><p>Since the outbreak of the pandemic we have enhanced the capability of prison videoconferencing facilities, particularly to support priority court work such as sentencing hearings and prisoners approaching their parole hearing dates. We have made use of the additional 1,250 mobile phones issued to prisons without in-cell telephony in order to facilitate private conversations with legal advisors, alongside encouraging governors to ensure prisoners can have conversations with their representatives in confidence.</p><p>We are also taking steps to increase the available capacity of video conferencing across the estate through increased operating hours to include longer hours during the weekdays, and at some locations on Saturdays. This will sit alongside renewed guidance to all governors on the importance of making sure that adequate time for legal advice is made available to prisoners where possible. Alongside this work, we are increasing the physical number of video link outlets at some critical sites where capacity is limited, as well as to support specialist courts, including youth and women’s prisons, together with the re-purposing of some unused spaces within prisons for more video link capacity.</p><p>As stated in our National Framework for recovery in prisons, we are adapting aspects of prison regime, in consultation with trade unions and health partners, to restart key services. We are consulting representatives of the legal profession on the resumption of legal visits so that they can resume in a safe manner.</p><p>The measures set out above seek to minimise potential delays or adjournments due to defence counsel being unable to receive instructions from their clients and therefore minimise the impact on victims caused by delays in their cases being heard in court.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 67588 67590 question first answered 09/07/2020 16:36:25 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1239782

	registered interest
	date	01/10/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Advisory Board on Female Offenders
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the Advisory Board on Female Offenders last met; and what was discussed at that meeting.
	tabling member constituency	West Ham
	tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
	uin	98196
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/10/2020 answer text <p>The last meeting of the Advisory Board on Female Offenders (ABFO) was held on 30 June 2020. The agenda items covered comprised: a standing up-date on delivery of the Female Offender Strategy to date; the impact of Covid 19 on HMPPS and measures taken; plans for the first Residential Women’s Centre in Wales; and the National Concordat on Female Offenders. Wider discussion included reference to the following topics: meeting the needs of minority ethnic and foreign national women; funding for the strategy; and women and remand. HM Government’s commitment to delivering the aims of the strategy was confirmed.</p><p>We have received the following formal representations from ABFO members recently relating to funding for the FO Strategy:<br> - The Prison Reform Trust’s ABFO representative raised the issue at the last meeting of the ABFO on 30 June 2020</p><p>- The Women in Prison ABFO representative submitted a written representation on 24 September</p><p>- Women in Prison together with 20 other women’s sector organisations submitted a co-signed letter on 7 June and 29 September relating to funding.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 98197 question first answered 09/10/2020 13:42:45 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1284810

	registered interest
	date	08/02/2021
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Advisory Board on Female Offenders
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department's announcement of 23 January 2021 entitled Extra funding for organisations that steer women away from crime, whether the Advisory Board on Female Offenders has been given access to his Department's modelling of demand for places in women's prisons.
	tabling member constituency	West Ham
	tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
	uin	150738
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/02/2021 answer text <p>The Female Offender Strategy set out the Government’s vision of fewer women offending and reoffending; fewer women in custody, especially on short-term sentences, with a greater proportion of women managed in the community successfully; and where prison is necessary, better conditions for those in custody. The average female prison population in 2010 was 4236, compared to 3126 as of 29 January 2021 - a decrease of 26%. Delivery of the community commitments in our Strategy and in the recent Sentencing White Paper should see this trend continue in the long-term.</p><p>We published our latest population projections in November 2020, in which we included prison projections for four scenarios – the three police impact scenarios in response to the plan to recruit an additional 20,000 police offices and a fast court recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p>At a meeting of the Advisory Board on Female Offenders (ABFO) on 21 January, attendees were informed that the additional police officers were expected to lead to an increase in the male and female prison populations, and that it was necessary to plan for this, to ensure that there were safe, decent and secure places to meet this demand. On 22 January 2021, in advance of the announcement on 23 January 2021, we informed all ABFO members that up to 500 new places, designed to meet the specific needs of women, will be built in existing prisons to increase availability of single cells and improve conditions as part of the 18,000 additional prison places programme. These places will enable us to hold more women closer to home and their families.</p><p>All ABFO members were invited to a workshop on 4 February, attended by the Minister of State for Prisons and Probation, to discuss and understand their views and concerns surrounding the women’s prison estate. During this session, we were able to provide further information on the scope of our work, and our future proposals. We will continue to engage with stakeholders as our plans develop.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 150739 150740 question first answered 11/02/2021 17:41:36 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1284811

