Category: Criminal Justice

Kit Malthouse – 2022 Speech on Community Payback

The speech made by Kit Malthouse, the Minister for Crime and Policing, in the House of Commons on 28 June 2022.

I rise both perplexed and pleased to respond. First, I am perplexed because, in seven years in this House, I do not think I have heard quite such a series of distortions of events, or indeed such a naked use of a global pandemic to derive political advantage. I know that when the hon. Member for Lewisham West and Penge (Ellie Reeves) goes to tweet or Facebook the clips of her being outraged in this debate, she will point out—to her, no doubt, small number of viewers in Lewisham West and Penge—that the pandemic had an impact on the whole of the country, not least the criminal justice system.

I am also perplexed at the sudden reversal in the Labour party’s view of community payback. It was only a year ago that the former shadow Home Secretary, the right hon. Member for Hackney North and Stoke Newington (Ms Abbott), said that community payback

“has nothing to do with tackling crime”.

She accused us, in promoting community payback, of “stigmatising” certain sections of the community. She called our desire to have more community payback teams out in the community, doing exactly the kind of work that the hon. Member for Lewisham West and Penge now seems to celebrate, a “distasteful gimmick”, as did, at the same time, the now shadow Foreign Secretary, the right hon. Member for Tottenham (Mr Lammy). So while I welcome the hon. Lady’s conversion, it is the cause of some confusion. Perhaps we are in happier, more Blairite times in the Labour party now, under new leadership, although how long that will last I do not know.

Having said that, I am pleased to celebrate the work that has been done on community payback, particularly over the last year as it has roared back into life, and to take the opportunity to pay tribute to the outstanding work of our operational staff across England and Wales, who, in spite of a huge number of challenges, have continued to deliver projects day in and day out.

The community payback requirement is of course delivered in groups, sometimes indoors—painting and decorating schools for example—and covid-19 had a severe impact on our ability to deliver. I am afraid that resulted in a backlog of cases where hours have not been met 12 months after sentencing, which is a stipulation of the requirement. However, we are committed to ensuring that all eligible offenders who did not complete their community payback because of covid-19 will be required to meet their hours.

The hon. Member for Lewisham West and Penge, on whom I wanted to intervene, seemed to indicate that hours had been written off from community sentences. She may not be aware of this, but we are not able to write off community sentence hours as that is entirely a judicial decision. We have undertaken to present every single case where somebody goes over their 12-month requirement period back in front of a judge for them to take a decision—to extend the time limit, we hope, but at the very least for those people to complete their hours.

Andy Carter (Warrington South) (Con)

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I sat as a magistrate in a breach court in Merseyside last week, hearing from the probation service on cases that it had not been possible to complete in a certain period of time, and the periods for delivery of that community payback were being extended. A point was made from the Opposition Benches that in Greater Manchester some payback cases were not being completed; of course where that is happening, the probation service can and does bring breach cases to court for magistrates to resentence or revoke the order.

Kit Malthouse

I salute my hon. Friend for doing his civic duty as a magistrate and he is right that these decisions are effectively for the independent judiciary and we are very limited in what we can do in terms of flexibility. My hon. Friend also rightly highlights that we regularly take those who fail to complete their community service requirement in front of judges for alternative sentencing or for reaffirmation of the sentence. I hope my hon. Friend made the right decision when sitting as a magistrate; I am sure he will have done.

In stark contrast, our brethren in Scotland decided, other than in certain cases, to write off 35% of the hours accumulated because of the covid-19 backlog. We in this part of the United Kingdom took a completely different decision, recognising the importance of sentencing both to victims and for rehabilitation and punitive purposes, so we are persisting. That does however mean that we have a backlog, but also that we had to develop some necessary solutions to make sure sentences were delivered despite social distancing regulations.

The independent working projects, which the hon. Member for Lewisham West and Penge mentioned, were introduced as a temporary delivery method in response to covid-19 restrictions and have enabled us to maximise delivery during the pandemic and as the probation service recovers from the impact of the pandemic. All the products created by offenders during these projects were for the benefit of the community or for local charities. They have included a range of robust and practical tasks such as producing hats and scarves for Ukrainian refugees and making face masks and personal protective equipment during the pandemic. I am sure the hon. Lady would not see those jobs as any less valuable than cleaning up a churchyard. Those projects are still being deployed in a limited and targeted way to support our recovery and will be phased out by the autumn.

We cannot shy away from the fact that the probation service and community payback were, like the rest of the country, deeply impacted by the pandemic. As a result we have built up a backlog of cases and we need to make sure those and future cases are all delivered within 12 months. We are boosting our delivery capacity and maximising our efficiency, and to do that we are investing an additional £93 million in community payback over the next three years.

Grahame Morris (Easington) (Lab)

On probation, I attended the justice unions parliamentary group yesterday and subsequently had discussions with members of Napo, the probation officers’ union. They were at pains to point out the huge caseload many of their members are carrying and the difficulties that presents in terms of assessing cases and identifying those suitable for community service and community payback.

Kit Malthouse

The hon. Gentleman is right that the probation service has a heavy caseload, and that is why we are in the process of recruiting significant numbers of new probation officers; there were 1,500, I think, last year with more to come in the year ahead. We have been given significant investment by the Government to expand that capability and I am very aware of the caseload pressures across the country. It is therefore even more important that we should be given the flexibility to enable people to complete their sentences within the 12 months so as not to add to the burden by having to represent those cases in front of magistrates if the deadline is not met.

This significant investment will enable us to increase the delivery of community payback from the pre-covid benchmark of around 5 million hours a year to an unprecedented 8 million hours a year. These hours will be put to good use, with a particular focus on more outdoor projects that improve local areas, allow the public to see justice being done and build confidence in community sentences. We will be delivering more placements that restore pride in communities and add value to the work of local charities, building on the success of projects like one in south Yorkshire which saw offenders undertake 2,500 hours of work to transform a derelict building into a community centre for disadvantaged young people. The ramp-up will be facilitated by the recruitment of about 500 additional community payback staff who will bolster resources in every probation region. In January, we launched a national recruitment campaign and successful candidates are now commencing in post.

Alexander Stafford

I thank my right hon. Friend for mentioning south Yorkshire. He will know that, in March, a group of offenders came to Rother Valley under this scheme to help clear up Maltby. Does my right hon. Friend agree that we need more of these schemes across Rother Valley and Yorkshire so that people can see the value of community payback, and that it is often better to have people out working in communities rather than serving shorter sentences in prison?

Kit Malthouse

I completely agree and am pleased to hear about the projects in my hon. Friend’s constituency. As he will know, I have urged all Members across the House to nominate schemes in their constituencies to be fulfilled and I need everybody’s help to get us to the target of 8 million hours. If we all pull together I hope we will make sure that not just my hon. Friend’s constituency but every part of the country is looking spick and span.

This investment is also enabling us to establish new national partnerships with major organisations and charities, which are also joining this coalition to get to 8 million hours, bringing forward high-quality local projects and initiatives to be replicated in communities across England and Wales. This includes our groundbreaking partnership with the Canal & River Trust, which sees offenders clearing litter, tidying towpaths and maintaining beauty spots along 2,000 miles of waterways. The work of offenders on community payback has delivered at Perry Barr in Birmingham, clearing a towpath near the site of this summer’s Commonwealth games, which is testament to the impact such projects can have on local places and people.

Stephanie Peacock

The Minister talked about the number of hours completed and has spoken a lot about the impact of the covid pandemic but the fall in the number of hours completed began in 2017; what is his answer to that?

Kit Malthouse

There was a decline between ’17-18 and ’18-19, but the hon. Lady will remember that the last three years of decline were covered by a lockdown; the lockdown began in the first quarter. And while there was a decline it is worth pointing out that there was also a very significant decline in the previous year because this is an activity which, as I have said, takes place in groups and we were not allowed to meet in groups. I know it is not often the case that the word fairness is used in our antagonistic form of democratic debate, but it would be unfair of Opposition parties to decry the work of the probation service and community payback supervisors and say that they should have been doing that group work during the pandemic.

Stephanie Peacock

Will the Minister give way?

Kit Malthouse

No, I want to make some progress. [Interruption.] I will give way in a moment, but I have just given way to the hon. Lady.

Stephanie Peacock rose—

Kit Malthouse

All right, go ahead.

