Mail Weekly Column: 03 July 2023
On Thursday last week I was delighted to watch the Lord Speaker, and then a few minutes later, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons announce that my Private Members Bill, the Offenders (Day of Release from Detention) Bill had received Royal Assent and was now an act of law.
This Act makes a small change to the law that will deliver a huge difference to the lives of those released from prison, lower reoffending rates, reduce the pressure on prisons, and cut levels of crime.
Currently people released from prison on Fridays face a race against time to access their probation worker and support on issues such as housing, benefits and healthcare before the weekend. This leaves some temporarily homeless, and at a heightened risk of reoffending.
1 in every 3 offenders is released on a Friday despite them facing these challenges and the data shows that offenders released just before a weekend or bank holiday face a higher rate of re-offending.
My Act gives prison governors the discretion to release vulnerable offenders up to 48 hours earlier so that they can access the statutory services they most need, and aims to cut reoffending.
I have seen through my work on the Home Affairs Committee, and to talking to charities in Furness, just what Friday releases can mean - nights on the streets, a return to offending, and criminal gangs all too willing to swoop in and help, but with a heavy cost.
This simple change in the law will cut reoffending, save the criminal justice system time and money, and improve outcomes for offenders who have served their time.
It's been my pleasure to work with the MoJ, brilliant charities like The Well and NACRO, and offenders themselves, to secure passage of this Act. I'm delighted that we've got it over the line and can finally end the damaging cycle of Friday releases that helps absolutely no one.
I arrived back in Furness on Thursday to meetings and then on Friday morning got up ridiculously early to drive from Furness to the outskirts of Glasgow Airport.
Just outside the airport itself is the new Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre, a state of the art facility that links academia to research, innovation, and allows the manufacture of some cutting-edge pharmaceuticals.
Just last week I met with the Life Sciences Minister to gain government support for the vision for Ulverston LAMP (Life sciences and Advanced Manufacturing Park), which will be based in and around the GSK land in Ulverston.
The MMIC in Glasgow has been through that journey already - it has industry partners, government backing, the support of Strathclyde University, and it is now up and running. So, alongside the Leader of Westmorland & Furness Council and the Site Director for GSK Ulverston, I spent the day learning how they did it, what lessons we could draw from their experience, and what pitfalls to avoid.
We’ve got an amazing opportunity in Ulverston to do something quite special with the GSK land and create a site that hosts innovative companies doing really interesting work, building on the 75 year legacy of life sciences that exists already in the community. I’m so excited to get stuck in and start delivering on that promise.
