House of Commons
Tuesday 21 July 2009
The House met at half-past Two o'clock
Prayers
[Mr. Speaker in the Chair]
Business before questions
Stewart Hosie (Dundee, East) (SNP): I beg to move,
That the Speaker do issue his Warrant to the Clerk of the Crown to make out a new Writ-
The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. Nicholas Brown): Object.
Mr. Speaker: As the motion is opposed, it will stand over until the time for raising matters of privilege after Questions.
Oral Answers to Questions
Justice
The Secretary of State was asked-
Diversity (Judiciary)
1. Keith Vaz (Leicester, East) (Lab): What steps his Department is taking to increase levels of diversity in the judiciary. [288136]
The Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor (Mr. Jack Straw): Entry to the legal profession is now well balanced in terms of women and black and Asian people. That makes it all the more frustrating and paradoxical that, since the creation of the independent Judicial Appointments Commission in 2006, the data suggest that the situation for black and Asian people has, if anything, gone backwards. To provide more robust solutions and process, in April I established an advisory panel on judicial diversity and look forward to its report later in the year.
Keith Vaz: May I welcome that rather astonishing criticism of the Judicial Appointments Commission by the Secretary of State and Lord Chancellor? I agree with it-we have not made progress on judicial diversity and I was pleased that he appointed a panel to consider the issue. When does he think that its recommendations will be before him? How long will it take him to implement them and put right what has not happened with the Judicial Appointments Commission in the past few years?
Mr. Straw: I was not seeking to make an astonishing criticism of the Judicial Appointments Commission, but merely referring to the data, which-although there are big problems with some of them-suggest that the situation for black and Asian people has gone backwards. We want the panel on judicial diversity to consider carefully all the processes and bars on people who work their way through the profession to a certain point and then, whether they are women or black or Asian people, are discouraged from applying, or, if they apply, are less likely to be successful. That is particularly true of the more senior judicial appointments
Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con): May I urge the Secretary of State to avoid any form of political correctness in appointments to the judiciary? Is not it completely wrong to see people in terms of their race, gender or religion when judging them and offering them jobs? Surely all jobs, including in the judiciary, should be given on merit alone?
Mr. Straw: I can reassure the hon. Gentleman that I am the least politically correct person I know. Of course appointments should be made on merit, but there is something slightly insulting about the implication of his question-
Mr. Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con): No, no.
Mr. Straw: Yes, there is. There is something insulting about the implication of the question that there will not be well-qualified black or Asian people. The problems that women and black or Asian people face are similar but not the same: they are very well qualified when they enter the profession, but for all sorts of reasons they may be put off from getting to the starting line for the more senior appointments. Of course, when they are on the starting line for a circuit or High Court judge appointment, their merits should be assessed in the same way as anybody else's, but the problem is getting people to that point.
Mr. Speaker: May I say at the start of questions that the Secretary of State's enthusiasm always to engage with the question and respond fully is widely respected throughout the House, but comprehensiveness must not stray into prolixity?
Magistrates Courts
2. Mr. Jim Cunningham (Coventry, South) (Lab): How many magistrates courts have been in operation in each year since 2005. [288137]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Bridget Prentice): The number of magistrates courts in operation at the start of each calendar year since 2005 is: 361, 361, 360, 358 and, to date, 356.
Mr. Cunningham: Given the reorganisation of magistrates courts in the past few years, will the Under-Secretary tell us what new initiatives have been piloted in them to tackle crime and its causes?
Bridget Prentice:
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his question because it allows me to highlight three areas where we have enjoyed particular success in
introducing innovative new approaches. The dedicated drugs courts have now been extended from the pilots in Leeds and west London to elsewhere in the country-indeed, I visited one in Salford not very long ago. Specialist domestic violence courts are being rolled out across the country. We now have 122 such courts, which are successfully bringing together different agencies to deal with domestic violence. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State recently opened the mental health court, which will deal with mental health issues and crime. All those courts are part of our determined effort not just to bring offenders to justice but to ensure that when they have served their time they can be brought back into the community in a positive and useful way.
Probation Service
3. David Taylor (North-West Leicestershire) (Lab/Co-op): What representations he has received on levels of probation service funding for the next three years. [288140]
The Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor (Mr. Jack Straw): I have received many representations. Probation funding has increased since 1997 by 70 per cent. in real terms. The budget for probation in this financial year is £894 million, compared with an out-turn for last year of £897 million.
