argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Whiplash Claims — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: Six thousand vulnerable road users—pedestrians and cyclists—responded to the Justice Department’s consultation on the reforms, expressing concerns that cyclists and pedestrians would be disproportionately affected by any increase in the small claims limit. Will the Minister discuss the proposals with officials and consider excluding vulnerable road user claims from the increase, as discussed yesterday by Cycling UK?
Oliver Heald (Conservative, Centre-right): It is important for that balance to be struck. The whiplash proposals relate to the most minor claims—cases in which the pain and suffering lasts for up to two years. Even then, there is provision for judges, in exceptional cases, to award more than the tariff that is proposed. When serious injuries are involved, however, the system will continue as it is now. It will still be designed to recompense people properly for the injuries that they have suffered.
Whiplash Claims — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: Six thousand vulnerable road users—pedestrians and cyclists—responded to the Justice Department’s consultation on the reforms, expressing concerns that cyclists and pedestrians would be disproportionately affected by any increase in the small claims limit. Will the Minister discuss the proposals with officials and consider excluding vulnerable road user claims from the increase, as discussed yesterday by Cycling UK?
Oliver Heald (Conservative, Centre-right): I am glad to hear the hon. Gentleman—with his background as a personal injury lawyer—raising those concerns. [Laughter.] I see another one behind him, waiting to ask a question The simple answer is that it was right to increase the personal injury small claims limit to £2,000. That just reflects inflation. The last increase was in 1991, so it is time for another. As for the whiplash cases, I stand by the £5,000 limit, which I think will get rid of the exaggerated claims.
Personal Independence Payments: Inverclyde — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Social Welfare
Oliver Heald (Conservative, Centre-right): I think that the hon. Gentleman should view the position in context. The Government are spending £50 billion a year on supporting people with disabilities and health conditions, and the new PIP arrangements mean that 65% of PIP recipients with mental health conditions are receiving the highest rate; the proportion used to be only 22%. Overall, the system works, and the fact that there are appeals and they succeed shows that it works.
Personal Independence Payments: Inverclyde — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Oliver Heald (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend makes the important point that justice delayed is justice denied, and it is important that cases are brought on quickly. We monitor them very carefully and provide extra days to tribunals as required, so he can be assured that we are not complacent about this.
Mental Health Problems: Prisoners — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: What analysis has the Department done on people going into prison with mental health problems, as opposed to acquiring mental health problems in prison?
Phillip James Lee (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady is right that access to secure accommodation can be challenging—not only within the prison system but within the community for those who have not committed offences, who cannot always access it within 24 hours. We are in lengthy discussions with the Department of Health on this, because access to secure accommodation in the circumstances the hon. Lady outlines is very important.
Legal Advice — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Oliver Heald (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government’s court programme aims to deliver a justice system that is more accessible. Legal support needs to reflect the new way in which the justice system will work, so a Green Paper is proposed for early next year. I recently addressed the Civil Justice Council and was able to pay tribute to the work of Mr Justice Knowles and the tireless work of everyone in the pro bono sector that does so much for our country.
Legal Advice — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Jason McCartney (Conservative, Centre-right): Will the Minister join me in thanking law students from Huddersfield University law school and local law practices for their excellent work in providing a fantastic Huddersfield legal advice clinic in the Packhorse centre? Does he agree that as constituency MPs we must make sure that we can direct our constituents not only to pro bono legal advice but to affordable and accessible legal advice?
Legal Advice — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Oliver Heald (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman is right to highlight the improper behaviour that occurs in some cases. It is right that the Solicitors Regulation Authority and disciplinary tribunals take a tough line on that. We have seen some recent examples of that.
Legal Advice — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Alexander John Gervase Chalk (Conservative, Centre-right): Barristers and solicitors across the country are making a remarkable pro bono contribution worth around £600 million per annum, but they cannot do it all. Does the Minister agree that pro bono must be an adjunct to, and not a replacement for, a properly resourced legal aid system?
Legal Advice — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Oliver Heald (Conservative, Centre-right): I do agree with that, but with the caveat that we are changing the way in which the justice system works, so that it is simpler and more accessible. We are also using modern technology. We should look at how legal support dovetails with all that. So, yes—but we are moving forward with our plans.
