Offender Rehabilitation Bill [Lords]

What will be the additional cost of the Government’s proposals?

The proposals contained in this Bill will be delivered within the existing budget for our probati...

I thank the Secretary of State for giving way. I declare an interest in that I published a book l...

My hon. Friend is entirely right. Labour has argued for this, legislated for it and U-turned on i...

Does the Secretary of State agree that the reforms in the Bill will avoid what happened to my con...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I cannot understand why Labour wants to vote against providin...

There is one reference in the Bill to the controversial changes to the probation service—found in...

The problems with the precautionary clause are twofold. First, it is worth saying that this House...

The probation service, of course, has never been asked or required to supervise that group of off...

I refer to what Labour said in 2010—that it could not do that. The hon. Lady and her colleagues s...

The 35 probation trusts across England and Wales have been judged either good or excellent. Why i...

I am afraid that the hon. Lady has not understood what we are seeking to achieve. The Select Comm...

I have a question concerning the flexibility in the new rehabilitation requirements. Can the Just...

The powers will certainly remain. What will be different is that having a 12-month supervision pe...

It is not just Peterborough, is it? There is also Doncaster prison, which is the flagship of mode...

I join my hon. Friend in paying tribute to the work being done in Doncaster. There is good work b...

My right hon. Friend mentions the situation at Her Majesty’s prison in Peterborough. Is not the m...

I very much agree with my hon. Friend. The sad thing is that a partnership of the private sector ...

There are no prisons for women in Wales. All women offenders sentenced to a prison term serve the...

Clearly, we will see the same level of support provided for women and men. The hon. Lady will, of...

The model of good practice on through-the-gate mentoring is the transitional support service, the...

Of course, new Labour believed in public and private and voluntary sector partnerships, but those...

I beg to move an amendment:

“That this House declines to give a Second Reading to the Offen...

Is there not a competition among various Secretaries of State to see who can privatise the most? ...

If the Justice Secretary was saying that he had evidence that privatising probation worked or tha...

rose—

I will give way to the hon. Gentleman before making progress.

I am sorry to distract the shadow Secretary of State, but I want to ask him a question. We discus...

The 2007 Act was permissive. It gave the Justice Secretary powers that could be used if probation...

For the record, it was made explicit in debates on the 2007 legislation that it would allow the f...

My hon. Friend reminds me that there are examples of probation trusts around the country that wor...

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for giving way. He has repeatedly said that the Opposit...

I will; I will come to that in my speech, if the hon. Gentleman gives me time, but as the Justice...

Will the shadow Secretary of State remind the House how many times the previous Government publis...

Let’s make a promise: if the Justice Secretary publishes his risk register now, when I am Justice...

I want to understand the position. The right hon. Gentleman has at last accepted that there was a...

One cannot will the ends without the means. It is nonsense to suggest that simply pulling a lever...

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

One last time. I must make progress.

I thank the shadow Secretary of State for giving way. He talks about breakneck speed, but does he...

Because if done properly, it would cost £194 million a year. We could do it on the back of an env...

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

I want to make some progress, then I will give way.

The Bill does make specific mention of ...

As the right hon. Gentleman will know, something like 3,000 serious, violent, sexual and similar ...

If the right hon. Gentleman had taken the trouble to speak to the probation trusts, he would know...

rose—

The hon. Gentleman has been very patient, so I will give way.

The right hon. Gentleman will have to do a little better than this speech if he wants to be Labou...

Well, I lost the trail of the hon. Gentleman’s intervention after the third minute. His party has...

The right hon. Gentleman’s policy appears to be to ask the probation trusts whether they would co...

If the Justice Secretary has his way, within the course of 12 months those who receive a sentence...

Of course, one of the problems is that whoever undertakes the supervision activity will have to m...

My hon. Friend has more optimism in the Justice Secretary’s competence than I have. The Social Ma...

There should be no disagreement about the key objectives and features of the Bill in respect of t...

rose—

rose—

I give way first to my hon. Friend.

When my right hon. Friend takes evidence, will he focus on rural issues, because dividing the ser...

My hon. Friend would be surprised if I did not take rural issues into account, given that I repre...

I look forward to the evidence session tomorrow morning. Would it not be far better if the Secret...

It is our intention to report quickly on these aspects of the probation changes. There has been a...

In view of those allegations, does the right hon. Gentleman think it would be appropriate for the...

There are complex legal reasons that I will not try and go into now, but I cannot imagine that th...

