Speeches by Juss.

“Under the Conservative party, too much taxpayers’ money was wasted on projects and schemes that simply did not work. Does the Minister agree with me that in order to improve healthcare services, including mental health services, educational opportunities and social services, as well as transport provision and public sa…”

“RASSO cases by their very nature, for want of a better description, can be horrible cases, can’t they, because you are dealing with serious offences? I worked as a personal injury lawyer. For our own wellbeing, we had training on how to deal with such cases. What kind of support do you provide to RASSO lawyers as far a…”

“I beg your pardon. Yes, that’s right. Is 37 what you would recommend, or do you think it should be less than that?”

“I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate on International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Does she agree that a lot of the disabilities that we need to be aware of are hidden disabilities such as autism, depression and other mental conditions? We do not see those disabilities directly, but we need to be …”

“Good afternoon. I am Warinder Juss, the Member of Parliament for Wolverhampton West. I am a solicitor. I renewed my practising certificate but am not practising at the moment. I am a member of the central executive council of the GMB and a member of various APPGs. My wife is a senior Crown prosecutor working in the RAS…”

“Thank you, Director. I hope I will be able to deal with these questions quickly in light of the information you have already given me, so I won’t ask all the questions I intended to ask. Looking specifically at RASSO cases, those have increased quite considerably over the last few years. I know that you have recruited …”

“With the steps you are taking, will your efforts be in vain because of defence counsel not being available, or do you think you will still be able to make a significant impact by having sufficient prosecutors?”

“We have been talking about caseloads. You mentioned that a typical caseload for a RASSO prosecutor was 200 and obviously—”

“Director, having accepted that it must be unconscious bias that accounts for it, will you be providing extra training to your prosecutors on unconscious bias?”

“Director, can I please ask you a couple of questions about your research into disproportionality in your charging decisions? I have read the letter that you sent to the Chair of the Select Committee on 28 November, and I have to say that it was disturbing to read that the research published in February 2023 told you th…”

“21. What steps her Department is taking to support councils in reducing homelessness.”

“Although in my constituency we have the City of Wolverhampton council’s homelessness prevention strategy, which has had some success in tackling homelessness, last week I was contacted by a constituent fleeing domestic violence and finding it difficult to get permanent social housing for herself and her daughter. Crisi…”

“In Wolverhampton last year, it was estimated that more than 6,000 women were subjected to domestic abuse. Will my hon. Friend commend the “Orange Wolverhampton” campaign, which runs from 25 November to 10 December every year? The campaign involves the Wolverhampton safeguarding team, the Safer Wolverhampton Partnership…”

“Last week, I attended the citizenship network launch at Parliament organised by Citizens UK and met people from my constituency who came to this country years ago to build a better life. They have lived and worked here, raised their families here and contributed to society and the economy, and having spent a considerab…”

“I was previously a solicitor, before becoming an MP. I am an executive council member of the GMB trade union and a member of various APPGs. I think that’s about it.”

“I want to ask you some questions about judicial capacity, the make-up of the judiciary and diversity within the judicial profession. You mentioned that there is competition for judges at the moment. When we were at the Central London county court last week, I raised that question. One of the issues raised was that ther…”

“Are there any problems in terms of the applicants not being of the required high standard?”

“I want to ask you a question about fee-paid judges and salaried judges, but before I come to that I have a couple of questions about the actual make-up of the judiciary. Five per cent. of senior judges—High Court and above—are non-barristers. They are mostly solicitors. When it comes to district judges and deputy distr…”

“Yes.”

“If I read your article, I might be able to get the answer to the next question. When it comes to ethnic minority background judges, 14% of district judges in magistrates courts are from ethnic minorities. I hope these figures are right. When it comes to deputy High Court judges, 13% are from ethnic minority backgrounds…”