Speeches by Juss.

“Although in my constituency we have the City of Wolverhampton council’s homelessness prevention strategy, which has had some success in tackling homelessness, last week I was contacted by a constituent fleeing domestic violence and finding it difficult to get permanent social housing for herself and her daughter. Crisi…”

“21. What steps her Department is taking to support councils in reducing homelessness.”

“In Wolverhampton last year, it was estimated that more than 6,000 women were subjected to domestic abuse. Will my hon. Friend commend the “Orange Wolverhampton” campaign, which runs from 25 November to 10 December every year? The campaign involves the Wolverhampton safeguarding team, the Safer Wolverhampton Partnership…”

“Last week, I attended the citizenship network launch at Parliament organised by Citizens UK and met people from my constituency who came to this country years ago to build a better life. They have lived and worked here, raised their families here and contributed to society and the economy, and having spent a considerab…”

“Yes.”

“I want to ask you some questions about judicial capacity, the make-up of the judiciary and diversity within the judicial profession. You mentioned that there is competition for judges at the moment. When we were at the Central London county court last week, I raised that question. One of the issues raised was that ther…”

“Linked to the issue of sentencing is the problem of repeat offenders. There was a report this morning which posed the question whether repeat offenders should be given longer prison sentences. I had a meeting in my constituency with the local inspector, who said that one of the main problems he was facing was that it i…”

“Baroness Carr, I know that in civil litigation the emphasis is always on keeping cases out of court and concentrating on negotiation and mediation. Can a similar approach be made in any way with criminal cases? Is there any way that they can be kept out of court?”

“I should have mentioned that I renewed my practising certificate this year, but I have not been working as a solicitor.”

“I was previously a solicitor, before becoming an MP. I am an executive council member of the GMB trade union and a member of various APPGs. I think that’s about it.”

“I want to ask you a question about fee-paid judges and salaried judges, but before I come to that I have a couple of questions about the actual make-up of the judiciary. Five per cent. of senior judges—High Court and above—are non-barristers. They are mostly solicitors. When it comes to district judges and deputy distr…”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“Thank you for that; it is reassuring. I have one final question. In January, you mentioned to the Committee that you wanted to review the terms and conditions of salaried judges and fee-paid judges. Are there any disadvantages that you see in having fee-paid judges in crime, civil and family cases?”

“If I read your article, I might be able to get the answer to the next question. When it comes to ethnic minority background judges, 14% of district judges in magistrates courts are from ethnic minorities. I hope these figures are right. When it comes to deputy High Court judges, 13% are from ethnic minority backgrounds…”

“Are there any problems in terms of the applicants not being of the required high standard?”

“We were told last week that many prisoners are not on drugs before they go into prison but when they are inside they start taking them. Have you made an assessment as to what part of that is due to prisons being overcrowded?”

“I want to ask a couple of questions on overcrowding. We know that our prisons are overcrowded, which was why we had the early release scheme. As has been mentioned earlier, we had a prison visit last week. For me, it was quite unpleasant to see two prisoners in a very small cell. How many prison cells do we have that a…”

“I am a member of the executive council of the GMB. I am also a solicitor, although I have not practised since being elected. I am a member of a number of APPGs.”

“Does my hon. Friend agree that in a constituency such as Wolverhampton West the provision of breakfast clubs for primary school children targets a number of issues? First, it gives children a nutritious meal so that they do not go to school hungry. Secondly, it allows them to socialise with other children before the sc…”

“I agree that the payment of winter fuel allowance should be means-tested, because many pensioners who receive the winter fuel allowance simply do not need it. However, there are pensioners who are not entitled to pension credit who will struggle to heat their homes. Can the Minister please confirm the extent to which t…”