Stephanie Peacock

It is disingenuous of the Minister to call me unfair. He clearly misheard my intervention; I was talking about 2017 but he is talking about 2020. Will he answer the question about 2017?

Kit Malthouse

As I have said, the baseline was at or around 5 million hours a year for quite a period. It fluctuated from year to year because of a number of factors, not just the delivery but also whether magistrates were giving community sentences in volume, which is not something we can influence. But I am more than happy to write to the hon. Lady with the hours as we see them. [Interruption.] I do not have them to hand, but I am more than happy to write to her about those hours. Look, the number fluctuated at about 5 million-odd, and we want to get it to 8 million. We have been given £93 million and 500 more supervisors have been recruited to get us there. I hope that Opposition Members will acknowledge that community payback was impacted, and had to be, by the pandemic. I know that the Labour party would not seek to make political advantage out of the impact of that awful disease when we had to bear in mind the safety of Ministry of Justice staff.

The Opposition have submitted their own proposals on improving local engagement and participation, which the hon. Member for Lewisham West and Penge referred to. However, I am afraid that her quango-tastic response to the issue is both unnecessary and, I am afraid, overcomplicated. In reality, community payback is already delivering for local communities, and the Government are only strengthening our engagement with key stakeholders. We recognise that local engagement is an integral part of the community payback offer, and the probation service already works closely with local authorities, police and crime commissioners and voluntary organisations to identify demanding placements that benefit communities. We also encourage members of the public to take part and nominate community payback projects in their areas via an easy-to-use form on the gov.uk website. I urge you, Madam Deputy Speaker, to make some nominations in your own constituency.

Furthermore, we have just introduced a new statutory duty via the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 that requires the probation service to consult with key community stakeholders on the delivery of community payback in local areas. The duty will encourage greater collaboration with key partners such as PCCs and ensure that projects benefit communities and are responsive to local needs. The new statutory duty will cement and formalise existing relationships and create a consistent consultation process across England and Wales. That in turn will guarantee that local people have a say in the types of projects delivered in their areas, ensuring that our placements are responsive to the community’s needs.

The impact of such collaboration was evident during the community payback spring clean week, which was delivered in support of Keep Britain Tidy’s campaign in March. Between 25 March and 1 April, community payback teams were mobilised across England and Wales to deliver clean-up projects that visibly improved local areas and green spaces. More than 1,500 offenders collected 2,200 bags of litter, removed eyesore graffiti and cleared vegetation from public spaces. They delivered 10,000 hours of hard and productive work at about 300 projects. The initiative was widely supported by many hon. Members and PCCs who visited projects. The spring clean week is a superb example of the impact that meaningful and robust community payback can have on local areas.

Andrew Gwynne

I want to take the Minister back to the 8 million hours of community payback that he set out. We all support more hours of community payback, particularly on meaningful projects such as some of those that he has just listed. He skirted over the fundamental problem, though, which is that in June 2011, 185,265 community sentences were handed down—13% of all sentences—but by June 2021 that had fallen to 72,021, which was just 7% of all sentences. He said that there is little that he can do to make the courts award community sentences, but, if he is to make those 8 million hours a reality, he will have to do something to encourage them. What is he doing to ensure that more community sentences, where appropriate, are given out to perpetrators of crime?

Kit Malthouse

The hon. Gentleman is quite right that the decision on a sentence is a matter for the magistrate or for the judge at the time. It is for them to decide what is a fitting punishment and, indeed, what is likely to deter the offender from reoffending. The fall that he pointed to will be entirely down to judicial discretion.

We can do a certain amount of marketing to judges and sentencers. In promoting my own pet project of alcohol abstinence and monitoring orders—the new sobriety tags that have been brought in—I have been attending judicial training courses to explain to sentencers how the sentence works and its effectiveness. In the end, a judge or magistrate wants to know that a sentence is effective, and if we can demonstrate through our work that it is effective, punitive and satisfies the public interest, and the local community sees value in that sentence, I am sure that magistrates and judges will step forward with much greater enthusiasm and help us to fulfil that 8 million hours target. The hon. Gentleman identifies the interesting point—no doubt it will be embarked on with the Under-Secretary of State for Justice, my hon. Friend the Member for South Suffolk (James Cartlidge)—of explaining to those who give out sentences the growing importance of this work across the whole of the country.

I hope that all hon. Members in the Chamber will become my Twitter followers. One of the great pleasures of my day is to tweet my “payback of the day”. Pretty much every day, I put out “before” and “after” pictures of a project taking place somewhere across the country showing the fantastic work that offenders have done. We seem to specialise in cemeteries—a lot of work is going into cleaning them and smartening them up. Some of the transformations have been extraordinary. I visited a project in Eastleigh, near my constituency, and what struck me was the value that the offenders themselves saw in the work. Local residents had been over to congratulate them, thank them and understand what they were doing—the offenders all wear high-vis that has “community payback” written the back—and the offenders felt a sense of pride. They had been working in a churchyard, making it look very smart and tidy, and in fact a couple of them said that they were interested in a career in landscape gardening as a result.

Across the House, we agree on the value of community payback. I hope it is agreed that the service suffered during the pandemic because of the nature of this group-based work, but that the staff at the probation service and the community payback supervisors were innovative in inventing solutions to help us deal with the backlog. Nevertheless, we all need to put our shoulder to the wheel to get us from 5 million hours to that target of 8 million hours, by which time I hope there will not be an area of the country that is not clean, scrubbed and free of graffiti and litter.

While I realise that the hon. Member for Lewisham West and Penge is trying to use the debate to confer some kind of political advantage, I know that she recognises—she is generally a fair-minded individual—that the staff were struggling during the pandemic, as were so many services. Now that her party has happily reversed its position, we share the view that the community payback is an incredibly valuable part of our criminal justice system, and I hope that we will all work together to promote it. I look forward to receiving a nomination from her for a scheme that she would like to see done in her constituency. Perhaps she and I could visit it together and congratulate the offenders on their work.

As for the hon. Lady’s overall claim that somehow the Conservatives have gone soft on crime and are no longer the party of crime and order, I gently remind her that she voted against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act and its measures to put rapists and other serious offenders behind bars and to deal with a variety of other criminals. Until the Labour party becomes more action and less talk, I am afraid that it will not be able to aspire to the crown, which we currently proudly hold, of being the primary defender of law and order in this country.

July 2, 2022
Ellie Reeves – 2022 Speech on Community Payback

The speech made by Ellie Reeves, the Labour MP for Lewisham West and Penge, in the House of Commons on 28 June 2022.

I beg to move,

That this House notes that the number of community sentences handed down fell by one quarter in the last three years; further notes that completed hours of unpaid work carried out by offenders has fallen by three quarters in the last three years; notes with concern that despite the end of lockdown restrictions in 2021, the number of offenders permitted to complete unpaid work from home has continued to rise; and calls on the Government to create community and victim payback boards to place communities and victims in control of the type of community projects that offenders complete to restore public faith in community payback.

Today’s debate will show the public which party is serious about stopping crime and antisocial behaviour, and the reoffending that they breed. After 12 years of Conservative Governments, it is clear to the public that the Conservatives have no answers when it comes to tackling the kind of crime and antisocial behaviour that make voters’ lives a daily misery. The public now know that the Conservatives are soft on crime and cannot fix the problems that fuel it. By contrast, the Labour party still believes passionately in being tough on crime, while being tough on tackling its causes.

That principle is still as important as it was when the last Labour Government took office, because the problems that the then incoming Labour Government had to contend with are the same problems that we see now. This dying Conservative Government have lost control of crime, just as they did in the 1990s. Despite the Prime Minister’s delusions, crime is up a fifth and rising, and police numbers are still thousands short of what they were before the Conservatives reduced the number, leaving the police less able to stop the antisocial behaviour that is blighting our communities. That might be news to Conservative Members, but the public do not need telling. They see it in their communities day in, day out—and they are sick of it. The graffiti, the vandalism and the drug dealing corrode communities and lead to more serious crime, which hurts those communities and victims even more, later down the line. Community payback has huge potential to stop that at source.

Stephanie Peacock (Barnsley East) (Lab)

Does my hon. Friend agree that community payback schemes should provide fitting punishment as well as rehabilitation, so that they are meaningful for the offender and the community?

Ellie Reeves

My hon. Friend makes an important point. I visited a community payback scheme in my constituency a few weeks ago where offenders were carrying out maintenance on a children’s adventure playground. They all said that they felt that they were giving something back and being rehabilitated. The reality is that there are not enough of those schemes because the Government do not resource them properly.

