To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to bring forward legislation to amend section 7A of the Road Traffic Act 1988 so that a specimen of blood taken from a driver incapable of giving consent may be tested without that driver's subsequent consent.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to bring forward legislation to amend section 7A of the Road Traffic Act 1988 so that a specimen of blood taken from a driver incapable of giving consent may be tested without that driver's subsequent consent.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many drivers and riders killed in road collisions had (a) toxicology results available, (b) toxicology results available for alcohol and (c) toxicology results available for drugs, in each of the last ten years; and what proportion of all deceased drivers and...

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many drivers and riders killed in road collisions had (a) toxicology results available, (b) toxicology results available for alcohol and (c) toxicology results available for drugs, in each of the last ten years; and what proportion of all deceased drivers and...

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) fatalities occurred in road collisions where a driver or rider was impaired by illegal drug use and (b) fatalities occurred in collisions involving a driver or rider over the legal drink-driving limit, in each of the last ten years...

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) fatalities occurred in road collisions where a driver or rider was impaired by illegal drug use and (b) fatalities occurred in collisions involving a driver or rider over the legal drink-driving limit, in each of the last ten years...

Lords statement on the implementation of the Sentencing Act 2026.

Lords statement on the implementation of the Sentencing Act 2026.

My Lords, the exodus that we have just seen was about as chaotic as the Government’s plans that we are about to debate. However, I thank the Minister for providing us with the opportunity to ask questions.

This latest Statement represents the fifth early release scheme that has been announced since...

My Lords, the exodus that we have just seen was about as chaotic as the Government’s plans that we are about to debate. However, I thank the Minister for providing us with the opportunity to ask questions.

This latest Statement represents the fifth early release scheme that has been announced since...

My Lords, we agree with the Statement that the Government clearly inherited a crisis of prison spaces, and a crisis in our criminal justice system as a whole. Frankly, the crisis was clearly attributable to many years of neglect, principally under the last Government. The Sentencing Act was a timely...

My Lords, we agree with the Statement that the Government clearly inherited a crisis of prison spaces, and a crisis in our criminal justice system as a whole. Frankly, the crisis was clearly attributable to many years of neglect, principally under the last Government. The Sentencing Act was a timely...

My Lords, I begin by declaring my interest. I was the lead non-executive director and chaired the agency board of His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service until March 2025. Last week the Lord Chancellor set out in the other place changes to the implementation of the Sentencing Act 2026 to...

My Lords, I begin by declaring my interest. I was the lead non-executive director and chaired the agency board of His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service until March 2025. Last week the Lord Chancellor set out in the other place changes to the implementation of the Sentencing Act 2026 to...

It goes back beyond that.

It goes back beyond that.

Yes, it goes back beyond that, but the intensity has not gone away. The answer cannot be a succession of emergency measures. The noble Lord, Lord Wolfson, said the Government had introduced various emergency measures. Well, we needed to, because the previous Government refused to act. Parliament legislated through the...

Yes, it goes back beyond that, but the intensity has not gone away. The answer cannot be a succession of emergency measures. The noble Lord, Lord Wolfson, said the Government had introduced various emergency measures. Well, we needed to, because the previous Government refused to act. Parliament legislated through the...

My Lords, with regard to excluding those convicted of manslaughter from early release, should we not keep in mind that manslaughter involves varying degrees of culpability, from the very serious to those which are less serious? There are cases involving, for example, a high degree of provocation or diminished responsibility,...

My Lords, with regard to excluding those convicted of manslaughter from early release, should we not keep in mind that manslaughter involves varying degrees of culpability, from the very serious to those which are less serious? There are cases involving, for example, a high degree of provocation or diminished responsibility,...

I entirely agree with those comments from the noble Viscount. That is absolutely right. We obviously have to be consistent in the way we apply these exemptions, but the variation he points to is exactly right.

I entirely agree with those comments from the noble Viscount. That is absolutely right. We obviously have to be consistent in the way we apply these exemptions, but the variation he points to is exactly right.

My Lord, I warmly welcome this Statement. The Government’s commitment to end the IPP scandal, as has been mentioned, is long overdue. A transition with public protection at its heart is the right way forward, but may I suggest that we start straightaway with what I call the low-hanging fruit:...

My Lord, I warmly welcome this Statement. The Government’s commitment to end the IPP scandal, as has been mentioned, is long overdue. A transition with public protection at its heart is the right way forward, but may I suggest that we start straightaway with what I call the low-hanging fruit:...

I thank my noble friend and pay tribute to him for the work that he has done, along with many other noble Lords on all sides of the House, to move us forward on the question of IPPs and how we regularise the situation. I should reinforce this: it goes...

I thank my noble friend and pay tribute to him for the work that he has done, along with many other noble Lords on all sides of the House, to move us forward on the question of IPPs and how we regularise the situation. I should reinforce this: it goes...

My Lords—

My Lords—

I know that the noble and learned Lord, Lord Garnier, wants to get up, but I want to respond quickly to the questions from the noble Lord, Lord Marks, about implementation. It is obviously very early days. The Prime Minister has made a commitment to legislate in this Parliament. That...

I know that the noble and learned Lord, Lord Garnier, wants to get up, but I want to respond quickly to the questions from the noble Lord, Lord Marks, about implementation. It is obviously very early days. The Prime Minister has made a commitment to legislate in this Parliament. That...

My Lords, also on IPPs, we have failed so many people. So many of those prisoners were not able to access the courses that they were supposed to undertake to qualify them to apply for parole and so on. They must have been damaged by what has happened and the...

My Lords, also on IPPs, we have failed so many people. So many of those prisoners were not able to access the courses that they were supposed to undertake to qualify them to apply for parole and so on. They must have been damaged by what has happened and the...

I thank the noble Baroness. That is exactly what we are thinking about now. As we go forward with these plans on IPPs, we are actively considering how we support them, before release and afterwards. It is absolutely shocking that 80% of the unreleased IPP prisoners—I think that the noble...

I thank the noble Baroness. That is exactly what we are thinking about now. As we go forward with these plans on IPPs, we are actively considering how we support them, before release and afterwards. It is absolutely shocking that 80% of the unreleased IPP prisoners—I think that the noble...

My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for this Statement, particularly the highlight on IPP prisoners. However, the approach still feels piecemeal, driven too much by ill-informed public narrative and wrongly focusing the problem on prison capacity. Does the Minister agree that the focus needs to be on reducing...

My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for this Statement, particularly the highlight on IPP prisoners. However, the approach still feels piecemeal, driven too much by ill-informed public narrative and wrongly focusing the problem on prison capacity. Does the Minister agree that the focus needs to be on reducing...

I thank the right reverend Prelate for those observations. I disagree only with the comment about the ill-informed public narrative. There is a need for us to better explain to the public what we are doing and why we are doing it, particularly, as I have said, the intensive community...

I thank the right reverend Prelate for those observations. I disagree only with the comment about the ill-informed public narrative. There is a need for us to better explain to the public what we are doing and why we are doing it, particularly, as I have said, the intensive community...

My Lords, I was Justice Secretary when we abolished IPPs in 2012. Nobody in Parliament then would have believed that, 14 years later, we would still have 2,000 people being held in prison indefinitely without release. It is not the case that they had all been sentenced because they were...

My Lords, I was Justice Secretary when we abolished IPPs in 2012. Nobody in Parliament then would have believed that, 14 years later, we would still have 2,000 people being held in prison indefinitely without release. It is not the case that they had all been sentenced because they were...