Steve Brine and fellow members of the Justice Select Committee visited Belfast today (4th December 2012) as part their ongoing inquiries into women offenders and youth justice.
The MPs flew into George Best Airport and headed straight for the Probation Board of Northern Ireland where they met the Inspire Project. Inspire was established in 2008 and aimed to ensure that gender specific provision was available for women offenders in Northern Ireland following increasing awareness that the needs of women and men in the criminal justice system are different and that equality of outcomes is not necessarily achieved by equality of treatment.
Members of the Committee met with those running the project and women offenders taking part to hear of their experiences and challenges.
The delegation then headed to Stormont Castle where they met briefly with the Speaker of the NI Assembly, William Hay who is a Democratic Unionist member.
They then held a formal oral evidence session of the Committee which will inform its final report on youth justice. Members heard from the NO Youth Justice Agency, Queen's University Belfast and Youth as well as NIACRO (both member organisations of Children in Northern Ireland).
Before heading back to the airport and the short flight to London the delegation met with David Ford, who is the Justice Minister of Northern Ireland.
Steve Brine said; "This was a really useful visit and we certainly packed a lot in to make the most of our time in Belfast. The Inspire Project was certainly that and gave us a great deal to think about as we proceed with our women's justice work. My work on this Select Committee remains one of the most rewarding parts of this job and today was a really good use of time."
Pictured; Steve with the delegation at Inspire and inside Stormont at the committee's evidence session.
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