Children and Families Bill

Baroness Howe of Idlicote Excerpts

Wednesday 16th October 2013 Grand Committee

[Baroness Howe of Idlicote (CB)]

My Lords, I cannot think of anybody in this room who would not be in favour of the amendment moved by the noble Lord, Lord McColl. It was brilliantly presented in one of the most compelling speeches I have ever heard. With that in mind, unless anybody is prepared to contradict me by saying that they are not in favour of what they have heard, I hope that we can proceed and hear what the Government will do about this.

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch]

I am sorry to delay proceedings further. I want to say a couple of sentences. First, I thank the noble Lord, Lord McColl, for his perseverance on this issue and the extremely powerful case that he has made this afternoon. This idea of independent guardians is becoming an increasingly important theme in our debates on this Bill and it is a model that is gaining more and more credibility. My noble friend made reference to the support of the Joint Committee on Human Rights for the concept and the issue was also identified recently in a Commons Education Committee report on child protection.

In addition to the Scottish examples to which my noble friend has drawn our attention, that report identified that this concept has also been in operation in the Netherlands for some time, and there may well be lessons that we could learn from that. I do not want to rehearse all the arguments but there are very powerful ones why we should consider these sorts of policies. First, it would clearly help the children themselves. We have heard how that might happen in terms of providing quality advice and guidance. Secondly, I should like to think that such a measure would go some way to deterring potential traffickers in the future if they felt that when they trafficked children here, those children would have an alternative authority figure with whom they could associate and be aligned. It would be nice to think that the measure could deter traffickers pursuing their dastardly policies in the future. Thirdly, surely this is an area where early intervention and support could prevent children being drawn into greater social and criminal problems in the longer term. Therefore, there are all sorts of savings to be made if we intervene earlier. I do not want to extend the debate. I again thank the noble Lord and hope that he perseveres with this issue.

Violence Against Women

Baroness Howe of Idlicote Excerpts

Thursday 20th June 2013 Lords Chamber

Asked By

[Baroness Howe of Idlicote]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the report Deeds or Words? by the End Violence Against Women coalition.

[Baroness Northover]

My Lords, the Government are fully committed to preventing and combating violence against women and girls. Our national campaigns try to encourage teenagers to rethink their views about abuse. Government-funded community activity challenges so-called “honour crimes” and new legislation against stalking and forced marriage sends a strong preventive message. However, as this report highlights, there is much more to do. Our updated action plan strengthens our preventive approach, responding to a number of the End Violence Against Women coalition’s recommendations.

[Baroness Howe of Idlicote]

I thank the Minister for that very useful list of activities. However, in view of the report’s considerable concern that the Department for Education has substantially reduced spending in this whole area, how will the Government ensure that every child receives age-appropriate information in schools—for example, about the harmful effects of pornography—not least since a report from the Children’s Commissioner for England, entitled Porn is Everywhere, also underlines the urgent need for such guidance?

[Baroness Northover]

This report emphasises that we face a wide cultural challenge, which needs to be tackled at every level by everybody. The quality of teaching in schools is very important. The Department for Education is providing funding for the PSHE Association to work with schools to support them in developing their own curricula and improving the quality of teaching, which is clearly key. In addition, from September 2014, the new computing curriculum ensures that, for the first time, pupils aged five to 11 will be taught about online safety, including issues such as sexting and cyberbullying.

Women: Board Membership

Baroness Howe of Idlicote Excerpts

Monday 17th June 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Northover]

The noble Baroness is right, and boards need to take a wider view in terms of the experience and expertise that are there. I should like to quote one of the remaining FTSE 100 companies, Melrose, which still has an all-male board. It is,

“a leading British-based investment company specialising in the acquisition and performance improvement of underperforming businesses”.

There are no women on its board. How is it to ensure that companies are geared to the 21st century if it is so outdated in its own approach?

[Baroness Howe of Idlicote]

My Lords, is the Minister satisfied that enough attention is being given to encourage companies to allow flexible working for both sexes, so that women and men can continue their careers to board level and spend time with their families?

