An end to short sentences and more support for victims of crime – MP Andy Slaughter’s guest blog

Sentencing changes, the Victims and Courts Bill, and new proposals on public accountability are progressing through Parliament, while court delays continue to cause concern

Guest blog by Andy Slaughter MP

As Chair of the House of Commons Justice Committee my and my Committee’s role is to scrutinise the work of the Ministry of Justice.

It is also about looking at parts of our justice system that are struggling and suggesting ways in which we can improve them.

Part of that scrutiny is to look closely at the legislation that comes from the Government and ensure that the changes it seeks to make are the right ones.

One such piece of legislation, the Sentencing Bill, that has just cleared the Commons and will this week begin its passage through the House of Lords.

The Bill is a response to the  independent sentencing inquiry led by former Conservative Lord Chancellor David Gauke.

His report recommended some radical ways to stop reoffending and cut the numbers of people in our prisons. The Bill will provoke the biggest shake-up in rehabilitation and punishment in decades.

It will end the use of short sentences, given their proven ineffectiveness in stopping reoffending. An ‘earned progression’ model for prisoners will see them released earlier for good behaviour.

Those diverted from prison or subject to early release will get stricter supervision and monitoring in the community.

I have spoken in the Commons at each stage of the debate of this bill to say that I support the principle of the measures within it, but there are safeguards and improvement that I have asked the Government to add to the Bill as it passes through the Lords.

A second Bill working its way through Parliament is the Victims and Courts Bill.  It is good to see more focus on victims, often the forgotten people in the criminal justice system.

The Bill will compel offenders to attend their sentencing, gives more power to the Victims’ Commissioner and more rights to victims of domestic abuse.

But as I often point out to ministers the biggest barrier to treating victims with respect is the unprecedented backlogs of court cases which sees trials delayed by years.

The Government is well aware of the chronic delays especially in criminal trials and employed Sir Brian Leveson (he of phone hacking inquiry fame) to propose how to get rid of the backlogs.

Sir Brian is giving evidence to the Committee this week and will no doubt be asked about some his more controversial proposals such as limiting jury trial.

A third major piece of legislation, first debated last week, is the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, better known as the Hillsborough Law.

It was a Labour manifesto promise to introduce a law that imposes a ‘duty of candour’ on public authorities and officials, and to make it an offence if they mislead the public.

The Bill also gives a right of representation for bereaved families in inquests and inquiries on equal terms to the state and public bodies.

At present it is often the case that bodies like the police have expert legal advice and representation while victims and their families have no or volunteer legal support.

In my speech at second reading, I welcomed the Bill while asking that the outcome of inquiries like Hillsborough, Grenfell and contaminated blood leads to actual change.

Andy Slaughter in Parliament on November 3; parliamentlive.tv

This ‘national oversight mechanism‘ would be an independent public body responsible for collating, analysing and following-up on recommendations arising from inquests, inquiries, and investigations into state-related deaths.

The work of the Justice Committee is not limited to scrutinising legislation. We conduct our own inquiries into parts of the justice system that are failing and write detailed reports with our findings and recommendations.

Since the Committee was re-formed after the last General Election, we have completed three major inquiries: on the work of the county court, tackling the drugs crisis in prisons, and rehabilitation of offenders.

Inquiries, over several months of work, include evidence sessions with those responsible for running the justice system, visiting prisons and courts to witness their day-to-day running, and holding roundtables with specialists who suggest policy changes.

What is learnt over these months of information gathering is then collated into a report with the recommendations of Committee members from all the main parties.

It is then up to the government to provide a response and either accept or explain why they will not implement suggested changes. When we produce a report I usually get to make a Select Committee statement in the House about it.

The Justice Committee works with other select committees on areas of common interest.  Our members ‘guest’ when there is overlap eg on prison education or procurement.

Recently I sat on the National Security Strategy Committee as it investigated the ‘China spy’ case.

The Justice Committee wrote a joint letter to the Director of Public Prosecutions with Home Affairs about the decision to drop charges against two individuals for espionage offences.

We then met with the Director of Public Prosecutions and questioned him and the Attorney General in open committee

We have to be ready to respond to immediate concerns.  Our report on failings at the Criminal Cases Review Commission helped change the management and structure of this vital body that helps uncover miscarriages of justice.

MPs and the public have rightly been concerned by the recent news of prisoners released in error. There is huge pressure on prisons to get things right, and this is only made more complex by severe overcrowding.

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What makes this process so much more complicated is that many of our prisons still work on a pen and paper system.

Secretary of State for Justice David Lammy; parliamentlive.tv

There is insufficient technology to identify prisoners who are eligible for release. I asked the Justice Secretary why our prisons cannot digitise their systems to take the pressure off.

This autumn the Committee will be questioning the Lord Chancellor, the Lady Chief Justice, the President of the Family Division and the Head of the Law Commission in addition to our inquiries and day-to-day work.

A properly functioning justice system is an integral part of society and, although it has considerable current problems, there are many people who are dedicated to fixing it.

There much to do and other issues that I have not had space to mention here, like access to justice into which we about to launch an inquiry, but I am hopeful that throughout this current Parliament we will begin to see positive steps forward to fixing the problems and ensuring that we all have a justice system that is fit for future generations.

Andy Slaughter is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hammersmith and Chiswick and Chair of the Justice Committee