Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reduce overcrowding in adult male prisons (1) by extending the use of non-custodial sentences, (2) by reducing the remand and recall prison populations, and (3) by improving public understanding surrounding current (a) levels of crime, and (b) sentence lengths.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
In certain circumstances, there is persuasive evidence that community orders and suspended sentence orders are more effective than sentences of immediate custody in reducing reoffending. In the Sentencing Bill, currently before Parliament, the Government is introducing a presumption to suspend short custodial sentences. The offender would then serve their sentence in the community.
In terms of the remand and recall populations, we are working with our partners across the criminal justice system to safely manage the system and protect the public. This includes raising awareness of, and removing barriers to, the use of bail where appropriate as an alternative to remanding defendants in custody, including on 2 August 2023 publishing a new EM Court Bail Protocol. For recall, we have issued guidance to probation staff to ensure all safe alternatives to recall are considered before a decision is taken, and we have re-invigorated the Secretary of States power, under Section 255(B) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, to release recalled offenders following a risk assessed recall review without reference to the Parole Board.
Upholding public confidence in the criminal justice system is a core priority and we continue to work to deliver this. Whilst improving public understanding is a valuable and important goal, it does not, by itself, affect the prison population.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to extending the measures in the youth justice system concerning reduced custody lengths to male offenders aged between 18 and 21.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
There is a distinct and separate sentencing framework for children aged 10 to 17 which recognises that children have their own specific needs which require a different approach. The Government currently has no plans to extend this framework to offenders aged over 18.
The Sentencing Council’s overarching and offence-specific guidelines include age and/or lack of maturity as a mitigating factor, as it can affect the offender’s responsibility for the offence and the effect of the sentence on the offender which may justify a reduction in the sentence. Courts must follow any relevant sentencing guidelines, unless it is in the interests of justice not to do so.
The Council is currently consulting to revise the Imposition of community and custodial sentences guideline. Proposals include a new section focused on the effective sentencing of young adult offenders (aged between 18-25 years).
The Ministry of Justice and Her Majesty’s Prisons and Probation Service are committed to developing approaches which respond to young adults’ specific needs relating to their maturity and development, pre-sentence at court as well as while on a custodial or a community sentence.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the expected combined impact on the size of the adult male prison population of the Sentencing Bill, the Criminal Justice Bill, and the Victims and Prisoners Bill.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
The Government is taking action to reform the justice system and reduce the pressure felt on our prison estate through measures introduced in the Criminal Justice Bill, Sentencing Bill, and the Victims and Prisoners Bill. This is to ensure we continue to have capacity to crack down on crime, reduce reoffending, and protect the public from the most dangerous offenders.
Publishing impact assessments is routine alongside the legislative process and the current estimates for the impact of the announced measures on the future population have been published and can be found on the gov.uk pages on each Bill. As the Bills progress through Parliament, if an update to these estimates and impact assessments are required, then these will be updated and republished during Bill progress.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the light of the fact that there are now more humanist marriages in Scotland than Church of Scotland marriages, what assessment they have made of the impact of extending legal recognition to humanist marriage on the number of people getting married overall.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The Government has noted the use of humanist marriages in Scotland and has not carried out a specific assessment. The existing law on how and where people may marry in England and Wales presents different issues from other jurisdictions for the Government to consider.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of Scotland and the Republic of Ireland having legal humanist marriages on the case for such recognition in England and Wales.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The Government has noted the use of humanist marriages in Scotland and has not carried out a specific assessment. The existing law on how and where people may marry in England and Wales presents different issues from other jurisdictions for the Government to consider.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any complaint has been made to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office about the conduct of Mrs Justice Hogg in the case of Ellie Butler.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
Correspondence was received at the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) about the decisions reached by Mrs Justice Hogg in the Butler case. The JCIO has no remit to investigate judicial decisions. These can be appealed through the Court, where the right of appeal exists.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the President of the Family Court about the scope for judicial learning arising from the case of Ellie Butler.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
In a regular meeting to discuss family justice on 15th September, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Justice, Dr Philip Lee and the President of the Family discussed how professionals, including the judiciary, can best learn from Serious Case Reviews.Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service staff dealing with child protection cases involving children from minority religious faiths, such as the Charedim, have the necessary expertise to assess the impact of faith on those children when they advise the courts.
Answered by Lord Faulks
All Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) practitioners are qualified social workers with experience of working with children and families to represent the best interests of children within family proceedings. It is the practitioner's responsibility to identify any diversity issues, including a child or family’s faith, in any case and to assess any safeguarding or welfare issues. Practitioners will analyse each individual child's circumstances, taking account of relevant aspects of the Welfare Checklist in section 1 of the Children Act 1989, when assessing their needs and how these are best met.
Each Cafcass service area has a responsibility to identify the diversity needs of groups of children living in their area who they are working with, and to take action accordingly. Cafcass’ Equality and Diversity Strategy (2013-15) explains how it shares best practice across teams and service areas, collating lessons learnt from a range of sources. Where staff attend training courses, the learning is shared with the rest of the service area and communicated to Cafcass’ group of Diversity Ambassadors. Representatives from local groups are invited to team meetings to discuss the work that they do and practitioners are encouraged to use these groups as a resource when considering casework decisions.