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People often ask how do I manage to juggle being Watford MP, Justice Minister and a mum of two little children. Well a lot of organisation, good support and some luck. But I love all three roles and being Justice Minister gives me chance to develop some of the issues that people in Watford raise with me. Recently I went to Nottingham to visit the Gal-leries of Justice to take part in a „You be the Judge‟ event designed to get people talking about sentencing. I probably do not need to encourage people to talk about the sentences criminals re-ceive – it is often the topic for pubs, workplaces and over dinner tables. It is interesting to note public perceptions on the sentences handed out by judges and the real-ity. We often read about heinous crimes but are we always clear exactly what the sentence means? If someone receives an IPP with a tariff of 8 years are you clear how long they will be in prison? If not, you are not alone as many people are unaware that Indeterminate sentences for Public Protection (IPP) allow a judge to set a minimum number of years that someone must stay in prison and they will only be released after an independent Parole Board has considered if they are safe to be released. Even if released they will be subject to close monitoring and restrictions. The purpose of the event was to let young peo-ple consider a typical case that would come be-fore a magistrate‟s court, as if they were a jury, and decide what the sentence should be. The perception is that the magistrates or judges hand out soft sentences, but these events often show that when faced with the details of a case the public actually reach the same sentence or one more lenient than the judges. Sentencing is often confusing – probably be-cause English criminal law is equally complex. It is something that I am keen that everyone in-volved in the justice system should try to make clearer. The only way that we, the public, can be sure that justice is being done in our names is if we can see evidence of it. That is why the Com-munity Payback teams of criminals sentenced to carry out physical work in their fluorescent jack-ets are an important part of justice being seen to be done. We all need to feel confident in the jus-tice system. Crime is falling – in Watford it is down by more than 4% in an already relatively safe county. But we should not be complacent. When I meet residents groups and constituents at my advice surgery I am aware that whatever statis-tics say, if you are unfortunate enough to be a victim of crime you want support and justice. So my other big event was to help launch the National Victims Service. Working with Victim Support this new service will mean that each victim will receive an assessment of their needs on a 1-2-1 basis. Having spoken to many victims and their fami-lies both in Watford and beyond over recent months, this extended and more tailored service is what they want to see. It may not be the great-est news story but it is the sort of thing that a government should do to provide help for those who need it most.
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