Speeches by Munt.

“My next question was about how well the Probation Service balances the role of public protection with promoting rehabilitation and resettlement. You have identified tensions within that. Why did you point out the north-east and Wales?”

“In Kent, Surrey and Sussex, how much time do your probation officers spend in prison with each prisoner before they are released?”

“You are very welcome to write to the Chair afterwards.”

“Yes, I have. We have covered everything really.”

“In Kent, Surrey and Sussex, how much time do your probation officers spend in prison with each prisoner before they are released?”

“I am very glad to hear that. I live in a very rural area—possibly not as nice as parts of Wales, which are very different—but the business of having to transport people from A to B to do Community Payback is expensive.”

“Many reforms in the Sentencing Act will come in from today and towards the end of March. What work is under way within your regions to support those changes? What contingency planning is in place to ensure that the Probation Service’s increased workload can be delivered safely and that the work towards reducing reoffen…”

“Good afternoon. My name is Tessa Munt. I am the Member of Parliament for Wells and Mendip Hills in Somerset. All my interests are on the register, but I would highlight the fact that I am the vice-chair for the all-party parliamentary group on penal affairs, and a director and vice-chair of WhistleblowersUK, which is a…”

“Can I briefly pick you up on something you said? You referred to the cycle of change and a tightrope. Is it the staff who are on the tightrope or the offender?”

“You are very welcome to write to the Chair afterwards.”

“I am proud to have been part of the 2010-15 Government, when Michael Moore and others took us to 0.7% spending for aid. I think my Labour-voting constituents will be utterly stunned to hear the contents of the Foreign Secretary’s statement today. I do not understand the disconnect between this Government and the Blair …”

“My constituent, an indomitable lady in her eighties, was seriously assaulted at home last year, and her assailant was jailed. He was given a sentence, and the court granted an exclusion order covering the whole area around her home, where he committed the offence. Over a month ago, he was released early, but without a …”

“Would the Minister consider doing something about the cost of accommodation in university towns and cities? Where I come from in north Somerset there is no university, and at the moment people do not really have the option to go anywhere except a city, which is incredibly expensive. Would she give some consideration to…”

“Hello. My name is Tessa Munt. I am the Member of Parliament for Wells and Mendip Hills, in Somerset. Everything is as per the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, but I would just point out that I am vice-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on penal affairs and a director and vice-chair of WhistleblowersUK,…”

“The other thing I want to ask you about is magistrates court proceedings being recorded. Do you have a view on that? Is it going to work? Do you have any concerns about that?”

“I am not sure that that really answers my question. Let me set out the details of what I am asking about. One of my constituents was murdered by a foreign national, which robbed her mother of her daughter and her mother’s grandsons of their much-loved mother. Her mother is very distressed to discover that the murderer …”

“I was going to ask the two of you about this. Sorry, Keir, you are not in this one, I do not think. You might have something to say. I do not know, but we will see. Richard and Tom, could you set out your respective positions on the reform to appeals from the magistrates court, please?”

“I am celebrating that you are agreeing.”

“Do you have a view on legal aid?”

“3. What discussions he has had with his counterparts in countries to which foreign national prisoners will be returned on ensuring that prisoners serve the full term of a sentence handed down by the UK courts.”