David Taylor: All prison officers are civil servants, unlike the great bulk of probation employees. As the new directors of offender management are drawn almost exclusively from the Prison Service, probation boards are budgeting for £50 million of cuts next year. Does the Secretary of State understand the angst among our public sector colleagues in probation and their unions, the National Association of Probation Officers and Unison, about the consequences for individuals in the criminal justice system of a further loss of resources and staff?
Mr. Straw: Of course I understand anxieties in probation and prison services, but let me say to my hon. Friend, first, that we have not set the budget for the year beyond next year. Secondly, over the past 12 years, the real-terms increase in the probation service has been twice as fast as that in the Prison Service.
Miss Julie Kirkbride (Bromsgrove) (Con): Does the Secretary of State not recognise that the probation service is already overstretched and that the cuts are most unwelcome? How does he expect the service to ensure the safety of the public and prevent reoffending by people who have been in prison if it does not have the resources to manage them properly?
Mr. Straw: The resources are there. The budget for probation in the hon. Lady's area of West Mercia was £9.2 million in 2001-02. In the year just finished, it was £15.7 million. Even allowing for some inflation, that is a big real-terms increase. I am working carefully with the unions nationally, including the National Association of Probation Officers, to ensure that anxieties are properly and better dealt with than they might have been.
Mr. Neil Gerrard (Walthamstow) (Lab):
My right hon. Friend may know that over the past couple of months, probation officers from across the country have been coming to meetings in the House to discuss
what is happening in their areas with hon. Members. The consistent picture has been of jobs going, including compulsory redundancies in some places, and trainee probation officers not getting jobs. Will my right hon. Friend agree to meet me and a cross-party delegation from the all-party justice unions parliamentary group, to see whether we can get to the bottom of what is happening in the service?
Mr. Straw: I would be delighted to meet my hon. Friend. I have also set up a process with the major probation trade unions, NAPO and Unison, and the Probation Association whereby I see them every month to work through local anxieties. In most cases-although not every case-that process has worked satisfactorily to allay concerns. Of course I am worried about the number of trainee probation officers for whom there currently do not appear to be jobs, but a lot of work is being done, including with the Prison Service, to ensure that jobs can be provided across the board in the National Offender Management Service.
Mr. Edward Garnier (Harborough) (Con): Why does the Secretary of State look surprised that he engenders so little confidence among the public and probation staff when he cannot run his budget? The director of probation has said that he wants the maximum level of underspending. Hundreds of expensively trained probation trainees are going straight on to the scrap heap. Hundreds more staff on full pay are in the so-called surplus employment pool, yet probation officers often have only a few minutes a week to supervise serious offenders. The property maintenance system is so bureaucratic that changing a light bulb in Birmingham requires a repairman to drive from Newmarket. As accountancy is not the Secretary of State's strong point, will he confess that public safety is very much in peril under his stewardship?
Mr. Straw: The hon. and learned Gentleman does nothing to enhance his case through gross exaggeration of the situation. As I have said, the simple fact is that probation spending has increased by 70 per cent. since 1997, compared, in real terms, with 35 per cent. for the Prison Service. Probation spending has gone up further and faster than the case load. It has gone up much faster than it ever would have done under a Conservative Government, and much faster that it ever would under a Conservative Government.
Mr. Andy Reed (Loughborough) (Lab/Co-op): My right hon. Friend's Department will know of the case of Sarah Moore, a constituent of mine whose husband, a police officer, was killed several years ago. The probation service and other services have been working with the victims of crime. In view of the pressures on their budgets, what reassurance can my right hon. Friend give that the mistakes that have been made in the past will not be made in the future, and that the victims of crime-and not just the criminals-will be put at the heart of the criminal justice system?
Mr. Straw:
The current, rather tighter, financial situation is no excuse whatever for a lack of efficiency or concern, particularly in respect of more serious offenders. Performance among probation services varies greatly, but I am in no doubt that, if we can get the average
performance up to that of the best quarter, we will be doing very well in providing the public and, particularly, victims with a better service than they have today, within available resources.
