Tuesday Volume 651 18 December 2018 No. 225 HOUSE OF COMMONS OFFICIAL REPORT PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES (HANSARD) Tuesday 18 December 2018 © Parliamentary Copyright House of Commons 2018 This publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Open Parliament licence, which is published at www.parliament.uk/site-information/copyright/. 623 18 DECEMBER 2018 624 Lucy Frazer: As we see from the questions raised House of Commons today, there is an opportunity for Members to make points they wish to make. Our Department is always Tuesday 18 December 2018 listening, and there will be scrutiny through the statutory instrument procedure in due course. The House met at half-past Eleven o’clock Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con): Every time I am foolish enough to turn on the television, there are adverts from lawyers offering free advice on workplace PRAYERS injuries. Surely we cannot be in want of any more such advice. [MR SPEAKER in the Chair] Lucy Frazer: My right hon. Friend makes an important point. We are here to serve the people, and we are here to serve people who have claims. People can still bring Oral Answers to Questions their claims through a very simple process in our courts. I should also mention that the Ministry of Justice has brought forward and is progressing an online system for money claims, which is achieving a great deal of satisfaction JUSTICE among users. Gloria De Piero (Ashfield) (Lab): The Government The Secretary of State was asked— have rightly exempted vulnerable road users from the Legal Advice: Workplace Injuries proposed changes. However, two colleagues—say, two paramedics or two police officers—who are both injured at work on the roads could be treated quite differently, 1. Gerald Jones (Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney) (Lab): with one able to get legal advice and pay no cost to get What steps the Government are taking to ensure that compensation, and one having to fight insurers on their workers can access legal advice on workplace injuries. own, simply because one was injured on a motorbike [908244] and the other in an ambulance or squad car. Rather than hold working people to different standards, can 4. Jo Stevens (Cardiff Central) (Lab): What steps the the Government exempt all people injured in the course Government are taking to ensure that workers can of their work? access legal advice on workplace injuries. [R] [908248] Lucy Frazer: We are concerned about the injury that The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice is suffered, not the person’s profession. As I said, this (Lucy Frazer): I believe that the hon. Gentleman is measure will help people to access courts. The small referring to our proposal to raise the small claims limit claims limit for other money claims is £10,000, not for employees’ personal injury claims to £2,000. That £2,000, and people will still be able to get justice. change is not only in line with inflation, but will give those affected the opportunity to be heard in an Short Prison Sentences: Homelessness uncomplicated, accessible court, without the need for a lawyer if they so choose. 2. Matt Western (Warwick and Leamington) (Lab): What estimate he has made of the number of people Gerald Jones: I thank the Minister for that answer. who become homeless immediately after being released Could she inform the House why the Government are from short prison sentences. [908246] avoiding full parliamentary scrutiny by putting the most damaging part of the Civil Liability Bill, which raises 11. Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab): What estimate the small claims limit, in a statutory instrument, rather he has made of the number of people who become than on the face of the Bill, where it could be properly homeless immediately after being released from short scrutinised by the House? prison sentences. [908255] Lucy Frazer: The Ministry of Justice always ensures The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (Rory that it brings measures to the House in a way that is Stewart): Far too many people on short sentences—almost appropriate for them. Of course this measure will have 35%—struggle to find suitable accommodation. That is scrutiny; statutory instrument procedure involves the why we are now focusing on a pilot in Bristol, Pentonville scrutiny of the House. This measure will ensure that and Leeds. We not only want to get ex-offenders into people can access the courts in an accessible way, without accommodation, but are putting £6.4 million into ensuring the need to spend excessive amounts of money. that they have right kind of support, with up to five hours a week on life skills and financial management skills, Jo Stevens: I refer the House to my entry in the and access the right services. Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I listened carefully to what the Minister just said, but what guarantee Matt Western: I thank the Minister for his response. can she give us that the civil procedure rule committee A study done by the charity Revolving Doors estimates will be able to consider the proposed small claims that there was a 25-fold increase between October 2016 increase, which covers workplace injuries, independent and June 2018 in the number of prisoners sleeping of Government? Why can we not debate the measure on rough who have served less than six months. Does that the Floor of the House? information embarrass the Government and the Minister? 625 Oral Answers 18 DECEMBER 2018 Oral Answers 626 Rory Stewart: First, I pay tribute to Revolving Doors, Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab): Further which is a very impressive charity. I am afraid those are to the question from my hon. Friend the Member for not the figures we have in the MOJ, but I am very happy Bristol East (Kerry McCarthy), does the Minister recognise to sit down with Revolving Doors and understand how that housing allocation policies often mean it is difficult it is arriving as such figures. Broadly speaking, sadly, to remove an offender from an area where they have the level of homelessness among people on short sentences criminal connections, because they do not have local has remained, in our terms, relatively static over the connections in the area to which it would be sensible to past decade, but I respect Revolving Doors, and I am move them? What discussions is his Department having very happy to look at that evidence with it. with the MHCLG about housing allocation policies supporting the relocation of those offenders? Kerry McCarthy: When prisoners fall on that fine line between being criminals and actually being victims Rory Stewart: The answer is that we have two formal of crime themselves—I am particularly thinking of mechanisms: we have a taskforce focused on housing young people who are caught up in gangs and county and we have a taskforce focused particularly on rough lines-type drug dealing—what support is being given to sleeping. In both those scenarios, we are pushing very them to make sure that if they are rehoused, they are hard with the MHCLG to resolve many issues, of which rehoused away from the scene from their offending, so that is an important one. they are in a safe place and do not get dragged back into gang activity? Tom Pursglove (Corby) (Con): Care after Combat’s mentoring scheme for 360 veterans has achieved a fivefold Rory Stewart: This is a very good challenge. We can reduction in reoffending. Quite rightly, we are spending use licence conditions to try to ensure that somebody a small amount to save £20 million in the system. What does not return to the scene of their offending. The are the Government doing further to support these problem, as the hon. Lady will be aware, is that we of sorts of mentoring initiatives to tackle both homelessness course have to balance that against the importance of and reoffending? family relationships for rehabilitation. We want to try to locate someone in a place where they will not be tempting Rory Stewart: I pay tribute to Care after Combat, into further reoffending, but we do not want to locate which I have had the opportunity to meet, along with them in a place where they lose all contact with family the Under-Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. and community. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), who has responsibility for veterans. There is a great deal Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con): Does of support, particularly that provided by military charities, the Minister agree that it is wrong for local authorities and I would like to pay tribute to SSAFA—the Soldiers, to discriminate against ex-offenders by putting them at Sailors, Airmen and Families Association—the Royal the bottom of the queue, sometimes saying they have no British Legion and, of course, Help for Heroes, which local connections—through no fault of their own, if has done incredible work on the issue of offenders who they have been in prison—and that ex-offenders should are also veterans. It is important to understand, however, be treated fairly and equally, along with everyone else? that the issues faced by veterans are often a subset of the issues faced by many of our offenders, particularly in relation to mental health, addiction, housing and Rory Stewart: I agree 100%. That has now become employment. We need to think about them, whether easier to enforce through recent legislation, but we they are veterans or civilians, in a single act. continue to work very closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.