Done properly, community payback offers both just punishment and firm rehabilitation. Offenders understand that the unpaid work they do not only is visible retribution for what they have done to their communities and their victims, but offers them a chance to repay their debt to society. At the same time, if unpaid work is done well, it starts to fold offenders back into their community and gives them a sense of pride in putting back what they took away, which makes them less likely to offend again. What is more, communities see that the justice system is using its power to repair what has been broken, and victims see that, in the crimes committed against them, justice is starting to be done.

Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab)

Of course, the beauty of community payback is that the communities that experienced the crime are the ones who see the crime redressed through the scheme. I am worried, though, that there is a trend in this country for the hours ordered by the courts not to be completed. For example, in my city region of Greater Manchester, there has been an 84% drop in the number of hours completed. That is not acceptable either for the perpetrator of the crime, who has a duty to pay back, or, more importantly, for my constituents and the communities who were affected by the crime.

Ellie Reeves

My hon. Friend makes a powerful point about hours not being completed and communities not seeing justice done. He talks about Greater Manchester, but that is a problem up and down the country. I will say more on that later.

Community payback should act as an alternative to short prison sentences, which, under this Government, create only more hardened criminals. That is because our prisons have become colleges of crime: drug abuse in prisons has gone up by 500% in a decade, while the take-up of drug rehabilitation programmes is down by 12%; last year, assaults on prison staff went up by a fifth, but the recruitment of officers was still down on 2010; and inmates’ discipline is low, which means that taxpayer-funded compensation for prisoner-on-prisoner violence is high—it was £4 million in the last two years alone.

Instead of properly punishing and rehabilitating offenders, getting them ready to re-enter society, and preparing them for the world of work, short sentences spit offenders out from prison more immersed in crime than when they went in. That is exactly where tough, effective community sentences and tough, effective unpaid work schemes that are accountable to communities and victims could make a difference—but they are not making a difference, because they have been set up to fail.

The Lord Chancellor knows that community payback does not work because of the mistake that his party made in 2014 in rushing through a privatisation that the probation service did not need. Probation officers work incredibly hard and do an extremely important job, but they are being let down by this Government. The fragmentation that followed privatisation in 2014 dangerously reduced staffing, increased workloads and meant less supervision for offenders. The results have been dire: 4 million fewer hours of community payback were completed in 2021 than in 2017.

The Minister for Crime and Policing (Kit Malthouse)

It was a pandemic!

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (James Cartlidge)

It was a pandemic!

Ellie Reeves

The huge fall started years before the pandemic in 2017, and it has continued since. No one had heard of covid in 2017, so it is disingenuous to suggest that it is all because of covid.

Sarah Owen (Luton North) (Lab)

The Government Front Benchers are laughing and using the pandemic as an excuse, but does my hon. Friend not agree that during the pandemic, they should have been focusing on catching criminals, rather than giving them money?

Ellie Reeves

I thank my hon. Friend for that point. It is right that this fall started years before the pandemic.

Some 25% fewer offenders finished community sentences in 2021 than did in 2017. Many community sentences were terminated because offenders went on to commit further offences, but others ended because the lack of supervision meant that they could choose not to turn up with impunity. By the end of November last year, more than 13,000 criminals had not completed their allotted hours of unpaid work within 12 months of being sentenced by a court, but the Government do not even know how many unpaid work hours have been written off because the resources were not in place for them to be completed within 12 months.

The most embarrassing statistic is that there has been a threefold rise in “independent” unpaid work since the end of lockdown. In case Conservative Members are unclear about what that means, I will spell it out for them. While Ministers have been hounding civil servants back into the office, they have been letting thousands of offenders work from home. The Prime Minister wanted to see streets full of hi-vis chain gangs, but instead his Lord Chancellor decided to let criminals finish their sentences on Zoom. What next—flexitime for burglars? Season ticket loans for bank robbers? Yet again, the Conservatives are letting criminals off and letting victims down.

Working from home defeats the whole object of community payback, which is supposed to be visible to communities and victims. That is part of the reason why trust in our criminal justice system is at rock bottom. The public cannot see police on the streets because the station has been shut and officers have been sacked.

Alexander Stafford (Rother Valley) (Con)

I am glad the hon. Member has raised the issue of closing police stations. Does she agree with me on the subject, and will she join my calls for the Labour police and crime commissioner for South Yorkshire to reopen the police stations on Maltby and Dinnington high streets, which were closed despite the police and crime commissioner underspending his budget by £2 million last year? Perhaps she should speak to her own party, and get the police stations reopened in Rother Valley.

Ellie Reeves

Since the Conservatives took office in 2010, there have been cuts to police, stations have been closed, there are fewer police on the streets and there is less confidence among the public that the party has the ideas to tackle crime in our communities.

Victims cannot see judgments being handed down because their local courts have been sold off and cases are taking years to complete, and communities cannot see justice being done in their area because criminals are instead finishing their sentences on Microsoft Teams. What is more, these failings are killing judicial faith in the effectiveness of community sentences. Judges do not believe that sentences are being completed, so they are not handing them down. Instead, they are giving out more short custodial sentences in the Tories’ colleges of crime, and so the cycle of reoffending worsens.

Kit Malthouse rose—

Ellie Reeves

Community payback can be fixed if the Government follow Labour’s plan. First, Ministers must end the chaos that they have created in the probation service by ruling out any further reductions in staffing.

Liz Saville Roberts (Dwyfor Meirionnydd) (PC)

The hon. Member mentions cuts to probation, which have led to a workload and staffing crisis in the probation service. It is no surprise that there is a direct relationship between that and the huge drop in community sentences in Wales; in 2019, there were nearly half as many community sentences as there were in 2010. Does she agree with me and Napo Cymru that devolving probation will be key to restoring restorative justice for perpetrators of crime and their victims in Wales?

Ellie Reeves

I thank the right hon. Member for the points she makes. She illustrates the fall in community sentences because of the issues with them, and the point that she raises about people being able to see justice being done in their community is so important. The role the probation service plays in that is incredibly important, but it cannot do its job properly if its resources have been cut to the bone. There will potentially be cuts of 20% to the civil service; we ask the Minister whether probation officers and prison officers will be affected by that as well, because we have not been able to get a straight answer on that. We want the Government to rule out further reductions in staffing, and we urge them to deliver Labour’s proposal to let communities and victims decide on the unpaid work that criminals do to repay their debts to society. Offenders picking up litter is not enough. They could be taking part in more transformative schemes locally, if there was more community and victim involvement in deciding what unpaid work they do. The Government have a national portal that allows communities to suggest schemes for offenders to work on, but it is little known and used even less.

Labour has suggested adding community groups and victims’ representatives to community safety partnerships and safer neighbourhood teams to create community and victim payback boards. These boards would decide what unpaid work offenders completed, and would publish local data that assures communities that the work is getting done.

Andrew Gwynne

I am really interested in the concept of community and victim payback boards, because the important thing is that the voice of both the community and the victims be heard. Too often they are locked out of decisions made about community payback and community sentences. How does my hon. Friend envisage the voice of the victim, in particular, being part of the proposal that she is setting out?

Ellie Reeves

Victims would be at the heart of everything a Labour Government do, whereas the Government have time and again promised a victims Bill that still has not made it on to the statute book. Our party is on the side of victims; theirs lets victims down.

Rob Butler (Aylesbury) (Con)

Is the hon. Member aware that the draft Victims Bill is currently undergoing prelegislative scrutiny by the Justice Committee at this very moment in a Committee Room upstairs?

Ellie Reeves

I am well aware of that. I am also aware that it was six years ago that the Government first proposed a victims Bill and we have been waiting for it ever since. Where is it?

Hon. Members

Upstairs! [Interruption.]

Ellie Reeves

Six years—I think that speaks volumes, does it not, about the priority the Conservatives place on victims.

Being tough on crime and on the causes of crime remains as much a guiding mission of the Labour party in 2022 as it was in 1997. Our plans for tackling crime and antisocial behaviour today show that our party is still committed to those principles nearly a quarter of a century on. This Government have the chance to show voters that they care about crime in their communities by adopting Labour’s plans and making community and victim payback boards a reality. I urge them to take it.

July 1, 2022
Ellie Reeves – 2022 Speech on Rape Cases Without a Prosecution

The speech made by Ellie Reeves, the Labour MP for Lewisham West and Penge, in the House of Commons on 28 June 2022.