Legal Advice — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Oliver Heald (Conservative, Centre-right): When I addressed the all-party parliamentary group on legal aid, I was pleased to meet members of Amnesty International to discuss their concerns about particular areas of law. We have announced our timetable for the review of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, which involves delivering a full memorandum to the Justice Committee by May and holding a full review going through into early next year, at which point there will be a Green Paper on legal support.
Court Proceedings: Media Reports — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
John Flasby Lawrance Whittingdale (Conservative, Centre-right): Does my right hon. and learned Friend share my concern that more than half of local newspaper editors have said that they think the courts are no longer being reported properly? Does he agree that justice needs not only to be done but to be seen to be done and that the decline of local media represents a real threat to that principle? What more can be done to address this issue?
Court Proceedings: Media Reports — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Oliver Heald (Conservative, Centre-right): Yes, I agree entirely with my right hon. Friend. This is an important area. We are committed to upholding open justice, and local reporting of court proceedings is a key part of that. Under our reforms, we will publish lists of forthcoming criminal cases and their outcomes. We will also allow access to virtual hearings via video screens in local courts, so that reporters can see those proceedings anywhere in the country. We hope that that will make a contribution to the important principle that my right hon. Friend highlights
Prison Officers: Recruitment and Retention — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Elizabeth Mary Truss (Conservative, Centre-right): In November, we announced a £100 million investment to increase prison officer numbers by 2,500. We are on target with that recruitment, and I can tell the hon. Lady today that 700 officers are currently in training—a record number.
Prison Officers: Recruitment and Retention — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Elizabeth Mary Truss (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady is absolutely right about the concerning report on HMP Durham. We are addressing issues of recruitment in that prison and in prisons across the country. We have created 2,000 new positions at a more senior grade for experienced officers with mental health training and other types of training. Those positions will be available in Durham, which will help us to retain some of our experienced and valued staff.
Prison Officers: Recruitment and Retention — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Elizabeth Mary Truss (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We are creating an additional 2,000 positions, which will be paid around £30,000. They will be available in his local area and in Durham, because it is vital not only that we ensure that we have enough staff—we are recruiting 2,500 prison officers—but that we retain our highly valued existing staff right across the country.
Prison Officers: Recruitment and Retention — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Elizabeth Mary Truss (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman is absolutely correct that prison officers have raised concerns about safety. We are employing more prison officers, so that one officer will have a case load of six offenders, which will help to keep prisons safe and, importantly, turn people’s lives around. We are reviewing training and the career structure for prison officers, ensuring that there are opportunities for promotion and to take on leadership roles.
Prison Officers: Recruitment and Retention — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Peter William Bone (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government are closing down old, ineffective prisons and replacing them with modern prisons. In fact, they are building capacity for 10,000 new places on the basis of old for new. Will that not help to retain prison officers?
Prison Officers: Recruitment and Retention — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Elizabeth Mary Truss (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is right. I was delighted that we were able to say that Wellingborough will have one of those new prisons. We have just opened HMP Berwyn in Wrexham, which is operating well already and will help us to deal with overcrowding. The new prisons will also ensure that we are able to attract and retain prison officers in places where offenders can be reformed.
Prison Officers: Recruitment and Retention — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Elizabeth Mary Truss (Conservative, Centre-right): I am afraid that there were two factual errors in the hon. Lady’s question. First, the prison population is exactly the same as it was in 2010—it has not gone up. Secondly, we are recruiting people at a record rate and have a record number of officers in training.
Court System — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Wendy Morton (Conservative, Centre-right): The Prisons and Courts Bill clearly underpins the Government’s vision to modernise our court system, but I am particularly interested in the measures to allow victims and vulnerable witnesses to avoid the risk of coming face to face with their assailant. Will my right hon. and learned Friend update me, please?
Court System — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Oliver Heald (Conservative, Centre-right): We will obviously have physical measures, such as the use of screens in courts, but we also intend to maximise the use of video links in criminal court proceedings, to roll out pre-recorded evidence and to make greater use of prison-to-court video links. The Bill also helps to protect vulnerable witnesses in family cases by banning cross-examination by perpetrators in certain circumstances, including where there has been domestic abuse.
