Sadiq Khan – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2014-07-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the likely effect on prison numbers of Clause 25 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill.

Mike Penning

Knife crime is a scourge, and this Government has already introduced new offences of threatening with a knife in a public place or school in the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. We are also legislating in the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill to place statutory restrictions on the use of adult cautions for certain offences, which includes knife possession.

Clause 25 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill was introduced by back bench amendment in the House of Commons. On the 17 June the House of Commons passed the clause into the Bill at Report stage. The clause is now being considered in the House of Lords. We will publish an assessment of the impact of this clause on prison numbers, if it were to become law, in due course.