Speeches by Davies-Jones.

“It is a very ambitious target. As you said, it is a huge undertaking and one that we are not doing lightly. We have delayed the strategy and we are working across government to get it to the right place to publish as soon as possible. The spending review was recently conducted, as you will be aware. Now each Department…”

“I want to publish it as soon as possible, but we want to get it right. We do not want to have to revise it or it not being received well by women and girls, the country, the sector. It has to be right. I do not want to say that this is our one chance, but it is a strategy that will outline the direction of Government p…”

“It is as soon as possible.”

“The Bill does have a presumption to suspend short sentences. However, it is important to note here that in his review of the sentencing review it was outlined that presumption against short sentences does not necessarily mean for all cases. There will be judicial discretion here. In cases of domestic abuse or stalking,…”

“Yes, so a DAPO or a non-molestation order, for example, if there is a breach of that protective order, a short custodial sentence can still be imposed.”

“No, it does not need primary legislation to do that.”

“Or depending on how you were using that flag, that marker, it could just be through guidance to probation officers or to the prison service in terms of how they apply that. So it will vary, but it is not a primary legislative thing, in our view.”

“Hopefully the Committee will be aware that we have increased probation funding by up to £700 million as a result of the sentencing review and the spending review, to recognise the fact that we will need more probation officers, better equipment, better training, better guidance on exactly how we can keep the public saf…”

“He will know that this is a contract we inherited from the previous Government and it would not be appropriate for me to comment on contract arrangements with a private contractor. However, I can reassure him that his comments will be passed on to the Prisons Minister and the new Lord Chancellor, who is now in place, t…”

“That is the goal, absolutely, in terms of reducing the levels of crime overall, reducing the numbers of victims and to boost confidence across the criminal justice system. As I have said, one of the biggest aims is that we make better citizens and not better criminals. It is about how we break that cycle of offending t…”

“Yes, the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls in the Home Office and I have been having many trilateral meetings across government with every single Government Department involved in this. I can assure the Honourable Member that the majority of Government Departments are involved—we are even t…”

“It is. The Minister for Safeguarding and I met with the previous Economic Secretary to the Treasury on this, looking at how we look at cohabitation rights reform as well, which the Member will know was in our manifesto, looking at how we can boost cohabitation rights looking forward. That is something that we are consi…”

“It is important to recognise the work of the end-to-end Rape Review from the previous Government. It is brilliant work in terms of recognising the issue of rape cases. Operation Soteria, as was outlined by the previous witness in their session, did some great things in bringing to the forefront the police response in h…”

“I would say that the worst thing of all that we could do for victims and survivors would be running out of prison places. It would be having a criminal justice system that is not sustainable and fit for purpose. The Committee will know that this Government inherited an entire criminal justice system in crisis, prisons …”

“Transparency in sentencing is something that came out of the sentencing review quite loudly and it is something that I have heard from victims and survivors. I have had the privilege—privilege or deep sadness—to meet with far too many victims and survivors in this role. They have told me directly that they believe that…”

“I welcome that question, Sir Ashley. There was a victims’ representative on the sentencing review panel looking at this specifically. I personally met with many victims and survivors directly to discuss the sentencing Bill and the review in detail. I meet regularly with the Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales, …”

“I think that victims want a criminal justice system that they can believe in. Ultimately, that means ensuring that there is always a prison place available for a perpetrator of violence. If we do not look at a different way of looking at sentencing, that is just not sustainable. As I have said, we also need to build mo…”

“You would have to ask them directly.”

“You would have to ask them directly.”

“All the impact assessments have been done as part of the sentencing Bill and will have been published as part of the Bill disclosure. I am sure that the Member will be able to ask the Sentencing Minister about this at Second Reading next week.”