This feels like groundhog day. Yet again, we are debating this Government’s appalling record on tackling rape. As the latest scorecard shows, court delays are still at near-record highs, rape convictions are still at near-record lows, and countless prosecutions are not being taken forward. The Government promised to restore 2016 charging levels, but they are still way off target. When does the Minister think that they will meet that pledge?

The Conservatives first commissioned the end-to-end review of record low rape prosecutions back in 2019. Two years after that, we got a report that recommended only piecemeal changes. One year later, little has changed and only a fraction of what was promised has been implemented. When does the Minister expect this to be delivered in full?

The typical delay in the completion of cases in court has reached three years. The number of rape trials postponed with a day’s notice has risen fourfold, and 41% of rape survivors withdraw their cases before they even get to court. Labour pledged to roll out specialist rape courts across the country, but the Government have produced just three pilots. When will they extend this to every Crown court?

Section 28 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 has finally been rolled out, but to just 26 courts. Why has it taken so long, and why only 26 courts, when 77 Crown courts already have the equipment and facilities to support this? Furthermore, the joint inspectorates’ report found that section 28 has not been used consistently by the police or the Crown Prosecution Service. Why is the necessary awareness and training not already in place?

Labour has a plan to tackle rape because we are serious about ending violence against women and girls. That is why we published, more than a year ago, a survivors’ support package containing detailed measures to drive up prosecutions, secure more convictions, and put rapists where they belong: behind bars. This is a Government who are still tinkering around the edges, three years after recognising the shocking scale of their own failure. This is a Government with no serious plan to bring justice for victims of rape, and no serious plan to tackle violence against women and girls.

July 1, 2022
Victoria Atkins – 2022 Statement on Rape Cases Without a Prosecution

The statement made by Victoria Atkins, the Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice, in the House of Commons on 28 June 2022.

I thank my right hon. Friend for posing this important question. Last year, in the end-to-end rape review, the Government committed to more than doubling the number of adult rape cases reaching court by the end of this Parliament. We are under no illusions about the scale of the challenge, but we are starting to see early signs of progress. More victims are reporting cases to the police. The police are referring more cases to the Crown Prosecution Service, and the CPS is charging more cases. Rape convictions are increasing: there has been a 67% increase since 2020. Timeliness is improving; the time between a charge being brought and cases being completed continues to fall—it is down five weeks since the peak in June last year.

That is encouraging, but it is just the start. That is why we have identified eight levers that are driving the change. First, we are increasing victim support. We have quadrupled the funding for victim support since Labour was in power—it will rise to £192 million by 2024-25—and we are increasing the number of independent sexual and domestic violence advisers to more than 1,000 by 2024-25.

Secondly, we are rolling out pre-recorded cross-examination for rape victims to all Crown courts nationally. That will help to prevent more victims from being retraumatised by the experience of giving evidence in a live trial. Thirdly, suspect-focused investigations—this is known as Operation Soteria—are being rolled out nationally. That will be completed in the first half of next year, and it will mean that the police focus on the suspect’s behaviour, rather than on the victim’s credibility. Fourthly, we have reformed and clarified disclosure rules, and are working with the police to make sure that victims’ mobile phones are examined only where strictly necessary.

Fifthly, we are reducing the stress of intrusive requests for third-party information—for example, medical or social services records—and are working with the police and the CPS on ensuring that they are gathered only when relevant. Sixthly, we are boosting capacity and capability by increasing the ranks of our police and the number of specialist rape and sexual offences roles in the CPS. Seventhly, our efforts to expand Crown court capacity will continue with a £477 million investment over the next three years to reduce victims’ waiting time for trials. Eighthly, our criminal justice system delivery data dashboard is increasing transparency and giving Government and local leaders the information that they need in order to do better for victims.

We are going even further than the commitments that we made in the rape review, because we have listened to victims and those who work with them. We recently announced a pilot of enhanced specialist sexual violence support in three Crown court centres. This Government are on the side of victims. We want no rape victim to feel as though they are the one on trial. We want every rape victim to feel that they can come forward and seek support. We want to lock up the rapists who commit these abhorrent crimes. We want to protect the public. We will make our streets safer.

July 1, 2022
Dominic Raab – 2022 Statement on the Proposed Bill of Rights

The statement made by Dominic Raab, the Secretary of State for Justice, in the House of Commons on 22 June 2022.

Today the Government are delivering on our manifesto commitment to overhaul the Human Rights Act and replace it with a Bill of Rights, which I am introducing to Parliament today.

This country has a long and proud tradition of freedom which our Bill of Rights will enhance, for example, in respect of free speech and recognition of the role of jury trial. Equally, over the years mission creep has resulted in human rights law being used for more and more purposes, with elastic interpretations that go way beyond anything that the architects of the convention had in mind and have not been subject to democratic, legislative oversight. Following the Government’s consultation on the Bill of Rights, our reforms will curtail the abuses of human rights, restore some common sense to our justice system, and ensure that our human rights framework meets the needs of the society it serves.

I am grateful to the chair and panel of the Independent Human Rights Act Review for their valuable report, which has influenced and informed our thinking in preparing both our consultation and the final Bill.

The measures in the Bill of Rights will:

1. Strengthen the right to freedom of speech. We are attaching greater weight to freedom of speech, defined as the exchange of ideas, opinions, information and facts, as a matter of utmost public interest, and widen the responsibility for attaching this greater weight to all public authorities.

2. Recognise the right to jury trial. The Bill recognises the right to trial by jury under, and subject to, the framework set by Parliament and the Scottish and Northern Ireland legislatures.

3. Clarify the interpretation of certain rights. Human rights, especially Article 8, have been used to frustrate the deportation of criminals. The Bill provides clearer criteria for the UK courts in interpreting rights and balancing them with the interests of society in particular in the context of deportation of foreign national offenders. This will restore credibility to the system and ensure we can protect the public by deporting those who pose a serious threat.

4. Reduce burdens on public authorities. We are stopping the imposition of positive obligations on our public services without proper democratic oversight. We will make clear that when public authorities are giving clear effect to primary legislation, they are not acting unlawfully. We will do this by restricting UK courts’ power to interpret legislation, as we propose to do for section 3 above. This will deliver greater certainty for public services to do the jobs entrusted to them, without the constant threat of having to defend against expensive human rights claims.

5. Ensure that public protection is given due regard in interpretation of rights. The Bill contains a provision that obliges all those who interpret convention rights to consider the need to reduce the risk to the public from convicted criminals serving a custodial sentence. This will support the Government’s proposed reforms to the Parole Board and strengthen the Government’s hand in fighting Article 8 claims from terrorists opposing their placement in separation centres.

6. Limit the Bill’s territorial jurisdiction. Domestic and Strasbourg case law has extended beyond the intent of the convention’s drafters. The Bill excludes extraterritorial jurisdiction for military operations abroad.

7. Implement a permission stage to ensure trivial cases do not undermine public confidence in human rights. The introduction of a permission stage will ensure that courts focus on serious human rights claims and places responsibility on the claimant to demonstrate that they have suffered a significant disadvantage before a human rights claim can be heard in court.

8. Recognise that responsibilities exist alongside rights. We are recognising that responsibilities exist alongside rights and ensuring that the appropriateness of paying damages to those who have infringed the rights of others are considered.

9. Strengthen domestic institutions and the primacy of UK law. The Bill empowers UK courts to apply human rights in a UK context, affirming the Supreme Court’s independence from the Strasbourg Court. It will make explicit that the UK Supreme Court is the ultimate judicial arbiter.

10. Increase democratic oversight. The Bill makes sure that the balance between our domestic institutions is right, by repealing section 3 to ensure that UK courts can no longer alter legislation contrary to its ordinary meaning and the overall purpose of the law.

11. Enhance Parliament’s role in responding to adverse Strasbourg rulings. The Bill enhances the role of Parliament in responding to adverse Strasbourg judgments against the UK. The Bill also affirms Parliament’s supremacy in the making of laws.

The issues addressed by the Bill of Rights affect the whole of the UK, and any changes must be made on a UK-wide basis. We will ensure that the framework applies equally, whilst also allowing for difference in how the framework is applied and implemented across the UK. During the consultation period I visited Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland to discuss our proposals and we will continue to engage with the devolved Administrations, civil society and relevant stakeholders across the UK.

