argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Legal Aid Budget — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Government Operations
David Mowat (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Minister for that answer. A month ago in the High Court, Lord Justice Laws described the Government’s proposal to have two-tier contracting as reasonable, "proportionate" and a "proper way" to proceed. The case has now gone to the Court of Appeal and a decision is expected imminently. Can the Minister confirm that, subject to that decision, he will be proceeding in this Parliament with a tendering process and not be constrained by what appears to be legal time wasting?
Legal Aid Budget — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Shailesh Lakhman Vara (Conservative, Centre-right): I believe there has been a rise in litigants in person, but the Government have also made a huge amount of provision to cater for that. I also say to the hon. Lady and Opposition Front Benchers, who have never said that they are going to reverse the cuts that we have made, that we need a legal aid system that is sustainable, for the people who need it, for the legal providers and for the taxpayers who pay for it.
Legal Aid Budget — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Macroeconomics
Shailesh Lakhman Vara (Conservative, Centre-right): It is always helpful if shadow Ministers do their homework. The proposals to which the hon. Gentleman refers were achieved by the previous Lord Chancellor. As far as his comment on the Justice Committee’s report is concerned, I do not hear him or his boss saying that they will be reversing any of the cuts that we have made. If they want to do that, the shadow Chancellor will have plenty of opportunity so to do in due course.
Victims of Crime — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government are committed to putting victims and witnesses first in the criminal justice system and to ensuring that they have high quality, effective and timely support to help them cope and, as far as possible, recover from the effects of crime. We published our document on commitments to victims in September 2014 and introduced a package of reforms that will provide even more support to victims, including establishing a new nationwide victims’ information service, strengthening the protection of vulnerable victims and witnesses at court, increasing transparency and accountability so that agencies are held to account for the services that they provide, and planning a victims law, setting out entitlements for victims in primary legislation. It is also worth saying that, under this Government, funding for services to support victims of crime has more than doubled to some £92 million in the coming financial year.
Victims of Crime — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): Let me first pay tribute to the hon. Lady’s constituent. We were all horrified and shocked by the terrible events that led to his loss. I extend my condolences, my gratitude to him, and indeed my gratitude to all the families of murder victims who have turned a terrible experience into positive work to help support the victims of crime, and to try to prevent these terrible events happening in future. We all owe them a debt of gratitude. It is clearly not our intention to allow the Labour party an opportunity to introduce a victims law, but it will be the intention of a Conservative Government to do just that and to continue the work we have been doing in this Parliament to extend the support provided to victims.
Victims of Crime — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
David John Barrington Burrowes (Conservative, Centre-right): At the Justice Secretary’s first Question Time, he spoke of the importance of ensuring that victims get timely information. As this is the last Justice Question Time of this Parliament, will he update the House on what progress has been made in using technology to ensure that victims are put first when it comes to information about their cases?
Victims of Crime — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): We are making good progress towards the introduction of the victims information service, which will signpost victims to services available locally. We intend to mesh that with the current system for tracking crimes, so that we have a single point where victims can find out the situation with the case they are going through. It is really important that we do the right thing for victims, and we have done as much as any previous Government to step forward and provide that support.
Victims of Crime — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): I agree with the hon. Gentleman. I am pleased that under this Government sentence lengths have increased. It is absolutely right and proper that those who commit crimes should serve a proper period of recompense for what they have done. Of course, it is also important that we rehabilitate them to ensure that they do not do it again.
Victims of Crime — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): First of all, I have now met Mr and Mrs McGinty twice, including with the chief executive of the Parole Board, who apologised to them for the lack of information provided to them, and rightly so. This is about good practice and people behaving in the right way, and I am afraid that this kind of issue will not be solved by changes to the law; it will be solved by changing the culture in the system.
Youth Reoffending — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Andrew Edmund Armstrong Selous (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government are committed to reducing offending and reoffending by young people. We are placing education at the heart of detention and improving resettlement processes, which will provide young offenders with the skills and support they need to build a life free from crime. We are also working to ensure that community youth services are as effective as possible in helping young people to adopt law-abiding lives, including through their role in delivering key cross-Government programmes such as the troubled families initiative.