[Baroness Northover]

The noble Baroness is right that flexible working both for women and men is something that companies need to look at to make sure that they do not lose the talent that they have brought forward. Businesses need to encourage all talent to join them and then they need to make sure that they continue to support people right the way through their careers and on to board level at the end.

Equality: Pay and Opportunities

Baroness Howe of Idlicote Excerpts

Thursday 8th March 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Northover]

The noble Baroness is absolutely right. We often debate how we can better develop the support of social care. I look forward to future debates this year on that area, as she knows. She is quite right that many people find themselves trapped in a situation where they are responsible both for the care of children and for elder care. That means that it is extremely important that our extension of the right to request flexible working for all employees—men and women, as we seek to share that responsibility—is taken forward. It is very important that this does not simply fall on women. At the moment, many men support their parents as well, so I hope that this is something that will move forward steadily.

[Baroness Howe of Idlicote]

My Lords, does the Minister agree that one of the most important issues is to ensure that men have equal access to flexible and part-time working and that that is seen as important in all the firms that employ men? That is one of the gaps that still exist. I also congratulate the Government on the progress—there are visible signs of progress—in opportunities and on pay. This Government have done a fair amount to increase that and the previous Government did a great deal to start the climb.

[Baroness Northover]

I am very grateful to the noble Baroness for those comments and I also pay tribute to the previous Government for their work in that area. It is indeed extremely important to extend flexible working to make sure that both sexes take full advantage of that and play their part—whether looking after children or helping with elder care, as we have just discussed.

Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill

Baroness Howe of Idlicote Excerpts

Tuesday 7th February 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Judd]

My Lords, I look forward to hearing the Minister’s reply because this is a point to which he should give particularly serious consideration. Let me make two observations. First, if we are not doing this job thoroughly and well—the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, has suggested that we are not—we are wasting all the money because considerable public expenditure is going into a task which is not doing what is needed. Therefore, if we want to get a proper return for the taxpayer, we should be certain that what we are doing is appropriate and effective.

Secondly, this age extension covers a crucial part of the young person’s life. It is the threshold from being young to joining the adult community. We should think of the amount of discussion and debate that we have in this House about higher education, further education, universities and all that. We are certain that we want to prepare our young people for the most productive and effective future possible. As things stand, we may be denying that possibility to people on this threshold and, through an inadequate response to what they really need, may be setting them off on a course which will result in one failure after another and, all too likely, reoffending and the rest.

From that standpoint, this makes eminent good sense. It will be a challenge to the probation service but it relates to issues that we have been discussing on other amendments when we have alluded to the probation service. I am really worried that its culture is changing so that, in effect, it has a kind of custodial role without the person actually being institutionalised, as distinct from playing a sensitive, imaginative and engaged role in dealing with young individuals, doing what is necessary to get them on a positive and constructive course and working out how that should be done. In asking the probation service to do this—and I think the amendment is correct in that sense—we must realise that there is an issue to be tackled in terms of the prevailing culture in the service itself.

[Baroness Howe of Idlicote]

My Lords, I have added my name to one of these amendments and I have great sympathy for what is proposed in the other one as well, so I strongly support what has been said. I would like to believe that not only will this work in terms of this being set out in referral orders and the probation trusts taking on their new role, but also that we could somehow link this to the previous discussion introduced by my noble friends Lord Adebowale and Lord Ramsbotham about provision for 18 to 25 year-olds. The more we think about this age group, we can see how important it is to ensure the possibility of young people growing up with enough of the right support, education and training to have a real opportunity of leading more ordinary lives and not reoffending.

I wish we had more figures on what the actual costs are, because I should have thought it would be worth working out the budgets and spending enough to make this work. I am quite certain that it would be much cheaper than the cost of someone continually going to prison. I hope that the Minister will give this serious consideration.

[Baroness Linklater of Butterstone]

My Lords, I rise to add briefly to what has been said for two reasons. The first is the growing concern in the business about the lack of adequate work being carried out on behalf of people in this age group. They are missing out. In missing out, they bring in their wake a whole range of the problems and difficulties that we have been talking about. It means that they are more vulnerable and needy, and that they need more attention.

