Speeches by Cox.

“I have a very quick practical question about the university network. I know that the University of Essex, where I used to work, has a law centre. Do you know what proportion of universities with a law department have a law centre?”

“Good afternoon. I am Pam Cox, the Member of Parliament for Colchester. My interests are as declared on the register. I will just add that I am the chair of the APPG on penal affairs.”

“Thank you. I want to take you back to the idea of a national strategy around legal aid. Some of the foundational legislation that set up our current system was passed in the wake of the second world war, alongside the setting up of the NHS and other services, so it fitted very much in that way of thinking at that time.…”

“I am always proud to be in this Chamber, but I am particularly proud to be here today as the Government bang a final nail in the coffin of Conservative austerity. I really welcome what I hope will be significant additional investment in my constituency of Colchester, because that investment will do so much to improve l…”

“Sir Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, has just published quite a hard-hitting report on the health of people in prison and on probation. There are three high-level recommendations. One is about the need to prioritise preventive healthcare for chronic conditions in prison; another is about the sharing of health d…”

“Thank you very much.”

“Lord Chancellor, this Committee has been very concerned over the past year to ensure that both the Prison Service and the Probation Service have a robust and well-supported workforce, and we have just been alluding to the challenges in that respect. We have been monitoring capacity challenges in both sectors, so I woul…”

“I will wrap in another question around staffing and probation, as it follows on quite nicely. The Sentencing Bill places a welcome fresh emphasis on community justice. That will, of course, place additional demands on probation services. The Probation Service currently has a vacancy rate of 22% nationally, rising to 33…”

“I ask partly because a recent inspection of HMP Liverpool revealed significant anxiety among prison staff affected by the skilled worker visa changes. How are you and your colleagues managing morale among those who hold skilled worker visas at this challenging time?”

“Thank you very much. Do your discussions with the Home Secretary and the Home Office concern an exemption for prison officer roles, or other matters?”

“Good afternoon. I am Pam Cox, the Member of Parliament for Colchester. My interests are as declared on the register. I chair the APPG on penal affairs.”

“T7. Colchester is home to many serving personnel, veterans and their families. Will the Minister set out how our new veterans strategy and Valour will better support those who have served in our armed forces in my area and beyond? Also, would a member of the ministerial team love to visit Colchester in the year that we…”

“On European security, I give my strong support to the position taken by the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary in relation to the recent Ukraine peace proposals. Does the Minister agree that there can be no deal affecting Ukraine without Ukraine, and that any deal that rewards Putin’s aggression cannot proceed?”

“The UK’s universities play a vital role in our communities and our economy, but many of them, including the one where I worked for many years, face severe financial challenges, resulting in course closures and redundancies. Would the Leader of the House allow a debate on the subject in Government time, so that we can a…”

“We are in a penal crisis where people are being released from prison homeless and are not being housed. Many are and many are not, and they are committing offences very soon after release. We have not touched on drugs yet about how you keep your premises drug-free. We are in a post-release crisis and to my thinking the…”

“Going back to some of the work we did earlier in this Committee about when people are released from prison and they do not have anywhere to go, despite all the provision we are discussing today, how do those gaps happen? How is it that someone walks out of prison with nowhere to go?”

“Bringing up people as well, yes.”

“Good afternoon. I am Pam Cox. I am the MP for Colchester. My interests are as declared on the register, but I am also the chair of the APPG on penal reform.”

“We will broaden out the discussion to the CAS2 provision and I will direct my comments to Peter, if I may. Could you provide an overview of the CAS2 accommodation, how it works and the differences for provision for women as well, please?”

“Yes. Is there a significant difference between women’s experience of this service, would you say?”