Speeches by Farnsworth.

“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…”

“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 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…”

“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…”

“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…”

“On the subject of the Sentencing Bill, some of the measures in the sentencing Bill are based on a model in Texas that has had some results in relation to reoffending rates and in relation to the crime rate overall. Could you tell us a bit about that and what you are hoping for as an outcome from the sentencing Bill in …”

“Would you accept, then, that that is a flaw in the methodology?”

“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, …”

“Are there any plans to change the rules on speaking to jurors about whether they felt that that had an impact on their decision making?”

“One of the witnesses mentioned the disparity of payments for barristers, depending on whether they are doing prosecution or defence work for section 28, so I hope that that is looked at as well. Minister, in your letter to the Committee on 7 March, you committed to keeping the operation of section 28 under review. Coul…”

“How might some of the practical challenges be tackled for section 28 going forward? For example, in the first session we heard about difficulties with shortage of barristers, particularly on the defence—the CPS has increased its numbers, but defence barristers are in short supply—and the practical difficulties that tha…”

“Will the Leveson review look at section 28 specifically?”

“I think that in Texas they saw a reduction in recidivism as a result of the measures that they brought in, and in the overall crime rate. I am sure that you are hoping, but are you expecting that to be a similar outcome in this country?”

“Is there any data around how evidence being given in that setting compares with other settings in other regions?”

“Yes, I think we have really covered the whole of question 8, haven’t we? I will move on to my second question, which is looking to the future in terms of what we can learn. We have had research from the MOJ and from Professor Thomas. What research, if any, do the witnesses think should now be embarked upon within the s…”

“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?”

“How might some of the practical challenges be tackled for section 28 going forward? For example, in the first session we heard about difficulties with shortage of barristers, particularly on the defence—the CPS has increased its numbers, but defence barristers are in short supply—and the practical difficulties that tha…”

“Is there any data around how evidence being given in that setting compares with other settings in other regions?”

“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?”