Nicholas Dakin MP: speeches

Speeches

• 8 Jul 2025 · Prison Capacity · Hansard source

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  Due to the circumstances that this Government found when we came into office, we had no option but to introduce a temporary change to the law to allow prisoners serving an eligible standard determinate sentence to be released on licence. This had many more constraints to it than the early release scheme operated by the previous Government, which was rushed out just before the election. Actually, the data has not yet been published, so the right hon. Gentleman will have to wait for that.

• 8 Jul 2025 · Prison Capacity · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is right. Public protection is our No. 1 priority, but we are also tackling reoffending, with proper programmes in place in prison. We also need to support people when they come out of prison, and probation is part of that solution.

• 8 Jul 2025 · Prison Capacity · Hansard source

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  We took immediate action to prevent the collapse of our prison system. The last Government added just 500 places to our prison estate over 14 years, whereas the previous Labour Government added around 28,000 places over 13 years. We intend to match the ambition of the last Labour Government, not the last Conservative Government, which is why we are committed to building 14,000 new prison places. By the end of this Parliament, we will have more people in prison than at any time in our history.

• 8 Jul 2025 · Knife Crime Offenders: Rehabilitation · Hansard source

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  Halving knife crime is a moral mission for the Government. Every young person caught with a knife is referred to a youth offending team, and Turnaround is very successful in diverting youngsters on the cusp of crime away from offending. Alongside that, the Government will roll out prevention partnerships and Young Futures hubs.

• 8 Jul 2025 · Knife Crime Offenders: Rehabilitation · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is right to point to the range of diversions that can help the rehabilitation of young offenders, including boxing clubs. I am happy to meet him.

• 8 Jul 2025 · Parole Board Decisions: Serious Offenders · Hansard source

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  That was a horrific case. My thoughts remain with Joanna’s family and friends, specifically Diana Parkes and Hetti Barkworth-Nanton, who I met last year, and who the Under-Secretary of State for Justice, my hon. Friend the Member for Pontypridd (Alex Davies-Jones), met this week. The previous Parliament carefully scrutinised the referral power and the offences that should be in scope. I am very happy to meet the hon. Gentleman on this matter.

• 8 Jul 2025 · Parole Board Decisions: Serious Offenders · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend draws attention to another horrific case. I think the best way of proceeding is to take up his offer of a meeting.

• 8 Jul 2025 · Parole Board Decisions: Serious Offenders · Hansard source

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  Work to implement the power to refer cases to the High Court is well advanced, and we expect to be able to fully update the House later this year.

• 8 Jul 2025 · Probation Officers · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is right that we need to ensure that prison officers have the time to do the job they came in to do, which is to spend time with offenders and turn their lives around. In addition, we have invested an initial £8 million in technology and launched a new programme to develop a sustainable work process that will allow probation staff to focus on the work they joined the service to deliver.

• 8 Jul 2025 · Probation Officers · Hansard source

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  Me again, Mr Speaker. We are determined to back our hard-working probation staff by investing up to £700 million, which is a 45% increase in funding. We have already exceeded this year’s target by recruiting over 1,000 trainees. We will recruit another 1,300 more probation officers in 2025-26.

• 8 Jul 2025 · Probation Officers · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for his question. As he knows, we have regular discussions in the five nations group to ensure that good practice is shared, issues are addressed together and we learn from each other.

• 8 Jul 2025 · Private Contractors: Justice Services · Hansard source

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  We inherited a set of contracts from the previous Government, some of which are not performing as we would like, particularly in the areas of maintenance and electronic tagging. The Prisons Minister in the other place is gripping this situation and driving progress, with regular meetings to review performance.

• 8 Jul 2025 · Private Contractors: Justice Services · Hansard source

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  All options are always under review, but as I have said, performance under that contract is improving. The Prisons Minister in the other place is gripping this issue, and we will get to where we need to get to.

• 8 Jul 2025 · Private Contractors: Justice Services · Hansard source

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  While the performance of Serco has been unacceptable, as the hon. Gentleman says, we have made progress, and performance is improving. We have imposed fines for poor performance, and will not hesitate to employ further contractual remedies or other measures should they be required, but this is a contract that we inherited from the Conservative party, and we are doing our best to make it work.

• 8 Jul 2025 · Prison Officer Morale: Pension Age · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is absolutely right to point to the fact that this is yet another Tory mess that we have inherited. As I have said, we value the work of the POA, and we recognise the significant work of prison officers and the strength of feeling on this issue. We will continue to engage with the POA and others to try to find the best way forward.

• 8 Jul 2025 · Prison Officer Morale: Pension Age · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman makes a fair point. We need to make progress on this issue, and we are determined to do so.

• 8 Jul 2025 · Prison Officer Morale: Pension Age · Hansard source

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  Prison officers benefit from the civil service pension scheme, which offers excellent public sector terms, low employee contributions and a 28.97% employer contribution, but we recognise that pension age is an important issue for prison officers. That is why we are fully engaged with the unions on this issue.

• 8 Jul 2025 · Prison Officers: Terms and Conditions of Service · Hansard source

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  We are working hard to enhance security and ease crowding in order to curb violence, including through a new £40 million investment to stop contraband, which puts our hard-working staff at risk. Assaults on staff and the other issues that the right hon. Gentleman mentions are unacceptable. That is why we are firmly and securely taking action. We are mandating the use of protective body armour in the highest-risk units and on the long-term high-security estate, which hold some of the most dangerous prisoners. We are taking action, while the previous Government failed.

• 8 Jul 2025 · Prison Officers: Terms and Conditions of Service · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member and I had a useful meeting a short time ago to explore all these issues, and I can reaffirm that the Lord Chancellor and the Department are fully engaged with the Prison Officers Association on this and other issues.

• 8 Jul 2025 · Prison Officers: Terms and Conditions of Service · Hansard source

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  I pay tribute to the essential work that our prison officers do, day in, day out. This year’s pay award delivered another real-terms pay rise for our frontline prison staff. We are committed to effective training and development of existing staff, as delivered through the Enable programme, alongside the provision of extensive wellbeing services.