The Bill and all of its supporting documentation is available at: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3227 copies of which have been presented to Parliament.

June 23, 2022
Sadiq Khan – 2022 Speech on Trust in Policing

The speech made by Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, on 17 June 2022.

Thank you, Leonita.

Not only for that introduction and your inspiring words…

…but for everything you’re doing to ensure the voice, opinions and ideas of young people are heard loud and clear as we develop policies and programmes to reduce violence in our city.

As Sophie said, what you do is vital.

So please – let’s have another round of applause for Leonita.

—

Next year is the 30th anniversary of the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence.

It’s as important as ever that we not only remember and celebrate Stephen’s life, but that we acknowledge – and reflect upon – his legacy.

The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry found that the Metropolitan Police Service was institutionally racist, and that institutional racism existed in other police forces around the country.

This judgement was a landmark moment in the history of British race relations…

…triggering far-reaching reforms to policing, public services and criminal law in this country.

There’s no doubt that the police and criminal justice system have made significant and positive steps forward since then.

But it’s become painfully clear that further reform – on a far-reaching scale – is now urgently needed.

And let me be frank, I consider this to be one of the most important speeches I will give as Mayor.

Because after nearly two hundred years since the creation of the Met, policing in our city has reached a crossroads.

And ensuring we take the right path is crucial to the future of our city.

At the outset, I must and want to put on record again that there are tens of thousands of incredible, incredibly brave and decent police officers in the Met…

…dedicated public servants who go above and beyond every day to keep us safe.

Just last week a Metropolitan police officer ran into a house-fire to save a family.

And, every year, the Police Bravery Awards highlight some remarkable stories of courage in London:

From two police officers saving the life of a seven-year-old girl who was being attacked.

To officers saving the lives of two teenagers after they used themselves as human shields.

The job the police do – protecting us and upholding the law of the land – makes everything else possible.

It’s the bedrock upon which all else can flourish.

And we owe the men and women who risk their lives – often in the knowledge that they have children and loved ones to get home to after a shift – a huge debt of gratitude.

—

So let’s be clear:

Talking about the need for urgent police reform is not being anti-police.

Far from it.

In fact – it’s the exact opposite.

It’s about believing the police can be excellent.

And it’s about facing up to some hard truths so that we can ensure we have the best, most effective and most professional police force for Londoners.

A police force that is second-to-none at bearing down on crime, bringing people to justice and keeping our city safe.

—

Throughout my time as Mayor, I’ve defended London’s police when I think they’ve been unfairly criticised.

And this is something I’ll always do.

No other Mayor has invested more in the police than I have.

Good officers are one of the most valuable and precious resources we have in London.

But given what’s at stake, we have a duty to be honest about the extent of the problems and the systemic and organisational changes that are urgently required within the Met, rather than seeking to downplay or shy away from the challenge we face.

The reality is that a series of appalling scandals have not only exposed deep cultural problems within the Met, but have contributed to an acute crisis of confidence in London’s police force.

A crisis that has left trust in the Met police at rock bottom among too many communities – many of whom – if we’re being honest – already had little faith in the police force.

The latest crisis comes in the wake of:

The kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer.

The heavy-handed policing of the vigil held in Sarah’s memory.

Two police officers sharing pictures of the murdered sisters, Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman.

The failures during the Stephen Port investigation that probably contributed to the deaths of his final three victims – Gabriel Kovari, Daniel Whitworth and Jack Taylor – after the murder of Anthony Walgate – with accusations that homophobia prevented the police from catching the serial killer sooner.

And the shameful strip-search of Child Q – a 15-year-old Black girl whose degrading treatment was likely influenced by racism.

The testimony of Child Q’s mother – about how her daughter has gone from a bubbly, happy-go-lucky girl to someone who’s self-harming, in need of therapy and screaming in her sleep – has been utterly heart-breaking.

—

And I’ll never forget the first time I read the shocking Operation Hotton report by the Independent Office for Police Conduct, the police watchdog, just over four months ago.

That exposed sickening evidence of overt racism, sexism, homophobia, discrimination and misogyny among police officers at Charing Cross station.

The messages shared between officers threatened rape, glorified sexual violence and were openly racist, Islamophobic and antisemitic.

One read:

“My dad kidnapped some African children and used them to make dog food.”

Another:

“Some uniform or plain clothes work on Somalian rats… I battered one the other day…”

And another:

“You ever slapped your Mrs?… It makes them love you more…”

I’m not going to read any more, don’t worry.

But perhaps what was most striking – and revealing – was that these officers felt comfortable sharing deeply offensive messages in Whatsapp groups with other officers – messages that were only made public due to an independent investigation.

And this points to a much wider problem – a damaging culture.

And – damningly – the Independent Office for Police Conduct concluded as much.

Clearly, these issues were not isolated or historic, and cannot simply be explained away as the actions of just a few bad apples.

I know that what’s been exposed in recent months has profoundly affected countless Londoners, who have every right to be outraged and to be demanding answers.

These are feelings I share.

The scandals have left me sick to my stomach – disgusted and extremely angry.

Partly because they remind me – and I’m sure many other Londoners – of the bad old days of the Met.

The Met I knew from my childhood.

Growing up in the 1970s and 80s on a council estate in south London, it was commonplace to hear stories from friends and family members of racist, sexist and abusive behaviour by police officers.

There was a palpable sense in my community that the presence of the police on our local streets did not offer reassurance or a sense of protection, but rather fear…

…the fear of being unfairly criminalised or mistreated.

In my life – and during the course of my career – I’ve seen and felt the damage that this kind of breakdown of trust can cause.

It makes it harder to tackle crime.

It prevents victims and witnesses of violence from coming forward.

It discourages many girls and women from reporting rape, domestic abuse and sexual harassment.

And it leads to local communities – the eyes and ears of the police on the ground – becoming less likely to work with officers when, for example, they’re worried about young people getting involved in criminal gangs and violence.

This affects us all, and the safety of everyone in our city.

—

This is why the damage to trust and confidence in the police is not a side issue or marginal concern that can be downplayed or dismissed.

Trust is everything.

We have a longstanding tradition in this country of policing by consent.

It’s the very foundation upon which our whole system of policing rests.

At the heart of this approach is the recognition that for policing to be effective, public approval, respect and confidence in the service is paramount.

When this trust is eroded, our model of policing – and thereby public safety – is put at risk.

Trust is absolutely fundamental to preventing crime, to solving crime and to ensuring we have the best possible police service for Londoners.

This is why you simply cannot divorce the deep cultural issues that clearly exist within the Met from its wider performance as an institution.

The two are inextricably linked.

To put it simply:

The more inclusive the culture, the more trust the police can command…

The more trust the police can command, the more they can drive down crime.

And – in turn – the more crime falls, the more trust the police can win.

It’s this virtuous circle we must create – replacing the depressing downward spiral of recent years.

During my time as Mayor, violent crime has fallen in the capital.

We’re managing to buck national trends:

Since 2016 when I was first elected:

Gun crime is down by 30 per cent.

Knife crime with injury is down by 11 per cent.

Knife crime where the victim is under 25 is down by 24 per cent.

And the number of teenagers murdered in our city is down by 64 per cent in the first five months of this year.

Of course, we’re not complacent.

These are not just numbers – they’re people.

One murder on our streets is one too many – leaving parents, siblings and friends grieving.

We cannot rest.

And if we’re to continue making progress, ensuring communities across London have trust in our police force is going to be critical.

This is particularly the case when it comes to tackling the senseless knife crime that results in the murder of young Londoners, including a disproportionate number of young Black people, many just teenagers… just children.

We know that violent crime is not a problem we can solve simply through enforcement alone.

We’re never going to be able to arrest our way out of this problem.

Prevention and early intervention are key parts of the puzzle, where trust is integral.

Because it means working in partnership with families, local communities, schools, charities, the NHS, youth clubs, and the police… to prevent children from being sucked into criminal gangs and violence in the first place. This is a public health approach.

So how can we turn things around?

As Mayor, I’ve already taken a series of steps since 2016 – using the limited powers and resources available to me – to boost trust and confidence in our police force.

This includes:

A huge push to recruit more officers from London’s Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, as well as more women.

Investing to protect visible neighbourhood policing.

And the world’s biggest rollout of body-worn cameras to London’s frontline officers.

We’ve also launched a new strategy to tackle violence against women and girls.

