Tag: criminal justice

Bishop of London asks about impact of Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences on rates of suicide and self harm

The Bishop of London asked a question on the impact of IPP (Imprisonment for Public Protection) Sentences on prisoners, particularly with regard to increased risks of self harm and suicide, on 31st January 2024:

The Lord Bishop of London: My Lords, the recently announced proposed change to the recall period for serving IPP sentences is welcomed. What assessment has the Minister made of the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman’s recommendation that prisoners’ IPP status should be considered as a potential risk factor for suicide and self-harm?

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Bishop of Gloucester asks about rate of reoffending among those released from prison

The Bishop of Gloucester received the following written answers on 30th January 2024:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester asked His Majesty’s Government how many, and what proportion of, people reoffended within one year of release from prison by accommodation status at (1) release, and (2) three months post-release, in each of the last three years.

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Bishop of Manchester asks about strategies for care leavers in the prison and probation service

The Bishop of Manchester received the following written answer on 25th January 2024:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester asked His Majesty’s Government whether they will provide a timetable for updating the HM Prisons and Probation Service Strategy for Care-Experienced People; and whether this will include a specific focus on race.

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Victims & Prisoners Bill: Bishop of Manchester supports amendments on child criminal exploitation and access to victims’ services

On 24th January 2024, the House of Lords debated the Victims & Prisoners Bill in committee. The Bishop of Manchester spoke in the debate, in support of two amendments:

  • amendment 10, which would seek to provide a definition of “child criminal exploitation” in the text of the bill
  • amendment 15 in the Bishop of Manchester’s name, which would specify that responsibility for accessing services for victims does not lie with the potential service user

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, as I said at Second Reading, this is a good Bill for victims. It contains many provisions that I strongly support. I hope and believe that we can make it an even better Bill by working across the House, which is the mood tonight, as it was then.

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Bishop of Manchester asks about implementation of the Lammy review into racial disparity in the criminal justice system

The Bishop of Manchester received the following written answer on 24th January 2024:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester asked His Majesty’s Government whether they will publish an updated progress report on implementation of recommendations in David Lammy MP’s Review into the treatment of, and outcomes for, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic individuals in the Criminal Justice System, published in September 2017.

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Bishop of Gloucester asks about public confidence in non-custodial sentences

The Bishop of Gloucester tabled a question on the public’s confidence in non-custodial sentences on 22nd January 2024, with a view to encouraging improved evidence based awareness and understanding of the justice system:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the public’s confidence in non-custodial sentences.

Lord Bellamy: My Lords, it is important that the public have confidence in non-custodial sentences. The Government’s response to the Justice Select Committee’s report, Public Opinion and Understanding of Sentencing, was published last Thursday, 18 January. The Government are currently considering the Justice and Home Affairs Committee’s report of 28 December 2023, Cutting Crime: Better Community Sentences, and further note the Sentencing Council’s current consultation on revised guidelines for the imposition of community and custodial sentences.

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Victims and Prisoners Bill: Bishop of Manchester welcomes focus on victims and opportunity for clarified legislation

On 18th December 2023, the Bishop of Manchester spoke in a debate on the second reading of the Victims & Prisoners Bill, applauding the focus on victims and welcoming the bill as an opportunity for clarity of legislation and statutory instruments:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I am grateful to His Majesty’s Government for introducing this Bill. I am also grateful that shortly we will hear a maiden speech from the noble Lord, Lord Carter of Haslemere. His long experience of the law and the Civil Service will serve your Lordships’ House well. I look forward to his remarks today and on many future occasions.

I also welcome the focus on victims that lies at the heart of the Bill. As we have just heard, it builds on the report of my right reverend friend Bishop James Jones, a former Member of your Lordships’ House, into the Hillsborough tragedy. I was a young member of the clergy called into the stadium to support bereaved families. I will never forget the sight of iron barriers twisted out of shape by the pressure of human bodies being crushed against them. Hence I warmly commend the proposal for independent public advocates in cases such as that and the Manchester Arena attack, to which the Minister referred in his opening remarks—I thank him for doing so. As Bishop of Manchester, it fell to me to help lead my city’s response to the brutal murder of 22 people and the injuring and traumatising of hundreds of others.

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Victims & Prisoners Bill: Bishop of Newcastle raises potential effects on children and families, and migrant victims of domestic abuse

The Bishop of Newcastle spoke in a debate on the second reading of the Victims & Prisoners Bill on 18th December 2023, welcoming the bill while pointing out several areas of concern relating to children and families, migrant victims of domestic abuse, and the issue of imprisonment for public protection:

The Lord Bishop of Newcastle: My Lords, it is a privilege to speak today, to follow the noble and learned Lord, and to be in the company of those to follow. This is an important piece of legislation. We all know that the work of delivering justice for victims does not end with this legislation. Ultimately, we all want safer communities, so it is vital that we consider what really helps to rehabilitate people in prison so that they do not offend again on release. The work of reconciliation and restoration, challenging as it is, invites us to consider deeper issues. Root and branch reform of the criminal justice system is long overdue.

There are unresolved issues with the Bill, some of which I hope will be considered in this House. I will mention four very briefly, which my right reverend friend the Bishop of Gloucester will be interested in as the Bill progresses.

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Bishop of Gloucester speaks on the criminal justice system during debate on “Love Matters” report of the Families & Households Commission

The Bishop of Gloucester spoke in the Archbishop of Canterbury’s debate on families on 8th December 2023, focusing on the criminal justice system and its effects on families:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, I will try to do even better than 10 minutes. I am grateful to my most reverend friend the Archbishop of Canterbury for putting forward this Motion. I should like to focus my remarks on families and children in relation to the criminal justice system, and particularly imprisonment, and I declare an interest as Anglican Bishop for Prisons in England and Wales.

Jesus Christ once placed a child front and centre as he taught his listeners. I want to use that image simply to pose the idea that we would navigate things differently, we would see different sorts of manifestos committed to the long-term and make better policies if the child were always the central focus and starting point for all our policy-making. It seems that so much of government policy is focused on short-term fixing for the now or a few years’ time. What would it look like if policy and legislation were shaped in response to the child born today into a network of relationships, and then their life as an adult in 20 or 30 years’ time?

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King’s Speech Debate: Bishop of Gloucester speaks on prisons and the justice system

The Bishop of Gloucester gave a speech on building community infrastructure during the Kings Speech debate on 9th November 2023, with a focus on prisons and the justice system:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, it is a privilege to speak in this debate and I thank the Minister for his thorough introduction.

In the Old Testament there is a beautiful vison of the prophet Isaiah of the perfect future with God:

“Never again will there be an infant who lives but a few days … No longer will people build houses for others and not live in them … People will not labour in vain, nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune”.

Whether or not you are a person of faith, I believe most of us would say yes to those words in the gracious Speech about the Government seeking, in all respects, to make long-term decisions in the interests of future generations. But how will that be realised? We need interconnectedness across disparate Bills and government departments, and a commitment to the well-being of individuals, always set within the big picture of people belonging together as interdependent human beings—hence that word “community” and its importance in the gracious Speech being picked up in the themes of today’s debate.

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