Court System — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Oliver Heald (Conservative, Centre-right): We are talking against a background where improvements are being made for victims all the time. I accept that more needs to be done for children, and the hon. Gentleman makes an important point. We are looking to produce further measures for victims in due course, and I will make sure that that is considered.
Prison Service Pay Award — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Samuel Phillip Gyimah (Conservative, Centre-right): We have announced that, in prisons where recruitment and retention are most difficult, we will offer a combination of higher starting pay and an additional allowance of up to £5,000 a year, taking the salary of officers in those jails to up to £30,000. The relevant trade unions were advised in advance.
Prison Service Pay Award — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Samuel Phillip Gyimah (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. We want to make sure that our hard-working prison officers are well rewarded. Our announcement on 19 February, to which he refers, was specifically designed to tackle jails where it is very hard to recruit because of the high cost of living in their particular market. This year’s pay award for all prison staff is a matter for the independent pay review body, to which we will submit evidence shortly.
Imprisonment for Public Protection: Sentences — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: How many people are serving sentences of imprisonment for public protection which have lasted for more than twice the length of their original sentence.
Christopher Robert Chope (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend for that depressing statistic. My constituent has served not twice but five times the length of his original sentence. Having been sentenced to two and a half years for actual bodily harm, he has been in prison for 12 and a half years. When is he going to be released?
Imprisonment for Public Protection: Sentences — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: How many people are serving sentences of imprisonment for public protection which have lasted for more than twice the length of their original sentence.
Samuel Phillip Gyimah (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Gentleman is obviously aware that the IPP tariff was introduced by the last Labour Government, and abolished by the Conservative Administration in 2012. Our efforts are now focused on giving IPP prisoners the support, opportunities and motivation to progress more quickly so that, when they are reviewed by the parole board, they have the best possible prospect of securing release. We are tackling delays in the system and have identified what more needs to be done. A specific unit is looking at individual cases in order to progress them as quickly as possible.
Prison Work — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Elizabeth Mary Truss (Conservative, Centre-right): We are launching new performance metrics that will measure not only the amount of work taking place in prisons but the percentage of prisoners who secure employment on release, and we will use those measurements to hold governors to account. We are also creating new apprenticeships in areas where there are skill shortages, such as construction, retail, catering, logistics and digital, so that prisoners can go into relevant roles.
Prison Work — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Labor
Elizabeth Mary Truss (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is correct. We are taking an outside-in approach: we are finding employers who have jobs to offer on the outside, and they then start to deliver training on the inside, so that the individual goes straight into an apprenticeship or employment on release. We already have a very successful scheme involving Land Securities and Halfords, and we are building up the number of employers that are part of that arrangement.
Prison Work — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Elizabeth Mary Truss (Conservative, Centre-right): That is an important initiative. We have several initiatives in our prisons, including the Clink Restaurant and the Bad Boys’ Bakery, which does excellent baked goods—I think I mentioned it last time. There are huge opportunities in catering and cheffing, in which we have skill shortages. We can do a great deal with apprenticeships to make sure that people are trained up to take on those roles on release.
Concerted Indiscipline: Prison Response — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: What steps she is taking to review the capability of (a) HM Prison Service and (b) contracted-out prisons to respond to incidents of concerted indiscipline.
Samuel Phillip Gyimah (Conservative, Centre-right): Mutual assistance across both sectors is in place in the event of an incident to provide immediate support to those prisons in need. Private sector prisons can therefore provide support to public sector prisons—and vice versa—in the event of a serious threat or incident.
Prison Safety and Security — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Samuel Phillip Gyimah (Conservative, Centre-right): We are taking urgent action to improve prison safety and security, alongside reforms to overhaul the system to focus on the rehabilitation of offenders. This includes tackling the supply and demand of drugs, drones and phones, which drive prison violence and undermine safety, and redoubling our efforts to address the record levels of suicide and self-harm.
