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Stephen Lawrence Inquiry
5. Ms Oona King (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Lab): What progress the Government have made in implementing the recommendations of the Lawrence inquiry; and what further steps are being taken to promote race equality. [162523]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Fiona Mactaggart): The Stephen Lawrence inquiry report was published on 24 February 1999 and made 70 recommendations. I am pleased to say that the vast majority of the recommendations have now been either completely or partially implemented. I have commissioned research by the London School of Economics to evaluate the overall impact of the recommendations on the police. That report is due in the summer. Following recommendation 11 of the Macpherson report, the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 introduced a duty on specified public authorities to promote equality of opportunity and good relations between persons of different racial groups.
Ms King : I thank my hon. Friend for her reply. Does she agree that promoting community cohesion is one of the most important aspects of her Department's work? I hope that she is aware of the progress that Tower Hamlets has made and the national recognition that it has received for that. Will she argue for more resources to be devoted to community cohesion and promoting race equality? The issue affects all of us—as many white constituents come to see me following race attacks as black and Asian constituents. Although ethnic minorities face specific problems of institutionalised racism, which the Lawrence inquiry examined, I hope that the Government recognise that Britain must invest in promoting race equality for all the citizens of this country.
Fiona Mactaggart: My hon. Friend is right to draw the House's attention to the fact that delivering race equality and community cohesion is good for every citizen of this country, whether white or black. It is important that we all recognise that. She is also right to draw our attention to the excellent work on community cohesion being done in her constituency. Our ambition is to embed the lessons learned from the pathfinders on community cohesion in the mainstream operations of central and local government, because only by making that a normal part of doing business will we build genuinely cohesive communities throughout our country.
Mr. Mark Oaten (Winchester) (LD): While I support the need for the police to challenge suspicious behaviour, especially if it involves terrorism, will the Minister explain why there is no ethnic monitoring of stop-and-search operations conducted under Terrorism Act 2000 powers? Does she accept that that goes against the recommendations of the Macpherson report and is at odds with good community relations, which are especially important if we are to fight terrorism and gain intelligence from members of such groups?
Fiona Mactaggart: People who are stopped under anti-terrorism powers are not stopped because of their ethnicity but because there is a specific need for the investigating officer to ensure that we are safe and protected from terrorism. We are introducing into general stop-and-search procedures much more robust monitoring and connecting whether the initial stop leads to a justifying outcome. It is important to have that information, so that we can determine whether the disparity in our current stop-and-search arrangements is justified, or whether we must take robust action to end that disparity.
Mr. John Wilkinson (Ruislip-Northwood) (Con): Is it not the case that in many inner-London boroughs, a proactive, intelligence-led approach by the police is crucial to tackling endemic crime such as street crime and drug dealing? Without stop-and-search powers, would not the police be seriously handicapped in their work, to the severe detriment of Londoners in those areas?
Fiona Mactaggart: The answer to the hon. Gentleman is, of course, yes. We need to ensure that stop-and-search powers are intelligence-led and produce effective
results. Intelligence-led use of the powers has disrupted gun crime, for example, but we need evidence to ensure that stop-and-search powers are being used sensibly to reduce crime. Stop-and-search is an important tool when well used, but we need to ensure that it is always well used.Reoffending Rates
6. Mr. David Rendel (Newbury) (LD): How he intends that the national offender management service will achieve lower rates of reconviction. [162524]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Paul Goggins): Reducing reoffending is the central objective of the national offender management service.
This will be achieved through more effective management of offenders as well as better targeting and co-ordination of custodial and community sentences.
Mr. Rendel: The Department's figures show that 55 per cent. of those who are imprisoned are reconvicted within two years, whereas only 45 per cent. of those who are given community sentences are reconvicted within the same period. If the national offender management service is to be evidence-based, should we not be giving preference wherever possible to community service sentences, particularly for non-violent offenders?
Paul Goggins: The thrust of the reforms under the NOMS system is to rebalance our correctional services so that those in prison are those who need and deserve to be there and from whom we need protection. Those who are non-dangerous and commit less serious offences should be dealt with effectively in the community. The reoffending rates of those who complete sentences in the community are encouraging. It is an important message that effective work and tough sentences can be carried out in the community where that is appropriate for particular offenders.
Mr. Keith Bradley (Manchester, Withington) (Lab): Will my hon. Friend tell the House when the national rehabilitation action plan will be published? When it is published, will it include the key recommendation of the social exclusion unit report on reducing reoffending—a going straight contract?
Paul Goggins: I cannot confirm the contents or the precise date of the national rehabilitation action plan. However, I can confirm that work continues apace to draw up that plan. In the Prison Service, much greater emphasis is being placed on housing advice, advice from Jobcentre Plus staff and advice on drug treatment and education. All those ingredients need to be joined together much more effectively with what happens in the community after release from prison. That will be the focus of the national rehabilitation action plan.
