Speeches by Munt.

“Good afternoon. My name is Tessa Munt. I am the Member of Parliament for Wells and Mendip Hills in Somerset. My interests are as declared on the register, but I would just point out that I am vice-chair and director of WhistleblowersUK, which is a not-for-profit organisation.”

“What is the average length of time between your agreeing that a piece of work will be done and the issuance of the final report?”

“Our observation was also that they were working at distance most often.”

“Thank you very much indeed.”

“What concerns do you have about the current composition and the terms of appointment? You have covered some of that already, but can you be explicit about that, please?”

“In our recent report on the leadership of the CCRC, we recommended that the terms of appointment for commissioners should be reviewed to enable them to have more of a contribution to the day-to-day running of the organisation. You are seeking views on the law governing the composition and terms of appointment of commis…”

“What are the problems with the current test, and what are your proposals regarding its reform, please?”

“The Criminal Cases Review Commission thinks that this might open the door to more than 25,000 former applicants who could ask for their cases to be reconsidered. How would you answer that concern?”

“Professor Lewis, in the consultation on criminal appeals, you made a provisional proposal of changing the “real possibility test”.”

“Regarding the accountability of the CCRC, you have suggested that it should be subject to an independent inspectorate. HMCPSI has been tasked with inspecting its casework. Is that what you envisaged, or is it something different?”

“Some of my constituents have had valuable property stolen from their homes during viewings, and have come to discover that the so-called potential buyers or tenants were not who they purported to be. Estate agents usually check the financial readiness and capacity of potential buyers and tenants, but can we have a deba…”

“I welcome this statement. I have always been opposed to diverting taxpayers’ money to police and crime commissioners and their offices, and away from officers who can fight rural crime in our area. I have a couple of concerns. First, what will happen if a police force area like mine is split between two mayors? Secondl…”

“It is absolutely apparent from looking at the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, which is known as the Hillsborough law, that it will create enormous pressure on any number of bodies, particularly the employment tribunal, which I understand has tens of thousands of cases waiting. I could list any number of others, bu…”

“The day before Prime Minister’s questions last week, we spent hours discussing the Public Office (Accountability) Bill. Bearing in mind that there has been such a crash in public trust and confidence, has the Lord Chancellor considered that it might have been better to have referred to the fact that he knew there was a…”

“I have loads of questions that I wanted to ask you, but I will ask the Chair to submit them to you in writing so that you have the luxury of looking at them.”

“That is cool. I have some that I would like to ask you now none the less, bearing in mind the time. They will be fairly quick. I am talking about your recommendation that we should establish a Crown court bench division. I wanted to ask, particularly, how that division would affect the regime for the trial of youth off…”

“Thank you. My next question is one about the magistracy and including magistrates in the Crown court bench division. One might suggest that the magistracy does not always reflect the age and the socioeconomic diversity that one would seek. Is it realistic to expect a huge improvement in the diversity of the magistracy …”

“Thank you. Can I ask you one very specific question? A defendant knows the sentence they are likely to get on a guilty plea at the first Crown court hearing. The judge gives that indication. Would he or she reserve that judgment to themselves, or would the indication be binding on the judge who does the sentencing?”

“Thank you.”

“To check my understanding, I think juries are used in only 1% of criminal trials. I just wonder how much difference it would really make to cut back on those. My sense is that the problem with the criminal justice system is not necessarily having too many juries. So, if replacing jury trials makes up only 1% of all cri…”