Asked by: John Howell (Conservative - Henley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his position is on the UK’s continued membership of the Council of Europe through its membership of the European Court of Human Rights.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The United Kingdom is committed to remaining a state party to the European Convention on Human Rights and the Council of Europe.
Asked by: John Howell (Conservative - Henley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the presentation by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights on Annual activity report 2021 by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, which took place at the Council of Europe on 26 April 2022.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
We have taken note of the activities undertaken by Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights during 2021. These activities of course have taken place across the different member States of the Council of Europe, and on many topics in a human rights context.
Asked by: John Howell (Conservative - Henley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to improve education in prisons; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
We want prisons to be places of rigorous education and hard work, As Dame Sally Coates will recommend in her impending report, we want to give control of education in prisoners to governors so they can bring in new providers and hold them to account. That's why we are also protecting the £130m prison education budget in cash terms.
Asked by: John Howell (Conservative - Henley)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what programmes are available in the prison service to help prisoners with gambling problems.
Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner
The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) commissions providers to deliver a broad range of high quality, accredited, interventions to address the particular risks and needs of offenders. With the introduction of “Through the Gate” services in May 2015, all prisoners irrespective of their sentence length are screened on entering prison for issues including debt and offered a package of support in prisons and on release to address their offending based on individual circumstances. Support available to problem gamblers includes debt advice but could also include referral to specialist organisations such as Gamblers Anonymous or Gamcare, as well as services provided through the chaplaincy and the Offender Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) such as money management courses.
In addition, all prisoners are seen by healthcare services on reception and can be referred to mental health and addiction services to help address problem gambling.