Andrew Selous (South-West Bedfordshire) (Con): Does the Minister accept that reconviction rates would be lower if the recommendations of the Carter report were agreed to, which would see prisoners placed in prisons nearer to their families?
Paul Goggins: One of the considerations of the Prison Service when allocating prisoners to prisons is closeness to home. It is somewhat regrettable that a third of all prisoners are more than 50 miles away from home. However, other considerations have to be taken into account. It is essential that contact is maintained with families throughout the prison sentence, and we do everything we can to encourage visits by families to prisoners, but the pressures on our prisons sometimes make it unavoidable that prisoners are further away from home than would ideally be the case.
Prison Overcrowding
7. Mrs. Annette L. Brooke (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD): What action he is taking to tackle prison overcrowding. [162525]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Paul Goggins): We are taking immediate action to increase the number of prison places, with an extra 2,500 places to be available by the end of 2004.
We will continue to press sentencers to use community sentences rather than short-term prison sentences for non-dangerous, less serious offenders.
Mrs. Brooke: The Minister will be aware that the Home Office projection suggests that it is highly likely that the prison population will reach 80,000 this year. Furthermore, the Carter report recommended that the population of those in custody should be stabilised at about 80,000. Does the Minister accept that recommendation? Will he set clear targets that will address slowing down and reversing the trend of an ever-increasing prison population?
Paul Goggins: Patrick Carter predicted in his report that if we did nothing to rebalance the correctional services, the prison population would be about 93,000 by the end of the decade. With the reforms that he recommended, it is possible to maintain a stable prison population at about 80,000, and that is what we intend to do. In the short term, we shall certainly make available the additional prison places that I mentioned in my initial reply—about 2,500 by the end of the year. It is important that the message goes out to sentencers that wherever possible community penalties should be used instead.
In his report, Patrick Carter emphasised the increasing severity of sentences. Someone is five times more likely now to be given a custodial sentence for shoplifting than was the case 10 years ago. That is hardly justifiable. Community sentences should be used wherever appropriate.
Vera Baird (Redcar) (Lab): My hon. Friend may be aware that the Fawcett commission on women and the criminal justice system, in which I have been involved, is about to report. One of its findings is that two thirds of women in prison, who are contributing to the overcrowding problem, are there for dishonesty. Does he agree that society pays a price if people are put into prison unnecessarily, as the result may be family break-up, home break-up and loss of jobs? Is it not time to evolve the principle that carers, whether male or female,
ought to be the last people to be put in prison, and that that principle should start to emerge in sentencing policy, unless, of course, those people are dangerous and violent?
Paul Goggins: As my hon. and learned Friend will recognise, the nature of the offence is crucial when sentence is passed, but she is quite right to point to the additional dimension for women who are put in custody—namely, their child care responsibilities. She will know that just over a week ago I published the women's offending reduction programme, which highlighted various actions that we are taking, such as improving bail information systems in prisons for women and improving mental health care for women offenders outside prison. I am also looking closely at our use of bail hostels to make sure that we are making maximum use of them as an alternative to prison. The issue of women in prison is high on my agenda, and I intend to continue pressing forward and making sure that wherever possible low-risk women offenders who have not committed particularly serious offences are dealt with outside prison.
Mrs. Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham) (Con): The Minister is incredibly complacent when he says that a couple of thousand prison places are coming on-stream at the end of the year, because we need prison places now. The operational capacity of our prisons has dropped this week from 75,191 to 75,073, so he has just eight places left before the system is completely and dangerously full. Does he agree with the general secretary of the Prisoner Governors Association, who said this morning that the Prison Service is now taking more chances with the prisoners that they are sending out of the system? What assurances can he give us that, despite the crisis that he has created, he will not permit the premature release of unsuitable prisoners?
Paul Goggins: I assure the House that I am not complacent about my responsibilities—nor do I hide away from the pressures. May I correct the hon. Lady's figure on the operational capacity of our prisons, which today stands at 75,291? It is important to put on record an accurate picture.
We have provided 14,700 additional prison places since 1997. Before the end of this year, we will add a further 2,500. We are not complacent, and will not release people into the community if there is a risk. However, if they are low-risk offenders and if it is appropriate to deal with them in court via a community sentence, that is what sentencers should be doing.
Rob Marris (Wolverhampton, South-West) (Lab): May I point out to my hon. Friend that one effect of overcrowding is an increased rate of recidivism? Young people in particular in the secure estate do not get the education that they deserve in prison, and have disproportionately high rates of illiteracy. That problem is not addressed properly in prison. Will my hon. Friend explain to the House why spending per capita in 2002 on education in the secure estate was only two thirds of the equivalent figure in secondary schools, when those are some of the most vulnerable people?
Paul Goggins: We continue to increase investment in education in our prisons. In the current year, we expect
50,000 basic skills qualifications to be gained in our prisons. If we are to tackle recidivism and create the opportunity for people to stay free from crime, it is essential that they are better educated and have a better chance of gaining employment. I assure my hon. Friend and the House that I regard that as a high priority.
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