Speeches by Slade.

“Final question, then: if you were handed your 4,000 magistrates tomorrow and this came in, would the magistrates system be able to cope? We know that there is a modest increase in the number of legal advisers coming through, but with everything else we know, do you think this change could work, if it came in, with all …”

“Yes, but it is only the summer holidays—let’s be honest—and then you do not have witnesses or other people available. So my instinct is to say that the diversity of magistrates is going to shrink back to the traditional older person, and therefore the whole point of having lay people from the community who are more div…”

“No, I get that; you’re right. The final thing I want to ask plays a little bit into the diversity piece. We know there is currently a recruitment drive. There was a recruitment drive in 2022 to attempt to recruit an extra 4,000 magistrates. To date, it has recruited only 2,000. What do you think the impact on the diver…”

“Yes, but it is only the summer holidays—let’s be honest—and then you do not have witnesses or other people available. So my instinct is to say that the diversity of magistrates is going to shrink back to the traditional older person, and therefore the whole point of having lay people from the community who are more div…”

“Good afternoon. I am Vikki Slade, the Member of Parliament for Mid Dorset and North Poole. My interests are on the register, but there are none of any relevance to this session.”

“Can I just give you an example? I was recently due to be a witness in a case of harassment, and the expectation was that this chap might get a year to 18 months. He had previously offended and got a suspended sentence. It was listed for an eight-day trial. As a witness, I was expected to hold open eight days. It might …”

“I recently visited the Dorset breastfeeding network at the Purbeck community centre, and it was fascinating to hear about the work that the team there are doing, but they told me that since covid, standard NHS antenatal classes have stopped and have never returned. As a result, women are not getting the information tha…”

“These questions are primarily to Mr Ford. We know that the Magistrates’ Association has come out in support of the extension of the ability to sentence for longer in the magistrates court. We have already seen the move from six months to 12 months; obviously there is now a proposal to go to 18 months, or potentially 24…”

“No, I get that; you’re right. The final thing I want to ask plays a little bit into the diversity piece. We know there is currently a recruitment drive. There was a recruitment drive in 2022 to attempt to recruit an extra 4,000 magistrates. To date, it has recruited only 2,000. What do you think the impact on the diver…”

“If you are going to take a case that would have a sentence of potentially two years, it presumably is going to be a trial over multiple days. If you are dealing with people who are volunteers and who are potentially volunteering for only a small number of days during the year, what do you think the impact on working pa…”

“Good afternoon. I am Vikki Slade, the Member of Parliament for Mid Dorset and North Poole. My interests are on the register, but there are none of any relevance to this session.”

“These questions are primarily to Mr Ford. We know that the Magistrates’ Association has come out in support of the extension of the ability to sentence for longer in the magistrates court. We have already seen the move from six months to 12 months; obviously there is now a proposal to go to 18 months, or potentially 24…”

“Can I seek some clarity before you move on? During the last session, our witnesses made it very clear that these changes would not apply retrospectively, and therefore they would have absolutely no impact on the backlog and would not start to make any difference until 2029. I may have missed that being said previously,…”

“Can I just give you an example? I was recently due to be a witness in a case of harassment, and the expectation was that this chap might get a year to 18 months. He had previously offended and got a suspended sentence. It was listed for an eight-day trial. As a witness, I was expected to hold open eight days. It might …”

“I completely recognise that the extension of the frozen tax threshold will not be felt immediately. We are all here worrying about it, but most of our residents will not see the difference probably until the next general election. However, it is on us to resolve this issue once and for all. In the Minister’s opening sp…”

“I will be honest and say that, not having been to university, I do not know the details of the different groups. My students are all very recent graduates, so they went in knowing that they would have enormous debt and recognising that they would be more than £50,000 in debt, with probably no prospect of ever paying it…”

“I always value the interventions of the hon. Member. As the aunt of a young GP, Bethan, who has more than £100,000-worth of debt, I think it is ridiculous that our young people are being saddled with this situation. I have constituents who have deliberately gone to study in Wales so that they are able to get that benef…”

“President Trump is supposed to be working on a peace deal for Ukraine, but he has been so much more focused on invading Venezuela and making threats against Greenland. What assurance can the Secretary of State give to the House on the US’s continued commitment to getting a deal in Ukraine? What contingencies are in pla…”

“Wessex Internet, which was founded by the late James Gibson Fleming, has done some great work in Dorset, Wiltshire, Hampshire and Somerset, but the vouchers that are given out to areas that are not included are not available in Dorset. We have challenged that many times with the Ministry. Would the Minister mind seeing…”

“Does my hon. Friend agree that there is a slight confusion? The Minister consistently referenced the importance of this review and how independent and important it was, but then has thrown out the central tenet of it, which was to introduce a court that has a judge and two magistrates. That would provide three heads ra…”