Speeches by Juss.

“We have established that the demand for drugs in prisons has increased. That is why various methods, such as the increase in drones, are being used. Are there any particular reasons why the demand has increased for drugs in prison?”

“I am Warinder Juss, MP for Wolverhampton West. I am a solicitor, a member of the GMB trade union—I am on the executive council of that union—and a member of various APPGs.”

“I have just a quick question, because I appreciate time is pressing. I take your point, Babafemi, that if drug usage has increased in the local communities it is likely to spill into what happens in prisons, but we heard earlier today that 24% of prisoners who were not on drugs before they went into prison ended up bei…”

“So if there were one priority action that the Prison and Probation Service and the Ministry of Justice should take to reduce the demand for drugs in prison, it should be to put more focus on rehabilitation, treatment and recovery.”

“You have highlighted boredom as a reason for increased demand. I was at an event earlier today on knife crime. One of the mothers of a victim of knife crime mentioned that she goes to prisons regularly. The condition of some of the prisoners and the conditions in which they live have such a strain on them mentally. The…”

“I was pleased to support the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill on Monday to deliver on our election promise of implementing the Border Security Command, tackling the organised immigration crime gangs and bringing order to our asylum and immigration system. However, for most people, it is not possible to clai…”

“In Wolverhampton, we have the Wolves at Work programme. It is co-ordinated by the City of Wolverhampton council, but involves partnership working with local employers and partner organisations. The programme provides one-to-one support to highly skilled professionals and those with no experience at all, so that they ca…”

“You have already acknowledged that only a minority of women who are on remand will end up receiving a custodial sentence. There was a prison strategy White Paper published in 2021 that confirmed that. Because of that statistic, there was an ambition to release more women on bail. Has that happened? Has it had any impac…”

“How does it compare with other mechanisms for rehabilitation? How does ROTL compare with something else that you might be doing to help rehabilitation?”

“And restrictions as well?”

“You have said you would like to have it expanded, so why the limitations?”

“It is a success story because research shows that it reduces offending and the number of offences committed, but we have had some limitations placed on ROTL, haven’t we?”

“Yes, do come in.”

“Can I ask you a few questions on release on temporary licence, ROTL for short? First, how is it used to promote rehabilitation? Secondly, because of court backlogs, sadly, we have people who are on remand for a long time. Is ROTL available to them as well?”

“And not getting bail in the way that was perceived.”

“Good afternoon. I am Warinder Juss, a Member of Parliament in Wolverhampton West. I am an executive council member of the GMB trade union. I am a solicitor. I am also a member of various APPGs here.”

“Thank you for that.”

“I have a quick question before I move on to my final question. Because remand prisoners are not subject to any formal regime, they could end up being in a worse position regarding resettlement, couldn’t they?”

“Does that work in practice?”

“So they lose out. Do they gain anything in having more contact with family members and, as you mentioned, other activities that they perhaps could do? Do they do anything?”