We’ve put trust and confidence at the heart of our new Police and Crime Plan;

We’ve comprehensively overhauled the gangs Matrix, removing over a thousand young Black men from the database.

And we’ve published an Action Plan to address the concerns about the disproportionate use of certain police powers on Black Londoners, including stop and search.

But this must just be the start.

We now need to see nothing less than a new contract forged between the police and the public.

This means root and branch reforms to improve policing to ensure the Met can deliver the basics better.

It means an overhaul of disciplinary processes.

And it means systemic change to the Met’s culture.

But before any of this, before any of this, Londoners need to hear the leadership of the Met publicly acknowledge the scale and depth of the problems.

Something which will be a crucial first step for the next Commissioner to start rebuilding trust and credibility with our communities.

Look, no one expects the police to be perfect, or to get things right all the time.

But they do expect the Met to be honest and open about their mistakes – to identify problems and to admit when they’re happening.

It’s a sign of confidence, not weakness.

And it’s essential to rebuilding trust.

—

I make no apology for demanding this.

It’s not about being political.

It’s democracy in action.

It’s the checks and balances of power, without which we’d still be living with the kind of policing we saw before the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry.

My job as the elected Mayor of this great city is not only to support the police in bearing down on crime, but to hold the Met to account.

And I’ll never shirk from these duties.

That’s why I want to make crystal clear today I won’t support the appointment of a new Commissioner unless:

They can demonstrate they understand the true extent of the cultural and organisational problems within the Met.

That they appreciate the moral and operational imperatives to confront them head on.

And they have a convincing plan to reduce crime further, improve detection rates and bring more criminals to justice.

London needs a reforming Commissioner.

Someone in the mould of Sir Robert Mark – who got the job in 1972.

He became known for his determination to root out corruption and criminality.

For the way he took steps to improve relations with communities in London.

For making the Met more transparent.

And for driving forward efforts to make the police more diverse.

Although some of the issues the Met faces today are of course different, there’s no doubt that we need someone with a similar drive to reform.

Not just of the culture and standards, but of some of the fundamentals of the organisation.

—

We also need someone who acknowledges that they’re never going to be able to solve all the problems alone.

This means the type of leadership that:

Understands and accepts the Met needs to improve.

And is ready and confident enough to bring in outside expertise and oversight to ensure we get the systemic, organisational change – from top to bottom – that’s required.

—

The next Commissioner needs to ensure that every rank and layer of the Met is working towards a shared goal and is properly held to account.

In short, the next Commissioner must ‘get it’.

They must be a reformer.

They must be humble in accepting the limitations of the Met, and open to learning and constant improvement.

And they must put forward a comprehensive plan to deal with these deep-rooted problems with urgency and conviction.

I’ll accept nothing less.

This is my promise to Londoners.

I’ve dedicated a large part of my working life to trying to make policing better.

And – as Mayor – I’ll not stop until we’ve delivered the police reforms and step change in policing culture that our city deserves.

To achieve this – and to forge a new contract between the police and the public – we need to see a whole host of new commitments and reforms:

More robust vetting of new and serving police officers.

Better recruitment processes to ensure we only get the right, top quality people in the job.

Far-reaching changes to the misconduct process, which includes making it much faster.

Proactive procedures to weed out those who should never have been allowed to become police officers in the first place.

Strengthened IT monitoring within the Met to help identify corrupt officers and inappropriate behaviour.

Ensuring officers and staff have confidence to come forward as whistleblowers.

Better training and supervision – particularly sergeants and inspectors who are so influential in shaping the frontline police culture and delivering the policing Londoners expect.

Clear steps on how the Met will not just tackle racism, but proactively be an anti-racist institution.

Greater community oversight and engagement with Londoners from all backgrounds.

And a first-class emergency response, which protects Londoners, supports victims and brings those who commit crime to justice.

Ensuring the Met is the best in the world at the bread-and-butter issues of policing will always be a key part of rebuilding trust.

Because it’s about assuring Londoners that our police force will always be there for them – and for all our communities – in their time of need.

—

We must also redouble our efforts to hire more officers from diverse backgrounds.

The Met is bigger and more diverse today than at any time in its history, but we have a long way to go.

And so I want to take this opportunity now to appeal to Londoners from all backgrounds to apply to join the Met police.

Now, more than ever, we need you.

London needs you.

Because you can help change the culture of the Met from within.

You could help serve our great city.

And you could help us to ensure we have a police force that is truly representative of the communities it exists to serve.

I was instrumental in the establishment of the independent review of culture and standards at the Met, and I look forward to examining Baroness Louise Casey’s report and considering any recommendations she makes.

I also supported the Home Secretary’s decision to order a full inquiry into the issues raised by the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer.

Because I know this tragedy has done so much to damage the faith of women and girls in the police.

As we move forward, I’m keen to work both with the Home Secretary and the new Commissioner to ensure we act on the findings of these reports and the reforms I’ve outlined today.

This is especially true with regard to changes to the misconduct process, which can only be made with the Home Secretary and the Government’s approval.

We need to work together.

Because this goes much wider than London.

As the Police Foundation has said, the cultural and systemic problems in London – which has led to in their words “a crisis of public confidence” – are also present across the country, and will also require sweeping reforms at a national level.

—

I’m hopeful that together – in partnership with the next Commissioner, the Home Secretary, the Government, members of our police force and London’s communities – that we can:

Deliver the reforms that are needed to create a modern police service, fit for the future.

That we can drive out racism, misogyny, discrimination and bullying.

And that we can restore the trust and confidence of Londoners in their police force.

In 21st century Britain.

In an open, diverse city like ours.

It’s essential that all of London’s communities feel like the police are there not to threaten or criminalise them, but to protect and serve them.

I’ve heard time and again – directly from the parents of girls and Black teenagers, and young people across our city – that what they want more than anything else is for their children to be safe, to feel safe, and to feel like the police is there to protect them – and is on their side.

On their side.

They should expect nothing less.

It’s what I want when my daughters go out in London.

It’s what every parent and Londoner wants.

And we mustn’t relent until this is the case.

Let me just finish with this important point:

I fundamentally believe in the Met.

And I’m proud to be London’s Police and Crime Commissioner.

I know we have thousands of brilliant police officers who not only share my concerns, but my aspirations for better policing in London.

I’ve spoken to many who are just as disgusted as I am by what’s come to light in recent times – and feel badly let down by their colleagues and the toxic culture that’s been allowed to take hold.

They’re desperate to play their part in raising standards, aiding organisational change within the Met, and ensuring the bond with the communities they serve is restored and strengthened.

—

People who say that when we come down hard on police officers who behave badly we are somehow reducing confidence in the police are totally wrong.

It’s the opposite.

And it sells our good officers short.

We need to create the right culture in policing to ensure the good officers have the trust of the public, which will make it far easier for them to do their job.

It’s the decent police officers we have in the Met that continue to give me hope that we can meet the challenges ahead.

Because I know that with the right leadership at the top of the Met, they are the ones who can do what’s needed to win back public trust.

—

Of course, history tells us that none of this is going to be easy.

Change on this scale at the speed we need is difficult.

But we owe it to Stephen Lawrence, to Sarah Everard, to Child Q, to all the victims of the recent scandals, to all their friends and families, and to all Londoners –– to continue the struggle with fierce determination and an unflinching sense of purpose.

Because change is long overdue.

And delivering it will be crucial to building a better, fairer and safer London for everyone, and for all our communities.

Londoners deserve the best policing in the world – and I believe we have the potential to get there.

Thank you.

June 19, 2022
Victoria Atkins – 2022 Statement on Rape Cases

The statement made by Victoria Atkins, the Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice, in the House of Commons on 16 June 2022.

Today the Government are announcing additional funding for victims of sexual violence and domestic abuse, publishing a progress report on the implementation of the rape review action plan and the next iteration of the criminal justice system (CJS) delivery data dashboard. These form an important part of our commitment to transform the criminal justice system response to rape, boost transparency and ensure victims get the support they deserve.

The Government are announcing:

An additional £6.6 million p.a. boost on a multi-year basis throughout this spending review period, for services supporting victims of sexual violence and domestic abuse. £6 million is being provided directly to police and crime commissioners to increase community-based support in local areas and £0.6 million for training to support the recruitment of the 300 additional independent sexual violence advisors and independent domestic violence advisors over the next three years.

The publication of a progress report one year on from the publication of the end-to-end rape review action plan. This delivers on commitments in the rape review to be transparent and accountable to the public on how we are progressing work to improve the cross-system response to rape.

