Speeches by Juss.

“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…”

“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.”

“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?”

“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?”

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

“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?”

“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?”

“They might serve all of their sentence while on remand but still not have engaged in any purposeful activity—”

“To move on to remand prisoners, there are lots of concerns. A lot of them are more likely to harm themselves. They need to maintain contact with family and so forth. The national regime model that we have been talking about requires that reception prisons should have a regime offer that they provide to remand prisoners…”

“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?”

“Does that work in practice?”

“I associate myself with the Minister’s earlier comments about the tragic events in Sheffield, where another young life has sadly been lost to knife crime. Does the Minister agree that these landmark reforms will not only drive high and rising standards, but help in the recruitment and retention of teachers? Will she al…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Shrewsbury (Julia Buckley) for her eloquent and emotional speech. The issue being discussed today is not new. Many years ago, when I attended a school reunion, I was told that two of my schoolmates had died in road tra…”

“I thank my right hon. Friend for his answer. Does he agree that the Government’s plan for change provides my constituents in Wolverhampton West with clear, measurable metrics against which they can hold the Government to account? This will help to restore faith in politics and politicians, and enable my constituents to…”

“At the request of several of my constituents in Wolverhampton West, this morning I attended a National Autistic Society event about the constant fight that autistic people face for support across health—including mental health—social care, education and employment. What strikes me is the general ignorance about autism …”

“I declare an interest as a member of the Justice Select Committee. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Opposition’s position fundamentally misunderstands the role of lawyers in our justice system? The Attorney General also represented victims of the tragedy in Grenfell Tower. Does my hon. Friend also agree that the Atto…”