Youth Reoffending — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
David Anthony Andrew Amess (Conservative, Centre-right): Can my hon. Friend reassure me that changes to the probation service will reduce youth reoffending through a new culture and direction of travel? I, for one, would not wish to see senior managers reinventing themselves in these new community rehabilitation company positions.
Youth Reoffending — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Andrew Edmund Armstrong Selous (Conservative, Centre-right): I know that my hon. Friend takes a serious interest in these matters—indeed, I have met with him to discuss them. The number of first-time entrants into the criminal justice system who are young people fell by 59% in the four years to September 2014. We are also focusing on resettlement consortia in four high custody areas. We have a Turn Around to Work initiative in London and Greater Manchester, which is supported by a number of employers. We are also doubling the number of hours in education.
Youth Reoffending — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Government Operations
Andrew Edmund Armstrong Selous (Conservative, Centre-right): I can give my hon. Friend good news on that front. Under this Government we have rolled out the liaison and diversion service—only last week, I visited the excellent scheme up in Wakefield—which is going to cover 50% of the country. It has made very good progress and is an excellent example of partnership working, and I look to seeing it expanded further.
Access to Justice — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Shailesh Lakhman Vara (Conservative, Centre-right): The Government’s reform programme to promote access to justice aims to deliver a justice system that is more accessible to the public. It aims to support people in resolving their disputes through simpler, more informal remedies, and to limit the scope for inappropriate litigation and the involvement of lawyers in issues which do not need legal input.
Access to Justice — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: International Affairs
Shailesh Lakhman Vara (Conservative, Centre-right): For the benefit of the hon. Lady, let me say once again that if it were not for the Government whom she supported causing the mess that they did, we would not have been obliged to make the cuts we have had to make. Despite making them, we still have one of the most generous legal aid budgets in the world.
Access to Justice — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Macroeconomics
Shailesh Lakhman Vara (Conservative, Centre-right): In that very long contribution from the right hon. Gentleman, it is regrettable that not once did he say that if he were Lord Chancellor, he would reverse the cuts we have made. That sums up where the Opposition are: they are happy to object, they are happy to write articles—[Interruption.] Yes, the right hon. Gentleman points to the public. I point to the public as well, and I say that nowhere did the right hon. Gentleman say that Labour would reverse the cuts we have made. [Interruption.]
Reoffending Rates — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): We have opened up the delivery of rehabilitation services to a diverse range of public, private and voluntary sector providers who will be paid in full only if they are successful at reducing reoffending. Rehabilitation support is being extended to an extra 45,000 offenders on sentences of less than 12 months who have previously received little, if any, support on release and have the highest reoffending rates.
Reoffending Rates — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Adam Afriyie (Conservative, Centre-right): It seems to me that there is nothing better for the economy, society and our constituents than when offenders come out of prison and stay out of prison, so my spirits are lifted to learn that across the Windsor constituency there were fewer than 100 reoffenders in the year to 2013. Does the Secretary of State agree that we must continue to do all we can to help ex-offenders back into work and to help them regain a foothold in our society?
Reoffending Rates — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): Absolutely—this is now the only way we can continue to drive down crime to the degree we want. We have fewer first-time offenders, as the Under-Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for South West Bedfordshire (Andrew Selous), said earlier, and that is good news. Crime increasing is caused by people going round and round the system. I believe that for the first time in decades, we have real chance of making a serious impact on that by providing support to short-sentence prisoners who were previously left to walk the streets with £46 in their pockets, and not surprisingly ended up back in the same places committing the same crimes all over again.
Prisoner and Staff Safety — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): We are committed to delivering safe, decent and secure prisons. Reducing the number of deaths in custody is a key priority, and we are working hard to reduce levels of violence in our prisons. We have introduced a new protocol that will ensure that when there are serious assaults on prison staff, the perpetrators will be prosecuted wherever possible.