The third iteration of the criminal justice system delivery data dashboard, previously named the CJS scorecard. This publication includes additional Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) metrics and population adjustments.

Together, these products will contribute to this Government’s commitment to restore faith in the criminal justice system, pursue justice for victims, and build back safer.

June 18, 2022
Victoria Atkins – 2022 Speech at the Modernising Criminal Justice Conference

The speech made by Victoria Atkins, the Prisons Minister, on 15 June 2022.

One of the reasons I came into politics was thanks to a 12-year-old boy called ‘Billy’.

Before I was elected to Parliament in 2015, I spent nearly two decades working in criminal courts as a barrister. In one of my earliest cases, I was sent to a Youth Court to represent Billy for an opportunistic commercial burglary.

I arrived at court to find Billy there, completely alone, with no appropriate adult. It was his first offence and he was terrified.

When I asked him whether mum or dad were coming to court, he replied “I’ve never known my dad and my mum will be flat-out drunk on the floor”.

It was 09.30 in the morning…

With that first criminal conviction, twenty years ago, Billy’s diminishing life chances could be predicted with depressing certainty – as could the harms for society that his future offending would mean.

Two decades later, it is the mission of this government to make our streets safer and it follows that modernising the criminal justice system is a priority. I welcome this opportunity to share the Government’s ambitious plans for delivering on these aims in partnership with you.

We want to prevent harm from happening in the first place. If we can prevent young people from being ensnared in a life of crime, we spare the pain of potential victims and we save the taxpayer billions-a-year on services such as policing, children’s social care, courts and even detention.

These costs continue into adulthood as 80 percent of prolific adult offenders commit their first crimes as children. It is therefore in our best interests to try to stop harm from happening in childhood – not just for today and tomorrow, but for the decades to come.

This is why last month we announced our new £60m “Turnaround” early intervention programme which will support up to 20,000 more children in England and Wales. It will target those at risk of criminality before they start a cycle of offending which, if left unaddressed, can escalate towards more serious crime.

This is just one part of our determined efforts to tackle youth offending. Our ten-year, £200m Youth Endowment Fund is not only funding intervention programmes but it is evaluating what works to help local commissioners spend tax-payers’ money on the most effective interventions – again, modernising our processes to ensure the best results for the public. To back this up, in the Ministry of Justice alone, we will be investing a total of over £300m over three years to tackle youth offending.

We have already seen a dramatic reduction in the last decade of children entering custody, down by two thirds, but we want to go further. This is not only the right thing to do for the children themselves, it is also the right thing to do for society, helping to make our streets safer.

As part of this intervention and prevention work, one of the most pressing facts that we must confront in criminal justice is racial disparity. In 2020/21, two thirds of children arrested in London were from minority ethnic groups. We are working at all stages in the youth justice system to address disparities, including helping youth justice services to understand the needs of ethnic minority children; tightening the tests applied to ensure that custodial remand for children is a last resort; and improving the diversity and training of Youth Custody Service staff to maximise the chances of rehabilitating young people in custody.

We are also working with the Metropolitan Police to trial the automatic receipt of legal advice for children in Brixton and Wembley custody suites. This will mean that vulnerable children, a disproportionate number of who are from a minority ethnic background, will receive the legal advice they need automatically – an “opt out” model, as opposed to the usual “opt in” model, removing the perception some may have that they have to ask for help. If successful, this trial could be rolled out further to help ensure that justice is served.

Our work in the adult system includes our detailed cross-government responses to the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparity report, the David Lammy Review and our Race Action Programme for prisons and probation. Some of the actions taken include reform of prison processes that led to unexplained disparities, better support for ethnic minority-led services, and encouraging diversity in our court and prisons workforces. This is vital work for a justice system in the 21st century.

One of the areas in criminal justice which is seeing the most modernisation is our work to tackle violence against women and girls. I have the responsibility of drawing this work together across government, focusing particularly on the treatment of rape and sexual violence cases.

Last year will be remembered for the shocking murders of women going about their lives – walking home from a friend’s, or out for a drink, attending a party in the park or walking their dog. These appalling murders led to a national conversation about women’s experiences and what we can all do to stop this.

We wanted women and girls to help shape our new national Strategy to Tackle Violence Against Women and Girls. We re-opened the government’s consultation and in just two weeks, we received 160,000 responses – an unprecedented level which demonstrated the public’s anger and expectation that things must change.

We published the new cross-government strategy last summer and its work is well underway. For example, a new public communications campaign – #Enough – has been launched to break the biases and attitudes that contribute towards these crimes. Again, this work is about preventing the harm from happening in the first place.

But where horrific offences such as rape and sexual violence are committed, the criminal justice system must respond quickly, effectively and justly. Last year, we conducted a forensic examination of each stage of the criminal justice process, from the moment a victim reports such a crime to the police, to the moment the case results in a conviction or acquittal. We published the End-To-End Rape Review and have identified eight levers which can help secure justice for more victims.

These include:

… rolling out suspect-focused investigations techniques across police forces and the CPS; so that the suspect’s behaviour is examined not the victim’s credibility

… addressing victims’ concerns about handing over their phones to the police for sometimes days or weeks on end through our investment in modern technology and new disclosure guidelines;

… increasing victim support funding to £185 million by 2025,

… raising the number of specialist Independent Sexual and Domestic Violence Advisors by 43 percent – a vital service for victims that not only helps them recover but also helps them stay the course with an investigation or prosecution;

… and rolling out pre-recorded cross-examination and re-examination nationally to improve the court experience for vulnerable witnesses and help them to provide their best evidence.

We are measuring all of this through transparent reporting of data both nationally and locally, via local Criminal Justice Board areas so that we and the public can see what is happening in their local areas.

The early signs of progress are encouraging…

… The police are referring more rape cases to the CPS…

… More people are being prosecuted…

… The average number of days for adult rape cases from the CPS charging a suspect to the case being completed has continued to fall, down by 5 weeks since the peak in June 2021.

… And convictions for rape are up 67 percent compared to 2020.

But there is more to do – and you will hear more in the coming days and weeks on our efforts to modernise further the criminal justice response to these devasting crimes.

Finally, I would like to talk about prisons. We need a criminal justice system that stands up for victims, delivers swift justice and protects the public by imprisoning offenders and rehabilitating them. We set out our plans in for the prison estate in the Prisons Strategy White Paper in December. I would like to thank everyone who responded to the consultation and I am pleased to announce that we published the response yesterday.

… It’s what the public wants and expects to see.

… So, we are toughening sentences.

… We are creating new prison places.

… And we’re investing £3.8 billion pounds over the next three years that will be used to build modern prisons that prioritise the rehabilitation of offenders.

HMP Five Wells is an example of what the modern prison estate will look like. With 24 workshops available – more than any other prison in the country – and cutting-edge tech that puts education, training and jobs at its core, prisoners will be given the right opportunities to turn over a new leaf.

Because, as you know, all these factors are proven to cut crime, reduce reoffending and protect the public.

And we’re confident that following the same prison blueprint at HMP Fosse Way, when it opens next year, will allow even more offenders to spend their time preparing to give back to society on release.

We know, however, that our vision for the next generation of prisons is unachievable without the brilliant people that run them, and work in them. Our workforce will grow considerably as we recruit up to 5,000 new officers in line with prison expansion across the public and private estate.

We are committed to supporting our staff so that they are equipped with the right skills to meet the diverse needs of prisoners in a safe, decent, and secure environment.

And in order to retain the talent and experience the Prison Service attracts, we have developed a number of new interventions. These include a supervision pilot which is now live in two prisons, a leadership training pilot – where attrition is highest, and two new mentoring and budding schemes which are being rolled out across all prisons.

An extended part of our reducing reoffending work is tackling the scourge of drugs. If we are to stop prison from being a revolving door for repeat offenders, ensuring drugs don’t get into the hands of prisoners is also of the upmost importance.

As explained in the Prisons Strategy, we’re taking a ‘zero-tolerance’ approach to the smuggling of illicit items such as drugs, weapons, and mobile phones, which fuel crime and violence behind bars.

That’s why we have invested £100 million pounds in security over the last three years. We know that body scanners in prisons in England and Wales have foiled twenty thousand plots to smuggle drugs, phones and weapons into jails.

We want to build on this and so are investing an additional £25 million in new technology and security measures to detect the very latest handsets tucked away in the crevices of cells, as well as microscopic smears of illegal substances such as spice on prisoners’ mail.

And more of the most challenging prisons will be kitted out with the full range of the most up-to-date, innovative technology specially designed to keep contraband out of prisons – including airport-style baggage scanners.

As we tackle the conveyance of drugs into prisons, we are also supporting offenders to face up to and beat their substance misuse issues.

And under our plans outlined in the Prison Strategy White Paper, all prisoners will have access to a full range of high-quality treatment, including abstinence-based treatment options as soon as they arrive at custody.

When offenders overcome their addictions, they have the best chance of keeping on the straight and narrow once released and our streets become safer as a result.

We know that education and employment reduce reoffending significantly, with prison leavers in employment being nine percentage points less likely to reoffend.

We are delivering a Prisoner Education Service within this parliament to raise prisoners’ levels of numeracy, literacy, skills and qualifications with the aim of helping them secure jobs or apprenticeships on their release.

To do this, we must give prisons the tools they need to succeed. We will invest in digital infrastructure, more training that delivers the skills employers need, more education experts to support Governors and improved support for prisoners with additional learning needs.

And we are introducing apprenticeships into our prison system for the first time that will not only cut crime and reduce reoffending, but also address local labour shortages.

We are ensuring prisons are equipped to offer the training and work experience offenders need to secure jobs once released, which we know is another powerful tool in our fight against crime.

We are rolling out Employment Advisory Boards and employment hubs in every resettlement prison which link offenders with job opportunities on the outside. I have seen for myself the success of these innovative schemes at HMP Lincoln and HMP Thorn Cross.

We will deliver a presumption in favour of offering offenders the chance to work in prison, on Release on Temporary Licence and on release, including by building stronger links with employers.

And we have listened to prisoners and campaigners in recognising the value of family.

Research shows that if a prisoner receives visits by a partner or family member, the odds of reoffending are 39 percent lower than for prisoners who do not.

So, we’re designing prisons, introducing innovative schemes and reforming regimes to factor this in across the prison estate. HMP Five Wells for instance has a family area, a homework club and facilities that allow prisoners to join parents’ evenings.

And for female offenders who are sent to custody for short sentences, our new £10 million-pound residential women’s centre in Swansea – opening in 2024 – will support many to live healthy, crime-free lives, whilst keeping them closer to their own community and families.

In closing, I want to thank all of you for your dedication to improving the criminal justice system.

Together we can fight for the victims who feel voiceless…

…Neighbourhoods that feel neglected…

…And offenders who need the right opportunity to go straight.

Together, we can make our streets safer for us all.

From increasing the number of people convicted for rape offences, to getting more prisoners job-ready with their backs turned on crime for good – working together gives us the greatest chance of achieving lasting change for the justice system.

June 15, 2022
Victoria Atkins – 2022 Statement on the Prisons Strategy White Paper

The statement made by Victoria Atkins, the Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice, in the House of Commons on 14 June 2022.

Today I am publishing the Government response to the prisons strategy White Paper consultation.

The prisons strategy White Paper was published in December 2021. The commitments in the paper tackle this Government’s priorities for prisons: building the next generation of prisons and managing an estate that is safe and secure for staff and prisoners; supporting rehabilitation and resettlement through education, employment and accommodation; and creating prison and probation services that cut crime and protect the public.

A total of 19 questions were included in the White Paper to ensure the views of interested parties were considered. The consultation opened on 7 December 2021 and closed on 4 February 2022, receiving 155 responses. The Government have carefully considered the responses and are grateful for all of the contributions.

Since publication of the White Paper, this Government have moved swiftly to deliver its aims:

HMP Five Wells opened in March, delivering 1,700 modernised places.

Digital upgrades have been delivered to a further seven prisons, with four additional sites completed by October 2022.

The landmark security investment programme was completed in March 2022, including the deployment of enhanced gate security across 42 high-risk sites.

Committed an additional £25 million investment in prison security: installing high-specification drugs trace detection, mobile phone blocking technology, x-ray baggage scanners, and an intelligence management system.

Secured £34 million to improve prison safety and move towards a more preventative approach.

Accelerated the roll out of employment hubs with 23 now established and the appointment of 20 employment board chairs.

Announced that we will legislate to enable prisoner apprenticeships, in collaboration with the Department for Education.

Committed to action on Friday releases to tackle the strain this can cause if prisoners cannot access essential services; this includes pursing legislation to address this issue for those at risk of reoffending, when parliamentary time allows.

Plans to open a residential women’s centre in Wales to provide a community-based alternative to a short custodial sentence.

Launched our staff retention toolkit into all prisons alongside a number of new initiatives to support retention, including a new buddy scheme.

Key performance indicators, introduced in April 2022, set clear expectations of delivery, and governors will be held to account as part of their performance reviews.

As the consultation response makes clear, this is the start of an ambitious delivery plan in the years to come and the Government are committed to continued engagement with stakeholders to ensure we deliver on it.

Today, I lay in Parliament this response, which sets out the views of respondents to our consultation questions and how the Government propose to implement the commitments in the White Paper.

June 15, 2022
Holly Lynch – 2022 Speech on the Draft Terrorism Act

The speech made by Holly Lynch, the Labour MP for Halifax, at the Delegated Legislation Committee in the House of Commons on 13 June 2022.

It is a pleasure to serve under you in the Chair, Ms Elliott.

I thank the Minister for his opening remarks. I was listening carefully. He and his colleagues will be aware that the Opposition expressed a series of grave concerns about the Nationality and Borders Act, which allowed for these provisions, but we very much recognise the practical nature of the changes in the draft order as we work collectively to keep our nation safe. We are satisfied that changes to the code of practice for examining and review officers under schedule 7 to the Terrorism Act are proportionate and appropriate to keep the country safe from the threat of terrorism.

The Minister outlined that this draft legislation will extend existing powers for use away from UK ports in specific circumstances. We recognise that small boats continue to arrive at varied locations, including remote beaches outside established travel hubs, and that measures have to be able to respond to that challenge. As the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Jonathan Hall QC, said in his consultation response:

“In principle, people arriving irregularly in the UK, should be liable to counterterrorism examination, as much as those arriving at sea ports and airports.”

I welcome that the Government have been clear that the powers cannot be used as a mass screening mechanism and that the provisions in the new order remain entirely separate from immigration enforcement, given our staunch opposition to the immigration and asylum changes brought about by the Nationality and Borders Act. We feel that the consultation and the Government’s response to it have improved this delegated legislation, and we particularly welcome the response I mentioned provided by the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Jonathan Hall QC.

If I may, I will ask the Minister to respond to two particular points. The consultation responses highlighted the fact that clarification would be beneficial about which facilities would be included under paragraph 28 of the draft revised code, which states that the

“presence of the person in an immigration detention centre, police station or equivalent location”

in certain specified circumstances may support an officer’s belief that a schedule 7 examination can be conducted. I note that the Government recognised the calls for clarity about the use of equivalent locations but argued that for the code to exhaustively categorise or list the various types of location would risk excluding some relevant locations or facilities simply because they were not explicitly included. Saying that is particularly relevant where some facilities are operationalised or closed at short notice—for example, because of covid-19.

Needless to say, given some of the facilities that were operationalised at short notice by the Home Office during the covid pandemic, and operationalised without public health guidance being adhered to, I would have liked to see a list of suitable equivalent locations available for scrutiny and would still urge the Government to consider that further.

We endorse the recommendation that examination locations are also able to be inspected under article 4 of the optional protocol to the convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, to ensure that we are in keeping with article 6 of the European convention on human rights, and we hope that the Minister will confirm that that is the case. We also support Jonathan Hall’s recommendation that consideration should be given to training counter-terrorism police officers to deal with individuals who have arrived in the UK irregularly and therefore have special welfare considerations. We note that the Government have committed to considering that and so will the Minister update the Committee on any such discussions with the College of Policing and counter-terrorism policing in establishing training and guidance relevant to best practice in the exercise of schedule 7 powers?

We believe those recommendations to be sensible and appropriate, but I again stress that we recognise the stark reality of needing to be ever vigilant about those terrorist organisations and so-called lone actors who are ruthlessly opportunistic in seeking to exploit weaknesses in our defences. Consequently, it is right that we ensure that our national security legislation is dynamic in responding to contemporary and emerging challenges, if we are to minimise that risk.

June 15, 2022