Oral Answers to Questions

Alex Davies-Jones Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Ellie Chowns (North Herefordshire) (Green)]

7. What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of policies applying to bail conditions in domestic violence cases.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Alex Davies-Jones)]

This Government have committed to halving violence against women and girls in a decade. A broad range of bail conditions can be imposed to protect victims, including electronic monitoring for those who meet the remand threshold, exclusion zones and non-contact orders. Suspects can also be remanded in prison.

[Ellie Chowns]

I raise this issue following a meeting with a constituent whose case raises deep concerns that are more widely relevant. First, bail conditions—sometimes weak, sometimes poorly enforced—do not always protect victims of domestic violence from further harassment by their abuser. Secondly, despite the increase in the time limit to two years under the 2022 regulations, the six-month limit for prosecutions means that some cases time out. Will the Minister meet me and my constituent to discuss what more can be done to ensure that victims of domestic abuse are fully protected from their abusers?

[Alex Davies-Jones]

I thank the hon. Member for raising this important issue from her constituency. We know that more needs to be done in this area, and that is why this Government have started to roll out our domestic abuse protection orders to help victims of domestic abuse in selected areas. We are seeing how that goes. We are developing policy in this area to protect victims, and women and girls in particular. I would be more than happy to meet her to discuss what more we can do.

[Chris Vince (Harlow) (Lab/Co-op)]

Having spoken to Essex police and other professionals, and having worked for a homeless charity myself, I know that often the hardest part for victims of domestic violence is making the decision to leave what is sometimes the family home. What work has the Minister done with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to address this issue?

[Alex Davies-Jones]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this important issue. Tackling violence against women and girls is not just a Ministry of Justice problem to fix, but a problem for every Government Department to fix. That is why I have met with my counterparts across the Departments, including in MHCLG, to discuss housing needs. We will be publishing our violence against women and girls strategy later this year, and I look forward to discussing it with him in due course.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Will Forster (Woking) (LD)]

13. What steps her Department is taking to ensure child safety during private law proceedings.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Alex Davies-Jones)]

The welfare of the child must be the paramount consideration for family courts, which should follow the welfare checklist, as set out in the Children Act 1989. Our new approach to private law proceedings—the pathfinder pilot courts—focuses on problem solving, putting greater emphasis on the voice of the child, but we are acutely aware that more needs to be done.

[Mr Forster]

The previous Government’s harm panel report stated that there is a crisis in family courts and that they are too pro-parental contact, despite there being concerns about the child’s safety. As with many things under the previous Government, the Conservatives did nothing about the report. Will this Government and the Minister commit to reversing the parental presumption where there are concerns about child abuse?

[Alex Davies-Jones]

As I have stated, the child’s welfare must be the court’s paramount consideration. The presumption of parental involvement states that a court should

“presume, unless the contrary is shown, that involvement of that parent in the life of the child will further the child’s welfare.”

I take this opportunity to state, however, that that applies only if the parent does not put the child at risk of harm. We will publish our review of the presumption in due course.

[Rebecca Paul (Reigate) (Con)]

14. What recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the standard determinate sentences 40% early release scheme.

--- Later in debate ---

[Matt Turmaine (Watford) (Lab)]

15. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle intimate image abuse.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Alex Davies-Jones)]

We are introducing new offences of taking intimate images without consent and installing equipment with intent to commit such offences. We are also criminalising creating deepfake intimate images without consent. I proudly co-chair the violence against women and girls ministerial group, which oversees a cross-Government approach to tackling VAWG, including online abuse.

[Matt Turmaine]

I thank the Minister for her answer. Sexually explicit deepfakes are a scourge on our society, whether it is young boys in their bedrooms making them of their fellow pupils and teachers, or those who create explicit images of celebrities to order. How will the legislation the Government intend to bring forward on this help victims of this disgusting abuse and punish those who perpetrate it?

[Alex Davies-Jones]

I thank my hon. Friend for that question. This Government are committed to halving violence against women and girls over a decade, and that includes the horrendous, degrading and humiliating crime of taking intimate images without consent, as well as creating deepfake images without consent. For far too long, these crimes have gone unpunished, with perpetrators allowed to carry this out at will and to cover their sick behaviour under the rules of banter. We will not stand for it: we are legislating, and we are protecting women and girls.

[Robbie Moore (Keighley and Ilkley) (Con)]

16. If she will have discussions with the HM Prison and Probation Service on the potential merits of reviewing its guidelines on bail.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lisa Smart (Hazel Grove) (LD)]

A British mother in my constituency, having fled domestic abuse, faces forced return to Poland to stay with her young children under the Hague convention on the civil aspects of international child abduction. With no knowledge of the local language and no source of income there, she risks either dependence on her abuser or homelessness. That is because the convention ignores the issue of domestic abuse, allowing it to be manipulated by abusers. Would Ministers support my Bill on the Hague abduction convention and domestic abuse, which I will present soon and which would change the implementation of the Hague convention in UK domestic law to protect mothers from the threat of return in this way?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Alex Davies-Jones)]

I will happily meet the hon. Member to discuss her Bill and tackle this issue head on.

[Nadia Whittome (Nottingham East) (Lab)]

I thank my right hon. Friend the Justice Secretary for the announcement she made today and the Government for listening to bereaved families and surviving victims. It is only right that the inquiry is statutory to ensure that it has the power to compel witnesses and hold those responsible for failings to account. What assurances can she give that the inquiry will be conducted in a timely manner and that the lessons it uncovers will be implemented swiftly to help ensure that similar attacks do not take place?

--- Later in debate ---

[Sir Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Will the Minister take a special look at the problem of rogue builders who repeatedly target our constituents—often very vulnerable people? They take thousands from them and wreck their homes, yet the only redress is said to be trading standards. Surely that amounts to fraud and there ought to be a prosecution to follow.

[Alex Davies-Jones]

If any crime is committed, or even alleged to have been committed, it should be reported to the police in the first instance. Victims have rights under the victims code. We have recently done a campaign to advertise the code to create awareness of it, and we will soon consult on the code so that it reaches all potential victims of crime more broadly.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Justice Committee.