Former Labour MP for Wythenshawe and Sale East ( 1 May 1997 – 7 Jan 2014)
Did you mean reducing are-offending?
Lord Bellamy: Effective resettlement of prison leavers is a core part of our efforts to reduce re-offending. This includes making sure someone has a home and access to employment. Community Probation Practitioners coordinate the overall rehabilitation of an offender, supported by Pre-Release Teams who provide immediate resettlement and pre-release support for all people in prison, including for...
Lord Bellamy: We remain committed in increasing the number of prison leavers securing employment on release. The proportion of prison leavers who were employed six months after release more than doubled in the two years to March 2023, from 14% to over 30%. Meanwhile, the proportion who were in employment six weeks after their release almost doubled in the same period, from 9.8% to 19.4% We know that...
Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts: ...I was going to be cut off at the knees at the end of the last session when the Committee was adjourned promptly. I also apologise to the Committee because I did not participate in the Second Reading debate. I intervene this afternoon to support Amendment 14 tabled by the noble and right reverend Lord, Lord Harries, and supported by my noble and learned friend Lord Garnier, the noble Lord,...
Edward Argar: The sale of the former Reading Gaol to the Ziran Education Foundation was completed on 10 January. This sale will provide funds which will be reinvested in the wider prison estate and in turn will help the Ministry of Justice protect the public and reduce re-offending. I have written to both the honourable member and his colleague, the Rt Hon Member for Reading West, to give further details...
Edward Argar: Prison leavers without settled accommodation are almost 50 per cent more likely to re-offend compared to those with settled accommodation, and a settled place to live is key to reducing re-offending, cutting crime and protecting the public. In July 2021, HM Prison and Probation Service launched a new transitional accommodation service, Community Accommodation Service- Tier 3 (CAS3), providing...
Jerome Mayhew: ...commitment to have tough sentences for the most serious crimes. Also, it finally delivers on the contract that was struck with the British people back in 1965—when capital punishment was repealed, the quid pro quo was life imprisonment. That, however, has never been the case—life imprisonment for serious murder—so the whole life order delivers on that original contract. I welcome the...
Damian Hinds: Effective resettlement of prison leavers is a core part of our efforts to reduce re-offending. This includes making sure someone has a home, family links where appropriate, access to healthcare, a job or further education, and/or access to benefits. The Government remains committed to helping individuals turn their back on crime by introducing Resettlement Passports, which will bring together...
Sue Webber: No—I will not yet, if the member does not mind, given the time restraints. I hope that I will cover the member’s point. Mr Whitfield might catch my eye later. Given how vital support packages are for children and young people for successfully reducing re-offending and providing care for children with complex needs, the committee was firmly of the view that those updated and expanded...
Liam McArthur: ...add my thanks to the many stakeholders whose insight and expertise has informed Parliament’s scrutiny of the bill. As I did at the stage 1 debate, it is important to underline why I believe that reform of bail and release is necessary. Scotland’s prison population is among the highest in Europe and it is growing, which has led to overcrowding, poor conditions and problems undertaking...
Damian Hinds: The data requested can be found in the tables attached. During 2020 and 2021, the number of court order completions was substantially reduced as a result of operational restrictions put in place in response to the pandemic. We are investing an extra £155 million a year into the Probation Service, enabling us to recruit thousands more staff, to help reduce re-offending and protect the...
Lord Bellamy: Effective resettlement of prison leavers is a core part of our efforts to reduce re-offending. Evidence shows that prison leavers who are without settled accommodation are almost 50 percent more likely to reoffend than those who have stable accommodation on release. Our Prisons Strategy White Paper set out our plans to reduce reoffending, including improving prison leavers’ access to...
Liam McArthur: ...debate early in order to fly home for the Orkney youth awards. I am not anticipating picking up an award but, nevertheless, I am very much looking forward to attending the event. I congratulate Audrey Nicoll and her colleagues on the Criminal Justice Committee on their report. I did not sit through the evidence, but I have had an opportunity to read the report and, indeed, a number of the...
Damian Hinds: We are not able to provide the information in the formats requested, because some parts are not held centrally, and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. As data for work in custody were not collected during the period affected by the pandemic, the latest data published on numbers working in prisons is contained in the HMPPS Annual Digest 2019/20 (publishing.service.gov.uk). We...
Damian Hinds: Effective resettlement of prison leavers is a core part of our efforts to reduce re-offending. This includes making sure someone has a home, family links where appropriate, access to healthcare, a job or further education, and/or access to benefits. We know that employment reduces the chance of reoffending significantly, by up to nine percentage points. The proportion of prisoners released...
Damian Hinds: Action to enable the safe supervision of those released from custody on licence or under post-sentence supervision starts before they leave prison with critical work undertaken by prison and probation staff. In the majority of cases (except very short sentences where they are managed by their home probation region) this involves a formal handover from the prison offender manager to the...
Damian Hinds: Information about time out of cell for adult prisoners is not held by the Ministry of Justice, as it would require detailed daily monitoring of out-of-cell activity of each prisoner in each establishment. There is no current central instruction prescribing the amount of time prisoners should spend out of their cells. There is a clear commitment, however, to the delivery and performance...
Lord Hylton: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to recommend non-custodial sentences whenever possible for parents of multiple children, and (2) to maintain strong family links and relationships during prison sentences, in order to reduce re-offending.
Lord Bellamy: HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has been rolling out PAVA incapacitant spray to all band 3-5 staff in the adult closed male estate and this is still under way. Staff require appropriate training to use PAVA and only prisons that have implemented the key work scheme – which is vital in building relationships between offenders and staff – will receive it. The figures for delivery of...
Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the comparative effectiveness of (1) short prison sentences, and (2) community sentences, in reducing and preventing re-offending.
Lord Farmer: My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the informative and thoughtful speech of the noble Lord, Lord Kakkar. I too thank the noble Lord, Lord Patel, for securing what is a very timely debate, given the new Health Secretary’s pledge to put patients first, and the opportunity to talk about how community-based care can improve patient outcomes. I declare my interest as director and controlling...