Speeches by Farnsworth.

“How would the prioritised case listing work in practice?”

“That is very helpful—thank you. You mentioned the Southport attacks and concerns about what information can be published after an individual has been arrested. Your report looks at that and recommends changing the definition of when proceedings become active in comparison to the current situation. Could you please expl…”

“Excellent—thank you. Can I move on to the Sir Brian Leveson review, part 1 of which has been published recently? He proposes changes to the court structure and a substantial reduction of jury trials. You said that jury trials are important for sexual offences cases. What did the evidence you receive in this regard sugg…”

“So you would still like the Government to consider specialist serious sexual offences courts notwithstanding that it is not currently in the Leveson report.”

“Good. A last question from me, if I may; there are two parts to it. You mentioned special measures available at present. You are recommending a model of entitlement to standard measures to assist victims and witnesses in sexual prosecutions. Could you explain what you think the main benefits of that switch would be? Ar…”

“That is very useful. Thank you for your answers.”

“Reform-led Derbyshire county council has recently abolished its climate change committee and scrapped its aim to tackle the causes and impact of climate change. Will the Minister outline the steps that his Department is taking to ensure that local authorities continue to address climate change effectively and meet nati…”

“Q8. Prior to the general election, the Health Secretary visited Amber Valley and declared it an NHS dentistry desert. Since then, I have secured £240,000 of additional funding, encouraged my constituents to access the 16,300 emergency appointments in Derbyshire, and last week secured thousands of extra units of dental …”

“It is not just about deterrence, is it? It is about appropriate levels of punishment. The sentencing guidelines at the moment have been drawn up based on consultation with people within the criminal justice system, the public, outside agencies, charities, etc. Those guidelines have taken into account a lot of evidence,…”

“Could we write to Sir Brian about that?”

“You have talked a lot about deterrence and in terms of the sentencing range you have based this on average sentence lengths, but there are occasions when a much more serious offence within that definition of the offence has been committed. Do you accept that you would be reducing the possibility of somebody who has com…”

“Let us go on to some of those principles, staying on the right to elect. You recommend removing the right to elect trial for offences with a maximum sentence of two years, describing them as the least serious of the either-way cases, but you have identified a pool of additional offences that could also be removed from …”

“Of course, the magistrates will have looked at the facts of those cases, as outlined, and decided that their sentencing powers were sufficient; but, if it turned out that it was more serious when the evidence was heard, presumably they would still have the option of committing for sentence to the Crown court, if they f…”

“I do not think there is. Thank you.”

“Because of the constraints that have been put to you.”

“From Government.”

“I think, in 2024-25, 4,283 defendants elected Crown court trial, so that would be 4,283 cases that would have stayed out of the Crown court last year, in an instant.”

“In your review you said that you have changed your view on that. Have you?”

“What is the thinking there? It would save a tiny bit of time on each of those allocation hearings, would it not, but it does not change the result?”

“Just on the point of case allocation, obviously in the magistrates court, as you have said, the prosecutor and defence will make representations; but the magistrates make the assessment of whether it is suitable for summary trial or not, based on their sentencing powers. That is taken on the prosecution’s case at its h…”