	registered interest
	date	08/02/2021
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Advisory Board on Female Offenders
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the Minister of State for Prison and Probation plans to meet with members of the Advisory Board on Female Offenders on plans to spend £150 million on 500 additional prison places for women.
	tabling member constituency	West Ham
	tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
	uin	150739
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/02/2021 answer text <p>The Female Offender Strategy set out the Government’s vision of fewer women offending and reoffending; fewer women in custody, especially on short-term sentences, with a greater proportion of women managed in the community successfully; and where prison is necessary, better conditions for those in custody. The average female prison population in 2010 was 4236, compared to 3126 as of 29 January 2021 - a decrease of 26%. Delivery of the community commitments in our Strategy and in the recent Sentencing White Paper should see this trend continue in the long-term.</p><p>We published our latest population projections in November 2020, in which we included prison projections for four scenarios – the three police impact scenarios in response to the plan to recruit an additional 20,000 police offices and a fast court recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p>At a meeting of the Advisory Board on Female Offenders (ABFO) on 21 January, attendees were informed that the additional police officers were expected to lead to an increase in the male and female prison populations, and that it was necessary to plan for this, to ensure that there were safe, decent and secure places to meet this demand. On 22 January 2021, in advance of the announcement on 23 January 2021, we informed all ABFO members that up to 500 new places, designed to meet the specific needs of women, will be built in existing prisons to increase availability of single cells and improve conditions as part of the 18,000 additional prison places programme. These places will enable us to hold more women closer to home and their families.</p><p>All ABFO members were invited to a workshop on 4 February, attended by the Minister of State for Prisons and Probation, to discuss and understand their views and concerns surrounding the women’s prison estate. During this session, we were able to provide further information on the scope of our work, and our future proposals. We will continue to engage with stakeholders as our plans develop.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 150738 150740 question first answered 11/02/2021 17:41:36 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1284813

	registered interest
	date	08/02/2021
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Advisory Board on Female Offenders
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which members of the Advisory Board on Female Offenders were (a) consulted on and (b) informed of the decision to build 500 additional prison places for women prior to the announcement of the 23 January 2021.
	tabling member constituency	West Ham
	tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
	uin	150740
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/02/2021 answer text <p>The Female Offender Strategy set out the Government’s vision of fewer women offending and reoffending; fewer women in custody, especially on short-term sentences, with a greater proportion of women managed in the community successfully; and where prison is necessary, better conditions for those in custody. The average female prison population in 2010 was 4236, compared to 3126 as of 29 January 2021 - a decrease of 26%. Delivery of the community commitments in our Strategy and in the recent Sentencing White Paper should see this trend continue in the long-term.</p><p>We published our latest population projections in November 2020, in which we included prison projections for four scenarios – the three police impact scenarios in response to the plan to recruit an additional 20,000 police offices and a fast court recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p>At a meeting of the Advisory Board on Female Offenders (ABFO) on 21 January, attendees were informed that the additional police officers were expected to lead to an increase in the male and female prison populations, and that it was necessary to plan for this, to ensure that there were safe, decent and secure places to meet this demand. On 22 January 2021, in advance of the announcement on 23 January 2021, we informed all ABFO members that up to 500 new places, designed to meet the specific needs of women, will be built in existing prisons to increase availability of single cells and improve conditions as part of the 18,000 additional prison places programme. These places will enable us to hold more women closer to home and their families.</p><p>All ABFO members were invited to a workshop on 4 February, attended by the Minister of State for Prisons and Probation, to discuss and understand their views and concerns surrounding the women’s prison estate. During this session, we were able to provide further information on the scope of our work, and our future proposals. We will continue to engage with stakeholders as our plans develop.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 150738 150739 question first answered 11/02/2021 17:41:36 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1219325

	registered interest
	date	30/06/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Approved Premises
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to recommendation 3 of the HM Prison & Probation Service's Action Plan of 30 June 2020, published in response to the Independent Review of the Case of Joseph McCann, for what reason the HM Prison & Probation Service has only Partly Agreed to ensure that there is sufficient capacity in the approved premises estate to accommodate all high risk of harm offenders who require a placement.
	tabling member constituency	West Ham
	tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
	uin	66838
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/07/2020 answer text <p>The crimes committed by Joseph McCann were appalling and our thoughts and sympathies are with the victims and their families. We recognise that there were failings and we apologise unreservedly for our part in this. We are committed to doing everything we possibly can to learn from this terrible case.</p><p>The Action Plan in response to the Independent Review of the case of Joseph McCann, Action 3 is partly agreed on the basis that as full funding for the Expansion Programme has yet to be secured.</p><p>However, the Approved Premises Expansion Programme (APEX) is well underway, seeking to create a minimum of 200 additional bed spaces in Approved Premises (AP) nationally, to meet demand for AP residency and in support of the ministerial commitment. An additional 40 bed spaces were secured in 2019/20 and it is anticipated that at least a further 40 places will be secured in 2020/21.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 06/07/2020 15:08:58 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1227071

