Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Justice – in the House of Commons am 2:30 pm ar 17 Mawrth 2009.
Laurence Robertson
Shadow Minister (Northern Ireland)
2:30,
17 Mawrth 2009
I am grateful to the Minister for that reply, although I think that burglary has increased more recently. When I raised the matter on
"very strong guidance to sentencers on burglary".—[ Hansard, 3 February 2009; Vol. 487, c. 697.]
He also said that there would be a "toughening up" of sentencing policy. However, the key points in that sentencing document include the following:
"Previous convictions and the record of an offender are of more significance than in the case of some other crimes."
What exactly does that mean? It seems like a weakening rather than a strengthening of sentencing policy.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
