Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bellamy on 14 April (HL7073), why they do not intend to review the composition or functions of the Sentencing Council.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
The Sentencing Council was reviewed as part of the Tailored Review Programme in 2018. The review found that the current delivery model is still the most appropriate, that the Council’s functions are still required, and that it is effective and efficient in the delivery of its responsibilities.
The Ministry of Justice’s current programme for 2022-2025 is prioritised in line with the published guidance. In the context of the Department’s Public Bodies landscape, we do not assess that the Sentencing Council poses the biggest risk to delivery, nor does it pose major opportunities to deliver significant financial efficiencies. It has also not been recommended for review by the Cabinet Office. Once agreed, public bodies confirmed for review are published on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the next Tailored Review of the Sentencing Council will include consideration of victims of crime and their representatives as key stakeholders; and if not, why not.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
The Sentencing Council considers all aspects of sentencing, including the impact of crime on victims generally. The Department has no plans to review the composition or functions of the Sentencing Council.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have plans to increase the number of prisoners accommodated in prisons across England and Wales; and what consideration they have given to trends in sentencing.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
This government has been decisive in our tough approach to crime, including legislating to introduce tougher sentences for the most serious crimes. We have long anticipated the prison population rising as a result of these measures, and sentencing trends are modelled into our published prison population projections.
This is why we are delivering the largest prison build programme since the Victorian era, creating 20,000 additional, modern prison places. We have already delivered over 3,100 of these additional places to date including through the brand-new prison, HMP Five Wells, which opened last year. HMP Fosse Way will open this year, and construction has started on our newest prison next to HMP Full Sutton - bringing over 3,000 new prison places between them.
We are continuing to invest in prison maintenance so that existing places remain in use and are safe, secure and decent for prisoners and staff.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support mediation in disputes that would otherwise require grandparents to apply for Contact Orders in order to have access to their grandchildren.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
The Government understands the difficulties that some grandparents face in continuing relationships with their grandchildren following disputes arising from parental separation or divorce, and that grandparents often play an important role in children’s lives and can provide stability in families. We are also committed to supporting families to resolve private family law matters outside of court where appropriate to ensure that matters are resolved earlier, before conflict becomes entrenched.
Unless there is a valid exemption, any party seeking to apply for a child arrangements order must first attend a Mediation Information & Assessment Meeting.
We have also put in place a mediation voucher scheme for up to £500 financial assistance to help families resolve certain private law children matters outside of court. This support is not limited to parents and grandparents are eligible for support with the costs of mediation under this scheme too.
The government is exploring further measures to support parents and wider family members to resolve these matters outside of court and will announce proposals in due course.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to assess the efficacy of the Sentencing Council.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
The Sentencing Council is an independent non-departmental public body. Section 119 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 sets out that the Council must provide the Lord Chancellor with an annual report on the exercise of its functions, and that the Lord Chancellor must lay a copy before Parliament. The Ministry of Justice also regularly reviews performance to provide assurance that the Council is fulfilling its statutory functions. In addition, a tailored review of the Council was published in 2019 which made a number of operational recommendations to improve efficiency and effectiveness, which have been implemented.
The 2021/22 Annual Report can be found here: https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/publications/item/sentencing-council-annual-report-2021-22/.
The 2019 tailored review of the Sentencing Council can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tailored-review-of-the-sentencing-council.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent steps her Department has taken to improve education in prisons.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
I refer the Hon member to my answer to PQ 46278.