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1000222

registered interest
date	02/11/2018
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Visits
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the number of closed-contact visits in prisons to prevent smuggling.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	187326
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>Visits play an important part of reducing reoffending as good relationships with family and friends is proved to reduce risk of reoffending.</p><p>The management and guidance for the use of closed visits is within Prison Service Instruction (PSI) 15/2011. The PSI specifies that closed visits should be imposed where there is an identified risk of smuggling prohibited items.</p><p>We recognise the benefits that Internet Based Video Services (IBVS) can provide in assisting prisoners with maintaining family ties. At present, however, prisoners are not allowed to use an IBVS as a way of communicating, due to operational concerns about the control measures available to safeguard the use of such communications. Work is currently underway to explore the options for the use of IBVS in establishments with strict safeguards in place, and the possibility of making greater use of such within prisons in the near future.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Penrith and The Border answering member printed Rory Stewart grouped question UIN 187327 question first answered 12/11/2018 17:14:17 answering member 4137 label Biography information for Rory Stewart
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1000223

registered interest
date	02/11/2018
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Video Conferencing
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 merits of using video technology to allow relatives and friends to speak to convicted prisoners at appointed times.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	187327
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2018 answer text <p>Visits play an important part of reducing reoffending as good relationships with family and friends is proved to reduce risk of reoffending.</p><p>The management and guidance for the use of closed visits is within Prison Service Instruction (PSI) 15/2011. The PSI specifies that closed visits should be imposed where there is an identified risk of smuggling prohibited items.</p><p>We recognise the benefits that Internet Based Video Services (IBVS) can provide in assisting prisoners with maintaining family ties. At present, however, prisoners are not allowed to use an IBVS as a way of communicating, due to operational concerns about the control measures available to safeguard the use of such communications. Work is currently underway to explore the options for the use of IBVS in establishments with strict safeguards in place, and the possibility of making greater use of such within prisons in the near future.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Penrith and The Border answering member printed Rory Stewart grouped question UIN 187326 question first answered 12/11/2018 17:14:17 answering member 4137 label Biography information for Rory Stewart
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

994109

registered interest
date	24/10/2018
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Divorce
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the planned timescale is for the consultation on no-fault divorce.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	183344
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/11/2018 answer text <p>The consultation on the reform of legal requirements for divorce was launched on 15 September 2018. Proposals include removing the requirement for couples to evidence either the other spouse’s conduct (often called “fault”) or the couple’s separation, in order to reduce conflict within the divorce process and help families make arrangements for the future. The consultation is running for 12 weeks and closes on 10 December 2018. The Government will publish its response in due course.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 01/11/2018 16:08:52 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

994120

registered interest
date	24/10/2018
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Debt Collection: Cameras
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it a legal requirement for court-appointed bailiffs to wear a functioning body camera when executing warrants at residential properties.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	183345
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/10/2018 answer text <p>The Government does not have any plans to make it a legal requirement for court appointed enforcement agents to wear a functioning body camera when executing warrants at residential properties.</p><p>The Government will launch a call for evidence shortly to evaluate the enforcement agent reforms introduced by the Tribunals, Court and Enforcement Act 2007. Evidence received from the call for evidence will be used to inform our assessment of the current regulation of the industry, and options for further reform.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 31/10/2018 14:36:17 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

994124

registered interest
date	24/10/2018
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Community Rehabilitation Companies
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the level of performance of Community Rehabilitation Companies compared with their predecessors.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	183347
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/11/2018 answer text <table><tbody><tr><td><p>Our reforms to probation mean we are now monitoring around 40,000 offenders who would previously have been released with no supervision at all. We have seen a reduction of two percentage points in the reoffending rates of those supervised by Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs). We have been clear, however, that overall performance of CRCs needs to improve across a range of areas. We have taken decisive action to stabilise and improve the delivery of probation services, including by investing £22m per year to enhance ‘Through The Gate’ services and introducing minimum standards so that all providers offer monthly face-to-face meetings with offenders during their first 12 months of supervision. In September, we concluded a public consultation on proposals to end current CRC contracts early and introduce new arrangements for delivering probation services that will better integrate public, private and third sector probation providers and improve outcomes. We will bring forward more detailed plans early next year.</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Penrith and The Border answering member printed Rory Stewart question first answered 01/11/2018 17:26:50 answering member 4137 label Biography information for Rory Stewart
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

