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1180218

registered interest
date	25/02/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Women's Centres: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for Women's Centres.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Edgbaston
tabling member printed	Preet Kaur Gill
uin	900827
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/02/2020 answer text <p>We are aware of the challenges that women’s community services, including women’s centres, face in securing stable funding. Sustainable community provision that provides specialist support for vulnerable women is essential to delivering the Female Offender Strategy.</p><p> </p><p>Since the publication of the Strategy in June 2018, we have invested £5.1 million funding in women’s services across England and Wales. With my officials, I am reviewing progress on delivering the Strategy 20 months on from its publication. This will include looking at the question of funding.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 25/02/2020 17:48:57 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4603 label Biography information for Preet Kaur Gill

1180219

registered interest
date	25/02/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Legal Opinion
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What steps his Department is taking to ensure legal aid is accessible to people that need it.
tabling member constituency	Bracknell
tabling member printed	James Sunderland
uin	900828
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/02/2020 answer text <p>Last year, the Legal Aid Agency spent around £1.7bn on legal aid for those who need it – this government is committed to maintaining access to justice. Wider than legal aid, we are enhancing the support on offer to litigants in person by providing a further £3m of funding and investing up to £5m in a Legal Support Innovation Fund.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, we are making a number of changes to legal aid. This includes undertaking a comprehensive review of the means test, improving and simplifying the exceptional case funding scheme, making face-to-face advice more readily available in a number of civil matters, and undertaking an awareness campaign for legal aid and legal support.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 25/02/2020 17:53:04 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
tabling member	4767 label Biography information for James Sunderland

1180220

registered interest
date	25/02/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Medomsley Detention Centre
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	If he will commission an independent inquiry into the physical and sexual abuse at Medomsley Detention Centre.
tabling member constituency	North West Durham
tabling member printed	Mr Richard Holden
uin	900829
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/02/2020 answer text <p>This is a highly emotive issue and I understand how difficult it must be for the survivors of abuse and their families.</p><p> </p><p>These matters remain the subject of a criminal investigation and legal action in the civil courts. Therefore, it would be inappropriate at present to commission an inquiry.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 25/02/2020 17:50:05 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4813 label Biography information for Mr Richard Holden

1180221

registered interest
date	25/02/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prosecutions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What assessment he has made of the effect of delays in the (a) charging and (b) requisitioning of suspects on the outcome of subsequent court cases.
tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
tabling member printed	Dr James Davies
uin	900832
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/02/2020 answer text <p>The government has committed to recruiting 20,000 more police officers, investing £85 million in the CPS and doubled funding for support services to support victims of the most harmful crimes through the criminal justice process. I also welcome the announcement made by the Homes Secretary that the Government will review the use of pre-charge bail.</p><p> </p><p>We’re also working across the CJS to help agencies join up and make processes more effective and efficient.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 25/02/2020 17:57:53 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	4476 label Biography information for Dr James Davies

1180222

registered interest
date	25/02/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Offences against Children: Victims
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What steps he is taking to ensure that victims of child sexual exploitation have confidence in the criminal justice system.
tabling member constituency	Telford
tabling member printed	Lucy Allan
uin	900833
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/02/2020 answer text <p>Child sexual exploitation is an abhorrent crime and it is essential that specialist support is available to help victims of abuse through the criminal justice system to ensure victims have confidence to come forward. Independent Sexual Violence Advisors provide an important link between support services and criminal justice agencies and may support a victim when attending court and giving evidence. This is why we are an investing an additional £1m in recruiting more.</p><p> </p><p>There are a range of special measures to help victims give their best evidence, for example from behind a screen or remotely. A Victim Personal Statement gives victims a voice in the criminal justice process by helping others to understand how the crime has affected them.</p><p> </p><p>We’re also determined to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice, which is why we’re recruiting 20,000 more police officers, investing £85m in more prosecutors and building 10,000 extra prison places.</p> answering member constituency Cheltenham answering member printed Alex Chalk question first answered 25/02/2020 17:53:55 answering member 4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk
tabling member	4411 label Biography information for Lucy Allan

1180223

registered interest
date	25/02/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Child Maintenance Service: Appeals
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What assessment he has made of trends in waiting times for Child Maintenance Service appeals.
tabling member constituency	Newport East
tabling member printed	Jessica Morden
uin	900835
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/02/2020 answer text <p>I accept that waiting times for Child Maintenance Service appeals remain higher than we would like. I am pleased to say that we are working on measures to help reduce waiting times for those appealing to the Social Security and Child Support jurisdiction.</p><p> </p><p>We have recruited three more judges who will be able to hear Child Maintenance appeals in Wales, two of which will be available to sit at the Langstone tribunal venue in Newport. Furthermore, we are spending £1.2 billion on modernising the courts and tribunals system with a view to improving the experience of service users. 129 fee paid judges have been recruited to the SSCS jurisdiction in 2019, which will also greatly assist.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 25/02/2020 18:00:17 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	1548 label Biography information for Jessica Morden

1178314

registered interest
date	13/02/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisoners: Reoffenders
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to help reduce rates of prisoner re-offending.
tabling member constituency	Loughborough
tabling member printed	Jane Hunt
uin	2007
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/02/2020 answer text <p>This Government is committed to reducing reoffending by ensuring that all offenders have the tools they need to turn their backs on crime. The current proven reoffending rate is 28.7%.</p><p> </p><p>We know that offenders typically have needs in a range of areas, such as education, employment, accommodation and family relationships. Many of these needs drive offending and the prison and probation system provides an opportunity to address them.</p><p> </p><p>We have recently overhauled the prison education system, giving governors more control over the education budget for their establishments, and have implemented two new prison education frameworks. Additionally, the new Prison Education Service will build on this by improving the range of training available to prisoners which is directly linked to real jobs on release. We are also engaging with employers to take on ex-prisoners via the New Futures Network (NFN) and in May 2019 we introduced reforms to increase the opportunities available to prisoners to gain experience in real workplaces through Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL).</p><p> </p><p>We are investing up to £6.4m in an accommodation pilot scheme to support individuals released from three prisons: Bristol, Leeds and Pentonville. Services have now commenced in all three areas, with the first individuals now being supported into accommodation following release.</p><p> </p><p>We are also making positive progress in implementing the recommendations as set out by Lord Farmer’s review on the importance of family engagement to reduce reoffending and we have delivered 13 out of the 19 recommendations to date.</p><p> </p><p>Although much is being done to reduce reoffending, this remains a complex issue that requires a combined effort across government and local partners in order to support ex-offenders when they are released.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 25/02/2020 12:10:42 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4839 label Biography information for Jane Hunt

1178334

registered interest
date	13/02/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Health and Safety
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Answer of 6 February 2020 to Question 11632, Prisons: Industrial Health and Safety, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of establishing a single reporting system in each prison for assaults against staff that is accessible (a) internally and (b) externally in order for staff to report incidents away from the workplace.
tabling member constituency	Dwyfor Meirionnydd
tabling member printed	Liz Saville Roberts
uin	1936
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/02/2020 answer text <p>All assaults are reported via the Incident Reporting System for reasons of operational control and recording. Assaults leading to injuries or ill health to staff are also recorded on the HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) Health and Safety Information system. This is currently being configured to allow online recording from remote locations where an intranet connection is available. Established procedures are in place to ensure staff can report and record all incidents occurring outside prison premises.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 24/02/2020 17:46:07 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4521 label Biography information for Liz Saville Roberts

1178456

registered interest
date	13/02/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Residential Women's Centres
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress he has made on the development of a pilot of residential women’s centres in at least five sites across England and Wales.
tabling member constituency	St Albans
tabling member printed	Daisy Cooper
uin	2054
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/02/2020 answer text <p>The Female Offender Strategy committed to develop a ‘residential women’s centre’ pilot in at least five sites across England and Wales.</p><p> </p><p>We believe that these models could improve outcomes for female offenders and reduce the number of women entering and re-entering custody on short custodial sentences. We have concluded our first phase of consultation with stakeholders, partners and providers to inform our scoping.</p><p> </p><p>We are considering how best to take this project forward.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 25/02/2020 12:30:49 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4769 label Biography information for Daisy Cooper

1178457

registered interest
date	13/02/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Sentencing: Females
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress he has made on reducing the number of women serving short custodial sentences.
tabling member constituency	St Albans
tabling member printed	Daisy Cooper
uin	2055
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/02/2020 answer text <p>In June 2018, the Government published the Female Offender Strategy which set out an aim to see fewer women in custody, especially on short term sentences. There is persuasive evidence that many women, particularly on short custodial sentences, can be better supported in the community on robust and effective community sentences.</p><p> </p><p>There has been a £5.1m investment in community provision for women in 2018/19 and 2019/20.</p><p> </p><p>The best available evidence suggests that in order to reduce reoffending and keep women safe, we should invest in gender-specific, trauma-informed interventions that take into account all areas related to a women’s offending. HM Prison and Probation Service has developed a Pre-Sentence Report interview checklist which focuses on the specific needs of female offenders. Following a series of briefing events, this was rolled out nationally in August 2019 and is available to all practitioners.</p><p> </p><p>It is essential that the public and judiciary have confidence in effective community orders, including those which address offenders’ behaviour, answer their mental health and alcohol or drug misuse needs, or provide reparation for the benefit of the wider community. Through the Community Sentence Treatment Requirement (CSTR) Programme, health and justice partners are working together to improve access to timely and appropriate mental health and substance misuse services for the offenders who need them. The Programme is currently operating in courts across nine areas in England. A number of further sites are expecting to go live in 2020.</p><p> </p><p>We are also working with the police and other partners to support the use of Out of Court Disposals - involving community resolution and conditional cautions - in appropriate cases of low level offending. This includes work to improve the use of police guidance we have published on working with vulnerable women, helping police forces to divert women where appropriate to support and away from crime.</p><p> </p><p>The Strategy is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/female-offender-strategy.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 25/02/2020 12:20:25 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4769 label Biography information for Daisy Cooper