	registered interest
	date	21/07/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Bail: Advisory Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many courts in England and Wales are served by a Bail Information Service.
	tabling member constituency	West Ham
	tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
	uin	77544
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/09/2020 answer text <p>Currently, no courts or prisons have a full and pro-active Bail Information Service (BIS) with dedicated Bail Information Officers. Although there are no dedicated bail officers, bail assessments can be requested by the Judiciary and HM Prison and Probation Service staff will acknowledge and respond accordingly. Throughout April to August, HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) introduced a temporary BIS in response to Covid-19. As courts and HMPPS services begin returning to business as usual, the service remains available on a reactive basis at the request of the court.</p><p>The Government will be implementing a BIS pilot involving a number of courts and prisons in England and Wales in the Autumn. These courts and prisons will each have a dedicated Bail Information Officer, and the pilot will aim to inform the design and delivery of a potential full and pro-active national service. The pilot is due to be completed by Spring 2021, and HM Prison and Probation Service intends to publish a report of findings as soon as practicable after that. This will include plans on the potential extending of BIS availability across England and Wales.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 77545 77546 question first answered 07/09/2020 15:41:38 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1227073

	registered interest
	date	21/07/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Bail: Advisory Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish the results of the Bail Information Service pilots.
	tabling member constituency	West Ham
	tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
	uin	77545
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/09/2020 answer text <p>Currently, no courts or prisons have a full and pro-active Bail Information Service (BIS) with dedicated Bail Information Officers. Although there are no dedicated bail officers, bail assessments can be requested by the Judiciary and HM Prison and Probation Service staff will acknowledge and respond accordingly. Throughout April to August, HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) introduced a temporary BIS in response to Covid-19. As courts and HMPPS services begin returning to business as usual, the service remains available on a reactive basis at the request of the court.</p><p>The Government will be implementing a BIS pilot involving a number of courts and prisons in England and Wales in the Autumn. These courts and prisons will each have a dedicated Bail Information Officer, and the pilot will aim to inform the design and delivery of a potential full and pro-active national service. The pilot is due to be completed by Spring 2021, and HM Prison and Probation Service intends to publish a report of findings as soon as practicable after that. This will include plans on the potential extending of BIS availability across England and Wales.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 77544 77546 question first answered 07/09/2020 15:41:38 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1227074

	registered interest
	date	21/07/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Bail: Advisory Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans the Government has to extend the availability of Bail Information Services in England and Wales.
	tabling member constituency	West Ham
	tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
	uin	77546
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/09/2020 answer text <p>Currently, no courts or prisons have a full and pro-active Bail Information Service (BIS) with dedicated Bail Information Officers. Although there are no dedicated bail officers, bail assessments can be requested by the Judiciary and HM Prison and Probation Service staff will acknowledge and respond accordingly. Throughout April to August, HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) introduced a temporary BIS in response to Covid-19. As courts and HMPPS services begin returning to business as usual, the service remains available on a reactive basis at the request of the court.</p><p>The Government will be implementing a BIS pilot involving a number of courts and prisons in England and Wales in the Autumn. These courts and prisons will each have a dedicated Bail Information Officer, and the pilot will aim to inform the design and delivery of a potential full and pro-active national service. The pilot is due to be completed by Spring 2021, and HM Prison and Probation Service intends to publish a report of findings as soon as practicable after that. This will include plans on the potential extending of BIS availability across England and Wales.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 77544 77545 question first answered 07/09/2020 15:41:38 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1244163

	registered interest
	date	16/10/2020
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Buildings: Security
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the cost of (a) installing and (b) operating millimetre scanners as part of Enhanced Gate Security measures at High Throughput Establishments in England and Wales.
	tabling member constituency	West Ham
	tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
	uin	104710
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/10/2020 answer text <p>HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) is taking decisive action to stop mobile phones and illicit substances entering prison and investing £100m to tackle crime behind bars. As part of this investment we are introducing Enhanced Gate Security (EGS) in approximately 50 priority sites. This includes archway metal detectors, wands, X-ray baggage scanners, drug dogs and any additional staff required to conduct searches and manage these new procedures.</p><p>Millimetre wave scanners operate using non-ionising electromagnetic radiation by omitting signals that enable items to be detected on the surface of the body and within clothing. Their current primary use is to screen passengers as part of airport security.</p><p>Although we remain engaged with the market on the potential of using millimetre wave scanners in prisons, our assessment from trials is that this technology does not currently meet our operational requirements within the custodial setting and does therefore support our efforts to crack down on the supply of illicit items as well as other enhanced gate security measures currently in use. Due to HMPPS’ assessment of the efficacy of this technology within the prison estate, a competitive procurement exercise has not been conducted and there are no contracted costs available.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 26/10/2020 17:39:11 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown