All of Mrs Naomi Long’s imported questions, contributions and motions in this mandate, newest first, including those assessed as not flagged, uncertain or not yet analysed.
My Department contributes to a number of priorities in the draft Programme for Government (PFG). However, my Department's ability to deliver on those priorities is dependent on adequate funding being made available. There will be difficult decisions ahead if we continue to have insufficient budget allocation to meet…
Absolutely. Rehabilitation is and must remain the priority for the Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS). Central to that is the infrastructure pillar of the Prisons 25by25 strategy, which aims to ensure that we have a fit-for-purpose and secure prison estate. Outline business case 1 (OBC1) approval was granted by…
I am perhaps more cognisant than most Ministers of huge budgetary restraints, given that I have been facing them for much longer than most. Even when a surfeit of money was available, the Department of Justice never saw the benefit of it. My officials and I are very aware of the need to achieve value for money. The…
I am satisfied that the planned investment in a new kitchen and cafe at Magilligan prison represents a necessary investment of the limited capital resources made available to my Department. The existing buildings were constructed as a temporary facility and have been in place since 1990. They were designed to provide…
It originated as a Committee amendment at Consideration Stage of the Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Bill. While we, as a Department, noted the potential merit of notices and orders, we did not support that amendment because we had significant concerns at the time about including that level of detail in secondary…
The Member's question on the success of various strategies has a number of strands. The first thing is that the rise, if you like, is likely to increase and then level out as people become more familiar with the use of the system. That is why the cost goes from £12 million to £17 million. It is then likely to be…
My Department has progressed significant preparatory work to bring forward domestic abuse protection notices and orders. However, as Members will be aware, the statutory requirement to lay regulations has not been met. My officials are continuing to work with partners to resolve a number of significant and complex…
I refer the Member to my answers to both of the previous questions. The management of the policing estate is a matter for the Chief Constable in cooperation with the Policing Board. It is not a matter that falls to me as Justice Minister, nor would it be appropriate for me to breach the boundaries of the tripartite…
As I have said, it is not for me to opine on the right decisions for the PSNI to live within budget. That is entirely a matter for the Chief Constable. He has operational independence on that matter but is also operationally accountable to the Policing Board for those decisions. However, with respect to the ICO fine,…
The management of the PSNI estate is an operational matter for the Chief Constable, who is accountable to the Northern Ireland Policing Board. I am committed to respecting the operational independence of the Chief Constable and the role of the Policing Board. As I have not had any discussions on the matter, it is…
As I mentioned at the beginning of the debate, progressing this legislation to improve the effectiveness and operation of the justice system is a priority for me. I thank all the Members for their mainly constructive, positive and always lively engagements in the Chamber today. As the Bill moves through its stages in…
That is not the argument. The argument here is that, at the minute, the process for anything that goes through the Taxing Master is opaque, and there is not transparency and accountability. That is something that we are looking at as part of wider reform. This is a specific amendment that is not related to that wider…
The Member makes a valid point on the socio-economic implications and consequences of offending. However, those are not matters for the Department of Justice; they are matters for other Departments, and they would be required to bring forward their own legislation to deal with those socio-economic issues. It is not…
Perhaps I can cut this short by setting out the position. The Member suggested that I may want to make amendments by way of secondary legislation: I am not sure how that would happen. Primary legislation would be needed in order to change the minimum age of criminal responsibility. To do that, I would have to get…
When it comes to the scrutiny of the policy intent, I brought to the House my concerns about the ruling by Justice Humphreys. The Supreme Court previously said that it is flawed to look at the consideration of any clause on the basis of the length of its entry in Hansard. Obviously, people will consider matters at…
Thank you. I appreciate that. That point was raised by, I think, Doug Beattie in an intervention. First of all, the reform of legal aid is not the subject of that particular amendment. The amendment is simply a technical change to say how the fees are counted. It is not on, for example, the reform of the taxing…
The Attorney General does not have international responsibility, because international issues are not devolved. It is important that that person is the Advocate General where the matter is cross-jurisdictional. It was an error that it was laid out that the Attorney General, rather than the Advocate General, was named.…