Young Offenders
4. Mr. Stephen Crabb (Preseli Pembrokeshire) (Con): What recent steps his Department has taken to reduce reoffending rates among young offenders. [288141]
The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (Maria Eagle): The £100 million youth crime action plan, among other measures, has led to a 6.6 per cent. decrease in the proportion of young offenders who reoffend, and the rate at which they reoffended fell by more than 20 per cent. By introducing the youth rehabilitation order later this year, we plan to focus a more intense effort on tackling the young people with the most challenging behaviour, to assist them in turning their lives around.
Mr. Crabb: Studies by the Minister's own Department show that the odds of reoffending increase massively when a prisoner has no employment to go to on their release. Given that statistics show that youth unemployment has increased massively-from 11 to 17 per cent.-in the past 12 months, and that employment and training opportunities for young people are being decimated during this recession, what chance does the Minister give her aspiration for further progress on cutting reoffending rates of being realised in the current climate?
Maria Eagle: Of course the climate is a challenging one, but that is not a reason to give up. We believe that we could do far more to ensure that young people get every chance to turn away from the life of crime that they might have embarked on at an early age. We are providing more assistance, through interventions, to help them to do that, and to deal with the real risk factors such as a lack of accommodation, a lack of employment and a lack of support. The figures to which I referred earlier show that we are succeeding, and we intend to continue to do so.
Mr. Brian Jenkins (Tamworth) (Lab): Will my hon. Friend tell the House how many reoffenders lack educational qualifications? What are we doing to improve their chances of gaining such qualifications?
Maria Eagle: My hon. Friend hits on an important point. Many young and slightly older people who end up in custody have problems with their educational attainment. The provisions in the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill, which is going through the other place at present, will make local education authorities responsible for the educational attainment of people in youth custody. That will make a big difference, because it will focus the attention of education authorities on outcomes for this most disadvantaged group, which has, until now, disappeared into the youth criminal justice system because local authorities, which are primarily responsible for education, have washed their hands of the outcomes for that group.
Mr. David Burrowes (Enfield, Southgate) (Con):
The Minister will be aware of the commendable plan to establish a young offenders' academy in north-east London.
Why did NOMS last month refuse to release relevant financial information that would have helped that plan, despite assurances on disclosure from the Justice Secretary last November? Are the Government deliberately hiding the true cost of youth custody, in order to hide the true cost of their failure to reduce reoffending?
Maria Eagle: The hon. Gentleman is straying into conspiracy theories, which are not valid. I know of the plan to which he refers and, as far as I am concerned, my Department has made every effort to provide proper information. However, I will be happy to consider any further requests for information that he says have not been met. There might be some relevant issues relating to material that is commercial-in-confidence in a more competitive environment, but I would be happy to talk to him further about the matter.
Julie Morgan (Cardiff, North) (Lab): What evaluation has my hon. Friend made of the youth restorative disposal, which aims to get young people to apologise for their offence and to try to undertake restorative behaviour towards their victim, with the victim's consent? I understand that this is now being piloted. Has the pilot scheme been evaluated yet?
Maria Eagle: There is evidence that this type of disposal can assist the victim to gain some satisfaction by making an impact on the person who perpetrated the crime against them. It is also important in assisting the young person to realise the full consequences of their action. This disposal is available in the youth system and can be a useful part of intensive community activity to prevent young people from going into the criminal justice system in the first place and to ensure that they turn away from the temptation to commit crime. At the time the crimes are committed, they may seem to be victimless and consequence-free, but this type of disposal can help young people to understand that they are neither. It is thus a valuable part of what we can do to turn young people away from crime.
Licence Breaches
5. Sir Nicholas Winterton (Macclesfield) (Con): How many persons convicted of a criminal offence and released on licence are in breach of the conditions of their licence. [288142]
The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (Maria Eagle): In 2008-09, 17 per cent. of offenders on licence required breach action as a result of non-compliance during the first six months following release. That figure is based on a 20 per cent. sample of offenders released on licence, and 97 per cent. of the breached licences were enforced by the probation service within 10 working days of the breach.
Sir Nicholas Winterton: Is the Minister aware that nearly 1,000 criminals, including murderers, rapists and paedophiles are on the run after disappearing while released on licence. This figures includes 19 murderers, 15 rapists, five paedophiles and 51 people accused of grievous bodily harm. Is that acceptable, and what are the Government doing to keep a track on those who are released on licence?
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