Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking through the criminal justice system to tackle alcohol and drug-related crime in (a) Stoke-on-Trent and (b) Staffordshire.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
We know that drug and alcohol related crime blights communities and drives reoffending, so it is essential the Criminal Justice System tackles substance misuse and supports offenders into treatment.
This is why MoJ have introduced the Alcohol Abstinence and Monitoring Requirement (AAMR) to tackle alcohol related offending. The AAMR imposes an alcohol ban for up to 120 days, with compliance electronically monitored using an alcohol tag. Published statistics show a compliance rate with the ban of 97.2% for days monitored, since introduction, Electronic Monitoring Statistics Published June 2023 - Gov.uk. We have also introduced alcohol monitoring for offenders leaving custody and during the license period where alcohol misuse is a factor for reoffending; license conditions may be imposed which ban or limit alcohol consumption.
Drug Treatment Requirements can also be imposed as part of a community sentence, which aims to address the underlying causes of drug-driven offending behaviours and improve health outcomes.
All prisoners will also have access to high-quality treatment so they can turn their back on addiction. We are increasing the number of Incentivised Substance Free Living units to up to 100 by March 2025, where prisoners commit to remaining free of illicit drugs with regular drug testing and incentives - there are currently 60 open across the estate, including several in the West Midlands region.
The ongoing recruitment of Drug Strategy Leads based in category C and women's prisons, also allows for the coordination of the strategy’s whole system approach to tackling drugs.
We are recruiting Health and Justice Partnership Coordinators across England and Wales, to improve offender access to substance misuse and health services. These roles work regionally across the West Midlands, covering both Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire.
We know that for prison leavers, continuity of care after release is important. We are rolling out a project that will make probation aware of all person leavers who were in treatment in prison and have been referred to community treatment- enabling them to support appointment attendance. Mobilisation in Stoke on Trent and Staffordshire is underway and due to complete by March 2024.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the backlog of criminal court cases in (a) Stoke-on-Trent and (b) Staffordshire.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Stoke-on-Trent and Stafford fall into the Staffordshire Local Criminal Justice Board. Whilst the outstanding caseload in both the magistrates’ court and the Crown Court is currently higher than in 2019, due to additional pressures faced by the courts during the pandemic and as a result of the Criminal Bar Association Strike, there have been improvements in the last quarter. In the magistrates’ court, the outstanding case load stood at 8,964 in Q1 2023 compared to 9,401 in Q4 2022. In the Crown Court, the outstanding caseload stood at 1,033 in Q1 2023 compared to 1084 in Q4 2022. We continue to work with colleagues and the judiciary locally to improve our service to local communities.
We remain committed to reducing the caseload and are working closely with the judiciary and other partners to improve the experience of court users. We have introduced a raft of measures to achieve that aim, including allowing the courts to sit at maximum capacity for the third year in a row. We have also extended the use of 24 Nightingale courtrooms this financial year, and are recruiting up to 1,000 judges across all jurisdictions to allow courts to work at full capacity.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government is taking to tackle overcrowding in prisons.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
We are delivering 20,000 additional modern prison places, the largest prison build programme since the Victorian era, ensuring the right conditions are in place to rehabilitate prisoners, helping to cut crime and protect the public.
We have already delivered c.5,200 places, including through the brand new prison, HMP Fosse Way, which started accepting prisoners at the end of May. This is in addition to the new prison, HMP Five Wells, which opened last year. We have also delivered c.700 temporary places delivered through modular units.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent progress he has made on increasing the number of prison places in Staffordshire.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
We are investing £3.8 billion over the next three years to deliver 20,000 additional, modern prison places, including 2,000 temporary prison places, across England and Wales, by the mid-2020s. This includes 60 places at HMP/YOI Swinfen Hall in Staffordshire.
Sites have not yet been confirmed for all additional spaces. Feasibility and scoping work have been initiated to identify expansion opportunities across the existing estate. Final decisions will be taken on each site once site surveys and investigations have been completed.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many parents have taken local education authorities (LEAs) to appeal at a tribunal against an Education, Care and Health Plan decision in (a) Stoke-on-Trent and (b) Staffordshire in each of the last five years; and what proportion of those appeals were determined in favour of the (a) parents and (b) LEA.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The number of appeals brought against EHCP decisions (including the refusal to assess a child or young person; the refusal to issue an EHCP after an assessment; and the content of the EHCP) in the LEAs of (a) Stoke-on-Trent and (b) Staffordshire; and the proportion of those appeals determined in favour of the (a) parents and (b) LEA is shown in the table below. For context, the number of appeals withdrawn or conceded before, and those still awaiting, hearing is also included.
Local Authority/year | Appeals received on grounds of refusal to assess, issue an EHCP and the content of the plan | Found in favour1 of the parents or young person at hearing | Found in favour of the LEA at hearing | Withdrawn | LEA Conceded prior to the hearing | Awaiting hearing |
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Stoke on Trent |
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2015-16 | 7 | 1 (50%) | 1 (50%) | 2 | 3 | 0 |
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2016-17 | 15 | 4 (56%) | 3 (43%) | 4 | 4 | 0 |
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2017-18 | 14 | 4 (100%) | 0 | 7 | 3 | 0 |
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2018-19 | 20 | 6 (100%) | 0 | 2 | 12 | 0 |
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2019-20 | 26 | 8 (100%) | 0 | 1 | 11 | 6 |
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Staffordshire |
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2015-16 | 76 | 12 (100%) | 0 | 30 | 34 | 0 |
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2016-17 | 106 | 28 (74%) | 10 (26%) | 26 | 42 | 0 |
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2017-18 | 97 | 35 (67%) | 16 (33%) | 20 | 26 | 0 |
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2018-19 | 81 | 35 (83%) | 7 (17%) | 15 | 23 | 1 |
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2019-20 | 111 | 58 (95%) | 3 (5%) | 16 | 14 | 20 |
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¹ Appeals found in favour of the parent or young person are those in which the appellant was successful in all or part of the appeal |
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Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he is taking steps taking to include Desecration of War Memorials Bill provisions in the Sentencing Green Paper.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Any vandalism or attack on property should be met with the full force of the law. Attacking any memorial is an insult, and this is particularly true of a war memorial commemorating those who have given their lives fighting for our freedom.
The Government has stated in the Sentencing White Paper, A Smarter Approach to Sentencing, that it is currently reviewing the law in this area to ensure that where memorials are damaged or desecrated, the courts are able to sentence appropriately at every level for this particular type of offending.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
What plans he has to amend the Human Rights Act 1998.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Yesterday the Government announced the launch of the Independent Human Rights Act Review, which is a key manifesto commitment of Government.
The Review will be a technical examination of the operation of the Human Rights Act, chaired by Sir Peter Gross. It will focus on the relationship between domestic courts and the European Court of Human Rights, as well as the relationship between the judiciary, the executive and the legislature.
The Panel have been requested to provide a detailed, independent piece of advice outlining options for reform by Summer 2021. A government response will subsequently be published.