Speeches by Cox.

“Would you conclude that we are not getting value for public money from the current commissioning arrangements?”

“That is interesting. Charlie, you were nodding there. As chief inspector, do you have access to data on the commissioning process?”

“I have one more question on this area. I recently met Dr Caroline Watson, who is the Royal College of GPs champion for healthcare and secure environments. Could regular GPs play more of a role in the public health setting in our jails?”

“Could I ask the same question to the other two governors present?”

“Which providers are helping you to provide those work placements?”

“To turn to the passage of drugs into prison, we touched in our earlier session on the question of staff involvement in that at some level. Noting that most staff are not corrupt, how do you address the issue of staff corruption in your establishments?”

“Continuing this line of inquiry, if I may, Dame Carol, you mentioned there was no single commissioning standard for drug-free living wings. What is your view of the performance of commissioned healthcare services in prison, aside from that?”

“I very much welcome this police settlement, and I shall focus my remarks specifically on Essex. From 2010 onwards, the Conservatives cut 350 PCSOs in Essex. Last week, the Conservative police, fire and crime commissioner announced that he was cutting the remaining 99, despite receiving increased funding from this Gover…”

“I am going to take us to the community now and commissioned rehabilitative services, CRS. Could you give us a quick overview of how well that is working and, since we are short of time, throw in how you would change it for the better?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Peterborough (Andrew Pakes) for securing this debate as we approach National Apprenticeship Week. We are fortunate in my Colchester constituency to have a diverse range of apprenticeship opportunities—from healthcare roles…”

“Is it fair to say, just in the interests of time, that you know what drives desistance—esteem, relationships, housing, work and support—you know who can deliver it, but currently the mechanism is not there to get those services to the people who need them when they need them?”

“Has the marketisation of end-to-end offender management been a success?”

“Okay, thank you. I will leave it there, Andy. Thank you.”

“Can I jump in? You are describing a patchwork of services—accredited and non-accredited, and above and below the radar. You seem to be describing a situation where an individual governor would not necessarily have a full grasp of exactly what is being delivered. Is that fair?”

“Will the hon. Member give way?”

“Would you like to give us some other suggestions as well?”

“To recap and refresh, there is a national regime, which is broadly positive. It requires two hours of the kind of activity that we have just talked about—two hours out of cell, including an hour outside—but on the whole it is not being delivered across the estate.”

“Good afternoon. I am Pam Cox. I am the MP for Colchester. My interests are declared on the register. I was previously a professor of criminal justice studies and sociology at the University of Essex.”

“What would you do to make things more transparent, visible and regulated?”

“As a quick follow-up on that, you say that 50% of people are not in education or training when they are in prison. In a nutshell, why would you say that is? Is it staffing? What is the answer?”