Speeches by Farnsworth.

“I do not envy you and your colleagues for having that task. It is an incredibly complex situation, particularly with what we have discussed about the domestic abuse relationship setting as well. When I ask this next question, I am conscious that Dame Nicole mentioned the pressure CAFCASS is under generally and resource…”

“I am the Member of Parliament for Amber Valley. Before being a Member of Parliament, I was a Crown prosecutor for 21 years. My interests are declared in the Register.”

“On that point, is the Minister also concerned about local authorities such as Derbyshire county council, whose leader is parroting the sentiments of the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage) about “overdiagnosis” of SEND? All the families in my constituency that face SEND issues are at their wits’ end trying to get th…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I thank the hon. Member for Keighley and Ilkley (Robbie Moore) for opening this important debate. The strength of feeling behind this petition is clear, with over 1,000 signatures in my constituency alone. It was raised by my constituent, Natalie Elliott, a for…”

“My hon. Friend is making a powerful case that I wholeheartedly support. She is outlining not only the real problems that gambling addiction causes but the trauma that often leads to it, which shows how important rehabilitation is. We have heard much from Opposition Members today about how everybody should be punished a…”

“In my constituency of Amber Valley the David Nieper academy teaches employability skills in conjunction with local industry, and it has had zero NEETs—those not in education, employment or training—at age 18 for the past two academic years. Will the Secretary of State join me in congratulating its students and its staf…”

“18. What steps her Department is taking to ensure that it meets its target of two thirds of young people participating in higher-level learning.”

“As part of the Justice Committee’s inquiry on rehabilitation and resettlement, we received evidence showing that ROTL use has declined, particularly since covid; it has not really recovered from that. It is great to hear the good work the Minister is outlining on this, but I urge him to continue to push for greater use…”

“I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way, and I agree entirely with what she says about the importance of meaningful work or purposeful activity in prisons. On that basis, does she share my concern that the court backlog means that there are thousands of prisoners on remand who are not required to do purposeful a…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. Intervention to fix the Crown court backlog is needed now. Without radical reform, things will only get worse; but in my submission this situation presents an opportunity to present the positive case for modernising our system. The changing nature of crime i…”

“I thank the hon. Member for his intervention. I am saddened to hear that that is his position, but I am afraid it does not change my view of the Bill. Strict and stringent measures will be in place to encourage rehabilitation. Those will be accompanied by a simplified probation requirement, which will empower the Proba…”

“As a former Crown prosecutor of 21 years, like my hon. Friend the Member for Forest of Dean (Matt Bishop) and my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Tony Vaughan), I have seen close up the impact of our broken criminal justice system on victims, on communities and on our country as a whole. Bec…”

“Does the hon. Member agree that requiring an offender to look at the root causes of their offending is far from the easy option? Facing up to those life difficulties is very hard, but it is a really effective way of stopping the cycle of offending.”

“I absolutely agree. Unfortunately, in Derbyshire, obtaining an EHCP is merely the start of the struggle. It is certainly not the end of the struggle for those families who desperately need the support that their children deserve. Many view the legal right to which the petition relates—the right for SEND children to get…”

“It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. I thank the hon. Member for South Cotswolds (Dr Savage) for opening this Petitions Committee debate. I want to take this opportunity to address the 208 people in Amber Valley who put their names to the petition, and the more than 100 constituents I am supporting wi…”

“Minister, the Committee has heard concerns about section 28, including the impact that it has on the court system, which we know is under a lot of pressure already and is stretched already. What would you say in relation to section 28 and the impact that it has on the court system, on the backlog and so on?”

“Good afternoon. My name is Linsey Farnsworth. I am the Member of Parliament for Amber Valley. My interests are as declared on the register, but of relevance to today, I was a Crown prosecutor, although I do not think Chris Hartley and myself ever crossed paths at that time.”

“We have just heard that one of the practical challenges is that sometimes the cases where there is pre-recorded cross-examination go to the bottom of the list in the court backlog. Are there any other practical challenges to implementing section 28, particularly practical challenges during trials? What is the situation…”

“That leads me to two very different questions but both arising out of what you have just said. The first is whether those challenges with cases across court and limitations on number of barristers is having an impact negatively on the court backlog, which we know is a big problem in any event. The other is that you men…”

“Can I ask a very quick question? Apologies, I have not looked at the methodology, so this might be a silly question. If you have five charges and there are four acquittals and one conviction, so you have five different victims but the conviction was somebody who had not given evidence by section 28 and the others had, …”