As the right hon. Gentleman said, we should be clear about satisfactory ratings. He should refer ...

I think I have made myself clear about what view the House would take if a company that was the s...

Will the right hon. Gentleman ask to see the risk register from the Ministry of Justice, bearing ...

We may do, but I expect to get the same answer as we would have got from the previous Government....

rose—

I think the right hon. Gentleman has made his point and I have given my response. The Ministry of...

I echo the concerns the Chairman of the Justice Committee outlines and accept their validity, but...

There are plenty of good examples—my Committee has looked at a number of them—but no one should s...

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

No, I will conclude because many hon. Members wish to speak.

Elements of the Bill will prov...

Despite what the Justice Secretary tried to argue at the beginning of his speech, the Bill is par...

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

I will finish my point and then give way.

If the end or purpose of the policy was better va...

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

I will give way to the Minister and then to the hon. Member for Gillingham and Rainham (Rehman Ch...

I am following the right hon. Gentleman’s argument closely. He was a member of the Government who...

The Minister was in the Chamber for the Opposition day debate last week and will have heard my ri...

I infer that the right hon. Gentleman would agree with rehabilitation being the end product. A ke...

There are some useful provisions in the Bill. My right hon. Friend the Member for Tooting (Sadiq ...

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the current proposals run the risk of dispensing with excell...

My hon. Friend is right. One of the real worries about this so-called reform programme is that it...

I am listening carefully to the right hon. Gentleman’s argument. Is he suggesting that none of th...

That is a red herring. Unbelievably, probation trusts are prevented from putting forward proposal...

I have been to south Yorkshire and, with the excellent police and crime commissioner, visited var...

My right hon. Friend raises an interesting point. Probation trusts want to do the work they alrea...

rose—

Let us hear from the Minister why probation trusts should not be allowed to bid under their own t...

I think the right hon. Gentleman knows perfectly well what the answer is. A probation trust, as a...

That is absolute nonsense. Public bodies, like local authorities, have reserves to deal with unce...

Does my right hon. Friend agree that what the Minister has just said is Kafkaesque? The Minister ...

To which I might add that the probation trusts have a proven track record—certainly in south York...

I am terribly sorry to intervene again. Is my right hon. Friend aware of the concept of justice r...

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that intervention. I was not aware of that. He is an ex...

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

I want to finish on this point, because other Members want to speak. The hon. Gentleman could hav...

It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne (John Healey).

As...

I pay tribute to the probation service in my patch, in York and North Yorkshire. Is it not right ...

My hon. Friend makes an important point.

The right hon. Member for Tooting (Sadiq Khan) men...

At the moment, the local probation trusts set up the contracts with the charities. Does the hon. ...

Central Government are trying to help probation officers to create mutuals. They are working with...

The Greater Manchester probation trust has been highly innovative in developing programmes with t...

It is above my pay grade to give information on why a probation trust has been refused a contract...

Is it not true that whoever works with offenders, whether they are from a private company or a tr...

It is highly unlikely that the Ministry of Justice would give any kind of contract to an organisa...

The hon. Gentleman suggests that the public are crying out for a reduction in crime. Will he tell...

I can tell the hon. Gentleman that, since this Government took over, we have seen a reduction in ...

It is pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Dartford (Gareth Johnson). I am sure he will be plea...

I can help the right hon. Gentleman and correct him on that. When those people are released, they...

That is reassuring to an extent, but my point is that risk is dynamic—it changes—and that the ass...

My right hon. Friend is an expert in this area. I would like to remind him that the definition of...

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that intervention. The truth is, of course, that becaus...

The point made by probation officers —my right hon. Friend the Member for Wentworth and Dearne (J...

I agree with my hon. Friend, who is a great expert on this issue. I am happy to admit that he and...

What the right hon. Gentleman has just said prompts me to suggest that it is important to have a ...

The hon. Gentleman and I have discussed those issues in Committee and in the Chamber, and I know ...

I do not know whether my right hon. Friend is aware that custody plus was still on the statute bo...

Indeed. It is regrettable, in a way, that the Government took custody plus off the statute book r...

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for mentioning women offenders. Does he agree that there is...

That is a very real concern and I am glad that my hon. Friend has had the chance to put that poin...

I do not disagree with the hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston (Kate Green), but does the right...

I agree with the right hon. Gentleman, who is an excellent Select Committee Chair. I hope Ministe...

Madam Deputy Speaker, it is a pleasure to speak under your chairmanship for the first time.