Prisoner and Staff Safety — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): I hope that it will make a big difference to our staff. I pay tribute to prison staff, who do a difficult job. It is particularly difficult at the moment, with an upsurge in violence. A lot of that is due to the prevalence of so-called legal highs—new psychoactive substances—in our prisons. We have taken a number of steps to try to restrict access to those drugs, which are absolutely unacceptable in our prisons. When serious assaults previously took place, prosecutions might not have happened because those people were in jail. Now, they will, and I hope that will be a deterrent.
Prisoner and Staff Safety — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: Given prison officers’ genuine concerns about the rates of violence and suicide in prisons, is there any chance of an independent review of the impact of benchmarking and staff reductions on those rates?
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): We will continue to review the impact of benchmarking. There is no evidence that connects changes within the prison sector to the number of suicides in prisons, which has been much too high in recent months. Suicides have happened in prisons where there have been no staffing changes, as well as ones where there have been staffing changes, and in prisons where there have been good inspection reports and poor inspection reports. This is an issue in our prisons and a broader issue in society as a whole, and we must all work hard to deal with it.
Prisoner and Staff Safety — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: Given prison officers’ genuine concerns about the rates of violence and suicide in prisons, is there any chance of an independent review of the impact of benchmarking and staff reductions on those rates?
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): The hon. Lady is absolutely right that the rise in serious violence in our prisons is wholly unacceptable. It is pretty clear to me that the biggest cause of that change has been the presence of so-called legal highs—new psychoactive substances—in our prisons. Only last Friday, I spoke to a prison governor who said that it is the key problem that staff face. We have taken a number of steps, including criminalising the throwing of substances over a wall in prisons. We are about to trial body scanners in our prisons. We will take all steps that we sensibly can to protect our staff. These substances are a danger to our society as a whole. They need to be dealt with effectively in our prisons, and they will be.
Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act (Section 28 Pilots) — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: What recent assessment he has made of the outcome of the pilots of section 28 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999.
Shailesh Lakhman Vara (Conservative, Centre-right): Recorded pre-trial cross-examination is designed to help vulnerable witnesses to give their best possible evidence and to spare them the trauma of being cross-examined in front of a jury and the public. The hon. Lady will know that we have been piloting the scheme in Liverpool, Leeds and Kingston upon Thames Crown courts, and that the pilots ended in October 2014. Interim findings from the evaluation of the pilots are awaited, and an announcement of the plans for any future roll-out of the scheme will be made in due course.
Foreign National Offenders — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Andrew Edmund Armstrong Selous (Conservative, Centre-right): The total number of foreign national offenders released from prison between May 2010 and September 2014 is 38,256. That does not take into account offenders who have been transferred to an immigration removal centre, releases of indeterminate prisoners and those on home detention curfew.
Foreign National Offenders — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Andrew Edmund Armstrong Selous (Conservative, Centre-right): I can tell the hon. Gentleman that the number of foreign national offenders in our prisons doubled when his Government were in power. This Government have brought the number down: from 11,135 in June 2010 to 10,503. He is of course right that we have further work to do. We have signed prisoner transfer agreements with Nigeria, Somaliland and Albania, and we are actively making sure that European Union prisoner transfer arrangements take place, notably with Poland at the end of next year. We are absolutely focused on continuing to make progress on this important issue.
Foreign National Offenders — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Philip Thomas Hollobone (Conservative, Centre-right): When a foreign national commits a crime in the United Kingdom, they should be sent back to where they came from and banned from ever returning. Should we not also compulsorily transfer prisoners from our jails to prisons in their own countries? What new compulsory transfer agreements are the Government working on?
Victims (Protection and Support) — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): Last September, we published "Our Commitment to Victims", a key plank of which is supporting vulnerable victims and witnesses in court. We are doing so by establishing non-court locations for vulnerable witnesses to give their evidence using a live link, evaluating the pilots of recorded pre-trial cross-examination—I am very much of the view that that should be extended nationwide if the trial proves successful—and strengthening the training requirements for publicly funded advocates in sexual offence cases.
Victims (Protection and Support) — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Andrew George Stephenson (Conservative, Centre-right): My constituent Jane Clough was murdered by her ex-partner Jonathan Vass while he was out on bail. I have been very fortunate to be able to work with Jane’s parents, John and Penny Clough, in their successful fight to change the law to allow vulnerable victims to challenge judge-made bail decisions. Will my right hon. Friend confirm to the House that the provision is being used, and that vulnerable victims are being protected because of that change in the law
Victims (Protection and Support) — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): I commend my hon. Friend for his work in this important area. He is referring to the provision that allows Crown court decisions to grant bail to be challenged in the High Court. That exists largely through his efforts and those of John and Penny Clough, whom I also commend. The provision is used sparingly, as was intended, but bail decisions are being reversed, from time to time, as a result.
Online Crime (Sentencing) — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): The sentences that are available for crimes that are committed online are the same as those for offences that are committed offline. Fraud or malicious communications, for example, carry severe maximum penalties, whether committed online or offline. Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the courts. Sentencing guidelines are issued by the independent Sentencing Council to help ensure that there is proportionate and consistent sentencing.
Online Crime (Sentencing) — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Mike Weatherley (Conservative, Centre-right): Does my right hon. Friend agree that the report released last week that suggested that the punishments for online and offline crime should be equalised demonstrates that education is needed to show that the two sentences should be equal?
Prison Officers — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Andrew Edmund Armstrong Selous (Conservative, Centre-right): The National Offender Management Service is on course to recruit its target of 1,700 new prison officers by next month. The training capacity for new officers has been expanded to meet demand. There has been a small increase in the rate of leaving by new officers.
Prison Officers — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Andrew Edmund Armstrong Selous (Conservative, Centre-right): Very willingly. I am always mindful of Mr Speaker’s injunction to keep answers short. We have a six-week residential training course to provide a custodial national vocational qualification. In time, we want to raise that to a 10-week course, but we have not been able to do so because Newbold Revel, which I visited last week, is full to bursting with prison officers. Prison officers are taught to a very high standard. On my visit last week, I spoke to prison officers in training, and I am very pleased with the excellent work that is being done there.
Domestic Violence (Legal Aid) — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: How many women who have been victims of domestic violence applied for legal aid in proceedings relating to their children in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.
Shailesh Lakhman Vara (Conservative, Centre-right): From July to September 2014, there were 3,097 applications for legal aid in relation to private law proceedings under the Children Act 1989. Due to the way in which data are collected, that figure includes applications where there was evidence of child abuse and applications that were made by men. I will write to the right hon. Lady to provide a breakdown of applications by gender.
Domestic Violence (Legal Aid) — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Questions: How many women who have been victims of domestic violence applied for legal aid in proceedings relating to their children in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.
Shailesh Lakhman Vara (Conservative, Centre-right): What the right hon. Lady does not seem to accept is that the Minister is listening. He has increased the criteria that are required. Thousands of people have successfully applied for legal aid in domestic violence cases and many more will doubtless be successful.
Child Grooming — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): In the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015, the Government amended section 15 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 to reduce the number of initial occasions on which the defendant must meet or communicate with the child in question from two to one. That will permit more effective intervention by the police in relation to individuals who could otherwise have been prosecuted only when a second contact had been established.
Child Grooming — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Stuart James Andrew (Conservative, Centre-right): My right hon. Friend will be aware that the report into child sexual abuse in Rotherham highlighted the role of some taxi drivers in the town in facilitating abuse. The point has been raised with me that someone could apply for a licence in one authority and be rejected, but apply successfully in another authority. What measures are the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Communities and Local Government taking to prevent that happening and to safeguard children?
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): I do not know the exact occasion on which that principle was previously tested, but I am aware of the case to which my hon. Friend refers. She and I have discussed it, and I am happy to work with her to consider whether there is a loophole in the law that should be changed.
Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2015-03-17
Topic: Law and Crime
Christopher Stephen Grayling (Conservative, Centre-right): Let me tell the right hon. Gentleman what is actually happening. The number of prisoner qualifications is up, as is the number of hours worked in prisons. On the size of our prison estate, we will go into this election with 3,000 more adult male prison places than we had in 2010, and we have done that while bringing down the cost of the prison estate to sort out the mess left behind by the previous Government. The Labour Government brought about a crisis in our prisons that led to them having to let offenders out early because they ran out of space in our prisons. I will take no lessons from Labour about how to run our prisons.