My right honourable friend the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Chris Grayling) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

In July 2011 the Government announced the start of a new programme of competition for the management of nine prisons: Acklington and Castington (now together known as Northumberland), Coldingley,...

My right honourable friend the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Chris Grayling) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

In July 2011 the Government announced the start of a new programme of competition for the management of nine prisons: Acklington and Castington (now together known as Northumberland), Coldingley,...

In July 2011 the Government announced the start of a new programme of competition for the management of nine prisons: Acklington and Castington (now together known as Northumberland), Coldingley, Durham, Hatfield, Lindholme, Moorland and Onley, all currently managed by the public sector, and Wolds, currently managed by G4S.

I have already...

In July 2011 the Government announced the start of a new programme of competition for the management of nine prisons: Acklington and Castington (now together known as Northumberland), Coldingley, Durham, Hatfield, Lindholme, Moorland and Onley, all currently managed by the public sector, and Wolds, currently managed by G4S.

I have already...

My right honourable friend the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Kenneth Clarke, QC) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement. In the response to the Green Paper: Breaking the Cycle: Effective Punishment, Rehabilitation and Sentencing of Offenders, I set out a vision for a transformed justice system...

My right honourable friend the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Kenneth Clarke, QC) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement. In the response to the Green Paper: Breaking the Cycle: Effective Punishment, Rehabilitation and Sentencing of Offenders, I set out a vision for a transformed justice system...

In the response to the Green Paper, ““Breaking the Cycle: Effective Punishment, Rehabilitation and Sentencing of Offenders””, I set out a vision for a transformed justice system that will focus on public protection and cutting crime. An important part of delivering the changes I am committed to is ensuring that...

In the response to the Green Paper, ““Breaking the Cycle: Effective Punishment, Rehabilitation and Sentencing of Offenders””, I set out a vision for a transformed justice system that will focus on public protection and cutting crime. An important part of delivering the changes I am committed to is ensuring that...

My Lords, the Minister has not answered the question posed by my noble friend Lord Thomas about why this country has the most punitive policy towards the incarceration of prisoners in the democratic European context. Will he reflect on what it is about this country that causes our prison population...

My Lords, the Minister has not answered the question posed by my noble friend Lord Thomas about why this country has the most punitive policy towards the incarceration of prisoners in the democratic European context. Will he reflect on what it is about this country that causes our prison population...

My Lords, on my noble friend’s final question, like all government departments we are, of course, doing our duty. As to his first question, it is necessary that I go away and write a letter to the noble Lord, Lord Thomas of Gresford, with a response to his point. Britain...

My Lords, on my noble friend’s final question, like all government departments we are, of course, doing our duty. As to his first question, it is necessary that I go away and write a letter to the noble Lord, Lord Thomas of Gresford, with a response to his point. Britain...

Lords statement on prisons and probation.

Lords statement on prisons and probation.

My Lords, with the leave of the House, I will now repeat a Statement made in another place by my right honourable friend the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice. The Statement is as follows: "With permission, Mr Speaker, I should like to make a Statement on prisons...

My Lords, with the leave of the House, I will now repeat a Statement made in another place by my right honourable friend the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice. The Statement is as follows: "With permission, Mr Speaker, I should like to make a Statement on prisons...

My Lords, in the context of the item in the Statement that speaks of savings—cuts might be a more expressive word—that the probation service will be required to make, is it not the case that probation officers spend only 25 per cent of their time on front-line work with offenders,...

My Lords, in the context of the item in the Statement that speaks of savings—cuts might be a more expressive word—that the probation service will be required to make, is it not the case that probation officers spend only 25 per cent of their time on front-line work with offenders,...

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble and learned Lord, as always. One of the explanations for this seeming paradox, as I said earlier, is that sentence lengths for most offence groups have increased. Some would say that for some offences that is not a bad thing. I seem...

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble and learned Lord, as always. One of the explanations for this seeming paradox, as I said earlier, is that sentence lengths for most offence groups have increased. Some would say that for some offences that is not a bad thing. I seem...

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness for her comments on our response to the Corston review. Over the next two years, £15 million will be dedicated to keeping vulnerable women out of prison. Furthermore, the number of women sent to prison in the past 12 months was...

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness for her comments on our response to the Corston review. Over the next two years, £15 million will be dedicated to keeping vulnerable women out of prison. Furthermore, the number of women sent to prison in the past 12 months was...

My Lords, my noble friend seems not to have answered the question put by the noble Lord, Lord Thomas of Gresford. If 22 other countries in Europe have far fewer people in prisons than we have, what is the reason for that? Will he give us a brief explanation? We...

My Lords, my noble friend seems not to have answered the question put by the noble Lord, Lord Thomas of Gresford. If 22 other countries in Europe have far fewer people in prisons than we have, what is the reason for that? Will he give us a brief explanation? We...

My Lords, as I said, there will not be a reduction in the Probation Service in the year ahead. However, all parts of national life are affected by our economic difficulties. I have explained why the Government feel it is necessary to imprison those who have committed persistent, serious and...

My Lords, as I said, there will not be a reduction in the Probation Service in the year ahead. However, all parts of national life are affected by our economic difficulties. I have explained why the Government feel it is necessary to imprison those who have committed persistent, serious and...

My Lords, I do not think that there has been. I remember well the time when the noble Lord played a prominent part in these matters, and the House has fond memories of the late Lord Jenkins of Hillhead, of course. He was an outstanding Home Secretary for his time,...

My Lords, I do not think that there has been. I remember well the time when the noble Lord played a prominent part in these matters, and the House has fond memories of the late Lord Jenkins of Hillhead, of course. He was an outstanding Home Secretary for his time,...

My Lords, I am grateful that the noble Lord feels that we have made the right decision in not going ahead with Titans. The United Kingdom prison system already operates prisons of the same size as the proposed new prisons. The noble Lord should be comforted to hear that the...

My Lords, I am grateful that the noble Lord feels that we have made the right decision in not going ahead with Titans. The United Kingdom prison system already operates prisons of the same size as the proposed new prisons. The noble Lord should be comforted to hear that the...

My Lords, I welcome the announcement that Titans are no more, although I cannot say that I am particularly happy about the announcement of prisons that will house 1,500 inmates. That is another unit that has been consistently proved to be far too large. The Minister reminded us that it...

My Lords, I welcome the announcement that Titans are no more, although I cannot say that I am particularly happy about the announcement of prisons that will house 1,500 inmates. That is another unit that has been consistently proved to be far too large. The Minister reminded us that it...

My Lords, as always, I offer my thanks to the noble Lord for repeating the Statement, but perhaps I might take him up on one or two of the figures that he has put before the House. He talks about this being the first post-war Government to have seen a...

My Lords, as always, I offer my thanks to the noble Lord for repeating the Statement, but perhaps I might take him up on one or two of the figures that he has put before the House. He talks about this being the first post-war Government to have seen a...

My Lords, the noble and learned Lord makes a good point. Certainly that is an unsatisfactory figure and the management needs to improve. On the issue of cuts, as it turns out there has been an underspend in the past year by the probation service so there will not be...

My Lords, the noble and learned Lord makes a good point. Certainly that is an unsatisfactory figure and the management needs to improve. On the issue of cuts, as it turns out there has been an underspend in the past year by the probation service so there will not be...

My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for repeating the Statement. One sentence stands out: ""Prison capacity planning depends crucially on projections of future demand"." In the 22 European countries that form part of the International Crime Victim Survey published by the United Nations and are studied by the...

My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for repeating the Statement. One sentence stands out: ""Prison capacity planning depends crucially on projections of future demand"." In the 22 European countries that form part of the International Crime Victim Survey published by the United Nations and are studied by the...

My Lords, I am grateful to both noble Lords, who, as I understood it, were in favour of our announcement today on new prison building—certainly, the noble Lord, Lord Henley, spoke as though he welcomed it. We believe that prison is the appropriate place for serious, persistent and dangerous offenders...

My Lords, I am grateful to both noble Lords, who, as I understood it, were in favour of our announcement today on new prison building—certainly, the noble Lord, Lord Henley, spoke as though he welcomed it. We believe that prison is the appropriate place for serious, persistent and dangerous offenders...