Prison Safety and Security — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Samuel Phillip Gyimah (Conservative, Centre-right): No. As I said in my answer to a previous question, the matter of Prison Service pay will be decided nationally. The independent pay review body will also submit evidence throughout this year. That will still be the case where we have governor freedoms, but, in giving governors their budgets, they will be able to decide on the mix of staff and how to deploy them.
Foreign National Offenders: Legal Aid — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Oliver Heald (Conservative, Centre-right): As the hon. Gentleman may know, the Legal Aid Agency does investigate cases that are brought to its attention, and there have been recent examples where contracts have been removed. It is also important to make the point that, even where there is the possibility of legal aid and representation for foreign national offenders, it is limited to cases involving the refugee convention or articles 2 or 3.
Leaving the UK: Human Rights — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: International Affairs
Oliver Heald (Conservative, Centre-right): As the hon. Gentleman will know, the Joint Committee on Human Rights is looking at that issue. The Department for International Trade has given evidence on this, saying that it is constructing its approach to such agreements at the moment. This country has always been a strong supporter of human rights, and I cannot see that changing.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Elizabeth Mary Truss (Conservative, Centre-right): Last month, we introduced the Prisons and Courts Bill. For the first time, as well as punishing offenders by depriving them of their liberty, a key purpose of prison will be reforming offenders. There will be a new framework and a clear system of accountability. I will account to Parliament for progress. We are also putting in a strengthened inspectorate and an ombudsman for sharper external scrutiny. We are modernising our courts system and ensuring that vulnerable victims and witnesses are no longer cross-examined by their alleged abusers in the family court.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: International Affairs
Questions: The Secretary of State for Scotland indicated that sweeping powers would be devolved to Edinburgh following Brexit. However, when asked for clarification, he promised criminal justice powers, which are already devolved. Will the Justice Secretary confirm what that will entail, or is double devolution just a cover for a post-Brexit power grab?
Elizabeth Mary Truss (Conservative, Centre-right): As the hon. Gentleman knows, those issues are being discussed by my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Scotland. It is important that we get a deal that is good for the entire United Kingdom.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: The Secretary of State for Scotland indicated that sweeping powers would be devolved to Edinburgh following Brexit. However, when asked for clarification, he promised criminal justice powers, which are already devolved. Will the Justice Secretary confirm what that will entail, or is double devolution just a cover for a post-Brexit power grab?; Mobile phones in prisons allow criminals to deal drugs, intimidate their victims and continue criminality from within their prison cell. Will my hon. Friend say how the powers in the Prisons and Courts Bill will help to address the scourge of mobile phones in prisons once and for all?
Samuel Phillip Gyimah (Conservative, Centre-right): The measures in the Prisons and Courts Bill will allow the Secretary of State to authorise mobile network operators to block illicit mobile phone signals across entire prison sites. That will allow industry experts to work more creatively and effectively to block signals, which means that we will not require a court order to stop the illicit and harmful use of mobile phones in prison.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2017-03-07
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: The Secretary of State for Scotland indicated that sweeping powers would be devolved to Edinburgh following Brexit. However, when asked for clarification, he promised criminal justice powers, which are already devolved. Will the Justice Secretary confirm what that will entail, or is double devolution just a cover for a post-Brexit power grab?; Mobile phones in prisons allow criminals to deal drugs, intimidate their victims and continue criminality from within their prison cell. Will my hon. Friend say how the powers in the Prisons and Courts Bill will help to address the scourge of mobile phones in prisons once and for all?; Obviously, we do not want to follow the United States in politicising the judiciary. However, to ensure some degree of public accountability when appointing Supreme Court judges, might the Minister consider allowing the Chair of the Justice Committee to sit on the relevant appointment panel?; Some of my constituents who work in Winchester prison have highlighted directly with me the challenges that they have at work, locally and nationally. As the Lord Chancellor is keenly aware, there are rising challenges around extremism in prisons. Will she update the House on the progress of the new directorate for security, order and counter-terrorism?
Samuel Phillip Gyimah (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right: extremism is a worry in our prisons. That is why we set up the new security and counter terrorism unit in the Ministry of Justice. That unit is progressing with implementing the recommendations of the Acheson review that the Department adopted last summer.