Tag: Gloucester

Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Bill: Bishop of Gloucester supports establishment of a Women’s Justice Board

On 10th January 2022, during a debate on amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, the Bishop of Gloucester spoke in support of an amendment tabled by Lord Marks of Henley Upon Thames that would establish a Women’s Justice Board to address the needs of women within the criminal justice system:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, I add my wholehearted support to this amendment. I am very grateful to the noble Lords, Lord Marks and Lord Ramsbotham, and the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, for their continued commitment to women in the criminal justice system. As bishop to prisons and president of the Nelson Trust, I am acutely aware, as I have said so often, of the need for a gendered approach to justice. The noble Baroness, Lady Kennedy, has just put that very powerfully.

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Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill: Bishop of Gloucester raises issue of threats to vulnerable women and girls

On 10th January 2022, the House of Lords debated amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. The Bishop of Gloucester raised the issue of vulnerable women being caught in “joint enterprise” scenarios involving weapons and given prison sentences, and supported amendments which would address this:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, I rise to support in particular Amendments 90H, 90J, 90K and 90L. As has been said, they are critical to ensuring that more vulnerable women are not drawn into the criminal justice system through the de facto joint enterprise element of SVROs. Probably like other noble Lords, I was shocked to read the briefing from Agenda, which states that analysis of

“109 joint enterprise cases involving women and girls”

shows that

“there was not a single case in which women and girls had handled a weapon; in 90% of cases they engaged in no violence at all; and in half of the cases they were not even present at the scene of the crime.”

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Bishop of Gloucester asks about access to academic eBooks

The Bishop of Gloucester asked a question on issues of access to academic eBooks on 10th January 2022, during a debate on the economic recovery of the bookselling industry and libraries following the COVID-19 pandemic:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, as pro-chancellor of the University of Gloucestershire I am very aware that during the time of pandemic there have been issues with eBooks relating to university libraries. How will the Government address the current issues of excessive pricing, restrictive licensing and lack of availability of academic ebooks?

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Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill: Bishop of Gloucester tables amendment on sentencing requirements for primary carers

The Bishop of Gloucester tabled an amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill on 15th of December 2021, requiring courts to reference the impact of sentencing on primary carers of dependent children:

85: After Clause 132, insert the following new Clause—

“Pre-sentence report requirements

(1) Section 30 of the Sentencing Act 2020 is amended as follows.(2) After subsection (3) insert—“(3A) A court must make inquiries to establish whether the offender is a primary carer for a child.(3B) If the court establishes that the offender is a primary carer for a child, unless there are exceptional circumstances before sentencing the offender the court must obtain a pre-sentence report containing information to enable the court to make an assessment of the impact of a custodial sentence on the child.”(3) After subsection (4) insert—“(5) In this section—(a) “child” means a person under the age of 18; and(b) “primary carer” means a person who has primary or substantial care responsibilities for a child.””Member’s explanatory statement

This Clause amends section 30 of the Sentencing Act 2020 to make clear the requirement for a sentencing judge to have a copy of a pre-sentence report, considering the impact of a custodial sentence on the dependent child, when sentencing a primary carer of a child.

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, in moving Amendment 85 I will speak also to the other amendments in my name in the group. I am very grateful for the support of the noble Lords, Lord Ponsonby and Lord German. I am very grateful for the briefing and expertise provided to me by the organisation Women in Prison and I declare my interest as Anglican Bishop for Her Majesty’s Prisons.

In Committee I highlighted the injustice of punishing a child for their parent’s mistakes and I will not go over that ground again. But I want to frame this discussion by reminding us that when a parent goes to prison it can affect every area of a child’s life, from losing their familiar home and school through to reduced educational achievement and mental and physical well-being. The consequences can last a lifetime.

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Votes: Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill

On 15th December 2021, the House of Lords debated the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill in its third day of the report stage. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which a Bishop took part:

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Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Bill: Bishop of Gloucester supports amendment on short prison sentences

On 15th December 2021, the House of Lords debated the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill in the report stage. The Bishop of Gloucester spoke in support of amendment 82A, which would seek to limit the issuing of short prison sentences of six months or less, with reference to the impact of short sentences on families:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: My Lords, I agree with much of what has been said. On Amendment 82A I reiterate what has been said, and I hope will be said later, about primary carers. We know the damage short sentences do to families. We also know that close to half of those leaving custody go on to reoffend within a year of their release, but two-thirds of those sentenced to less than 12 months go on to reoffend.

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Bishop of Gloucester asks about status of female prisoners

The Bishop of Gloucester received the following written answer on 7th December 2021:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester asked Her Majesty’s Government how many women in prison aged (1) 18 to 24, or (2) 25 or older, are currently sharing a cell.

Lord Wolfson of Tredegar (Con): On 19th November, the population of the women’s prison estate was 3,236.

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Bishop of Gloucester asks about conditions for prisoners, especially those with dependent children

The Bishop of Gloucester received the following written answer on 6th December 2021:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester asked Her Majesty’s Government how many women in prison aged (1) 18 to 24, or (2) 25 years or older, have dependent children.

Lord Wolfson of Tredegar (Con): We do not hold current figures on how many women in prison aged (1) 18 to 24 or (2) 25 years or older have dependent children. Information on a prisoner’s caring responsibilities and their children living in the community is currently monitored locally by prison Governors/Directors to ensure appropriate support can be provided to offenders and their families. We are making changes to the questions within the Basic Custody Screening Tool (BCST) in the first quarter of 2022 and, once this has been done, we will be able to collect primary carer data via the BCST and access this information centrally. Consideration will then be given to how and what we can publish.

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Bishop of Gloucester asks about alternative detention pilot scheme

The Bishop of Gloucester received the following written answer on 3rd December 2021:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester asked Her Majesty’s Government when they will
publish the evaluation of the ‘Action Access’ alternative detention pilot.

Baroness Williams of Trafford (Con): The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have appointed the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) to independently evaluate this pilot.

NatCen will be publishing the evaluation on their website the aim is for the evaluation to be published by the end of the year.

Hansard

Bishop of Gloucester asks about benefits of early years interventions

The Bishop of Gloucester tabled a question on the benefits of early years interventions for welfare and social mobility on 1st December 2021:

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the benefits of early years interventions on people’s welfare and social mobility later in life.

Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen (Con): My Lords, we know that the early years are key to children’s later life chances, and effective early support is crucial. That is why we have put unprecedented investment into childcare over the past decade, committed £153 million to support education recovery in the early years, rolled out the proven Nuffield Early Language Intervention, and have announced £300 million to create a network of family hubs and transform crucial Start for Life services.

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