994127

registered interest
date	24/10/2018
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Alternatives to Prison
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to increase public confidence in non-custodial sentences.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	183419
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/11/2018 answer text <p>The sentencing framework gives courts the flexibility to select community order requirements which are a robust alternative to custody, and are tailored to address the specific issues that contribute to reoffending.</p><p> </p><p>Probation services are vital to the effective delivery of community sentences. In July we published the consultation <em>Strengthening Probation, Building Confidence </em>setting out the Government’s vision for improving probation including proposals to promote meaningful unpaid work schemes which both make reparation to communities and equip offenders with employment-related skills and experience. The action we propose to take will ensure that courts and the public can be confident that offenders sentenced to community and suspended sentence orders will be properly supervised, receive the rehabilitative support they need and that appropriate action is taken if offenders fail to comply with requirements.</p><p> </p><p>We continue to actively explore many other options to improve non-custodial sentences, including better electronic tagging.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Penrith and The Border answering member printed Rory Stewart question first answered 01/11/2018 17:05:41 answering member 4137 label Biography information for Rory Stewart
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

989528

registered interest
date	17/10/2018
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Mobile Phones
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to make it a criminal offence to knowingly communicate with a person detained in the criminal justice system using an electronic communications system.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	180704
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/10/2018 answer text <p>It is already an offence to have or use a mobile phone in prison without authorisation. We therefore have no plans to create a new offence of knowingly communicating with someone in the criminal justice system using devices such as mobile phones.</p><p> </p><p>We are taking urgent and decisive action to tackle the threat of illegal phones including detection dogs, body scanners and intelligence-led searches. We also continue to utilise Telecommunications Restriction Orders to block specific mobile phones being used in prisons.</p><p> </p><p>To reduce demand for illicit mobile phones, we are also expanding the roll out of in-cell telephones. These operate under strict controls with the aim of improving rehabilitation, cutting crime and protecting the public.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 26/10/2018 13:38:37 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

968178

registered interest
date	05/09/2018
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Divorce Settlements
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to redefine live animals in divorce cases so they are not regarded as property.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	170821
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/09/2018 answer text <p>The Government has no current plans to change the law in this way. Divorcing couples are free to agree their own arrangements in relation to animals, including family pets</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 11/09/2018 16:05:36 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

943962

registered interest
date	18/07/2018
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Prisons: Water
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the timetable is for a forensic water investigation in prison service properties as set out in the Crown Commercial Service’s agreement.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	165545
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/07/2018 answer text <p>Within the public-sector prison estate, the management of water distribution installations is the responsibility of the respective facilities management providers as part of their existing agreements to provide a range of maintenance services. Within the private-sector prison estate, the management of the water distribution installations is the responsibility of the respective prison operator as part of their existing agreements to operate their prisons. There is currently no plan to procure these services separately from existing agreements through any Crown Commercial Service framework.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 27/07/2018 12:20:33 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

825545

registered interest
date	18/01/2018
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Coroners
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what representations his Department has received on the comments of Mary Hassell, a North London Coroner, who has maintained a policy that no body will be prioritised for release and burial because of the religion of the deceased or their family.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	123683
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2018 answer text <p>Coroners are independent judicial office holders. As such, it would be inappropriate for Ministers to comment on the reported actions of the Inner North London Senior Coroner.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has received a number of representations, including from the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the London Borough of Camden which funds the Inner North London Coroner Service.</p> answering member constituency Bracknell answering member printed Dr Phillip Lee question first answered 26/01/2018 12:25:06 answering member 3921 label Biography information for Dr Phillip Lee
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord