Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that tenants and leaseholders have access to legal remedies if housing management companies fail to act on antisocial behaviour complaints.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
When tenants commit anti-social behaviour (ASB) it can cause misery for housemates, neighbours, and the wider community. The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 introduced specific measures designed to give victims and communities a say in the way that complaints of ASB are dealt with. As well as trying to resolve issues through housing management companies, depending on circumstances, tenants are able to contact their local authority or the police for support. It is also open for individuals to take legal action against the people behaving anti-socially and for an individual, or a freeholder to apply to the First-tier Residential Property Tribunal for forfeiture of the lease.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the (a) judicial process and (b) sentencing in the case of Sir David Amess's murder.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Sentencing is a matter for the independent judiciary. In the case of Sir David Amess’s tragic murder, the judge imposed a life sentence with a whole life order. A whole life order is the most severe form of punishment the courts can impose. Such sentences have no minimum term and no possibility of Parole Board release, and as such they are reserved for the most heinous cases of murder. Our thoughts and sympathies remain with Sir David’s family.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department plans to release inmates who have served a third of their sentence in order to tackle overcrowding.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
This Government was left an unconscionable inheritance with the prison system days from collapse. To prevent the risk of gridlock across the Criminal Justice System, we have had no choice but to take decisive action to stop our prisons overflowing and keep the public safe.
The previous Government added less than 500 net places, whilst the previous Labour Government added net 28,000. As set out in the December 2024 10-Year Prison Capacity Strategy, we are committed to delivering an additional 14,000 prison places and aim to do so by 2031; we have already delivered c.2500 of these since taking office. Our build programme consists of the construction of four new prisons, including the recently delivered HMP Millsike, as well as the expansion and refurbishment of the existing estate. The Lord Chancellor announced in her speech of 14 May a further investment of £4.7 billion over the spending review period to deliver these places, including breaking ground at a new prison site near HMP Gartree later this year. We are also committed to undertaking critical maintenance work, and acquiring more land should further prisons be required.
On 22 May, the Lord Chancellor set out the Government’s in-principle response to the Independent Sentencing Review’s findings and recommendations, which will ensure prisons never run out of space again and dangerous offenders can be kept off the streets. One key change announced will be a new ‘earned progression model’ that will see prisoners earn their way to release through good behaviour or face longer in jail. Under this model, an offender will not necessarily leave prison at an automatic point. Instead, their release date will be determined by their behaviour. If they follow prison rules, they will earn earlier release. If they do not, they can be locked up for longer.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department plans to bring forward legislation to protect free speech.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This Government recognises the fundamental importance of freedom of speech as a cornerstone of our democratic society. We have had free speech in this country for a very long time. It is one of our foundational principles of which we are all very proud. It is already protected by legislation, including notably the Human Rights Act 1998, which gives further domestic effect to the right to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department plans to review the case of Lucy Connolly.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Court of Appeal has considered all the evidence put before them in this case and refused the application for leave to appeal against the sentence. It would not be appropriate for any Minister of Government to comment on or intervene in such a decision of the independent judiciary, and as such the Government has no plans to review this case.
If an individual has appealed unsuccessfully and exhausted the usual routes of appeal, they are able to apply to the Criminal Case Review Commission.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department has made an assessment of Lucy Connolly's condition in prison.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
We cannot disclose personal information about an individual prisoner.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department has considered compassionate measures for Lucy Connolly.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
We cannot disclose personal information about an individual prisoner.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of shorter prison sentences for prisoners convicted of violent offences on reoffending rates.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
The Independent Sentencing Review recommends a reduction in short prison sentences.
There is a compelling case for doing so: in the most recent data, nearly 60% of those receiving a 12-month sentence reoffended within a year. It is important, however, to note that the review recommends a reduction in short sentences, not abolition. It is right that judges retain the discretion to hand them down in exceptional circumstances, which David Gauke suggested could be in situations of domestic abuse.
We have also been clear that anyone who breaches protective orders linked to violence against women and girls, such as stalking and domestic abuse protection orders, will be excluded from this presumption.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of reducing prison sentences for domestic abusers on reoffending rates of assault.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
The Independent Sentencing Review recommends a reduction in short prison sentences.
There is a compelling case for doing so: in the most recent data, nearly 60% of those receiving a 12-month sentence reoffended within a year. It is important, however, to note that the review recommends a reduction in short sentences, not abolition. It is right that judges retain the discretion to hand them down in exceptional circumstances, which David Gauke suggested could be in situations of domestic abuse.
We have also been clear that anyone who breaches protective orders linked to violence against women and girls, such as stalking and domestic abuse protection orders, will be excluded from this presumption.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department has made an estimate of the reoffending rate of prisoners released through the early release scheme in 2024.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip, House of Commons)
This Government inherited prisons days from collapse. We have had no choice but to take decisive action to stop our prisons overflowing and keep the public safe.
Reoffending rates are published regularly on an annual and quarterly basis. The most recent rates are available at the link below: Proven reoffending statistics - GOV.UK.
There has not been any significant increase in recall following SDS40.
We have also published SDS40 release data alongside the quarterly Offender Management Statistics, in line with the Lord Chancellor’s commitment to transparency: Standard Determinate Sentence (SDS40) release data - GOV.UK.