Anecdotally, I should say that I have sat in on referral orders, particularly the restorative conferences that are now run rather routinely. These are remarkable and really quite moving occasions. A young 18 year-old suddenly faces the reality of what it was they unthinkingly had done, and how important that is. It is also important in the context of the ongoing support that the referral order requires and thus implies in terms of support from the probation service. It is right to say that this does not come without a price tag, but when you compare price tags you realise where the dice should fall, and therein lies the challenge for the Government because everyone is judging them on where they are going to make cuts. It is an extremely difficult equation which does not really measure up, except to say that if we do not address this hitherto undersupported group, we are going to pay a huge price. The referral orders that are being discussed are really very creative and impressive, and mark a good way forward.

Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill

Baroness Howe of Idlicote Excerpts

Tuesday 7th February 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town]

My Lords, I start by giving the apologies of my noble friend Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe, whose name appears on the amendment. Unfortunately, he had to leave for another engagement.

I very strongly support the initiative set out by the noble Baroness. As has been said by others, it is a real recognition of the role that alcohol plays in crime, especially in domestic violence. The link between alcohol and domestic abuse is well known, as is the link between alcohol and cases of child protection. Alcohol Concern has demonstrated how often the criminal behaviour is repeated if the alcohol abuse is not tackled. As more than one of its clients has said, “He only hits me when he’s been drinking”. But as the alcohol support worker would reply, “If you knew you were going to hit the person you most loved once you were drunk, do you think you’d have that first drink?”.

The fact that so many men continue to take that first drink shows how valuable an intervention aimed at offenders could be. The sobriety scheme could play a role in this. I do not think that it is enough on its own, as I think that there needs to be some alcohol referral work to go alongside it. People who fail to tackle their misuse themselves are likely to need some assistance to work in parallel with breath-testing. That may involve some fairly brief intervention by experienced staff, and I believe that this scheme, working in parallel with the provision of such help, could make a real difference. The running of a pilot scheme, as suggested, is just the way to see whether this would work and whether, together with some brief interventions, it could help to deal with people who have a drink problem but who, by themselves, simply cannot get it under control. It could make a difference to the continued problem drinking of those who have broken the law.

I am no longer a magistrate, unlike my noble friend, but when I was a magistrate I would have loved the possibility of a rehabilitation order to monitor alcohol consumption. I believe that we should place victims centre-stage when we assess these amendments. Not only is most domestic abuse—that is the phrase used, although we used to call it “wife battering”—alcohol-fuelled but so, as we have already heard, is violence on the streets and against property, and there would be considerably less of that without the addition of drunkenness. When are we going to take action, as this House could do tonight, and do what ordinary, decent people want, which is to reduce the alcohol-related disruption to their lives?

This is an enabling measure. It does not require courts to impose it. It is an opportunity for someone with a propensity to misuse alcohol in a way that damages others, not themselves, to have a period of sobriety with, it is hoped, help, thus improving their family life as well as the well-being of others. The amendment would allow a magistrate to do this only if alcohol caused or contributed to the offence and the offender had a propensity to misuse alcohol and was willing to comply with the requirement.

My noble friend Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe was very anxious to make the point that a sunset clause could be added to a provision for such pilots so that, if they had not taken place after a year, the provision would not be needed on the statute book. Might that help the Government to accept the proposal? I very much hope that they will grasp with both hands this excellent idea of a pilot.

[Baroness Howe of Idlicote]

My Lords, I must admit that when I started to listen to this short and interesting debate, I was somewhat puzzled by it and I certainly did not think that this proposal had much of a part to play. However, the more I listened, the more interested I became. Having heard the very good speeches of my noble friend Lady Finlay and the noble Baroness, Lady Jenkin, setting out the support that exists, and indeed the practical support from the mayor, I am now convinced that this is a possible area for action. However, I have a question. When an assessment of alcohol consumption was made, could a test also be carried out to see whether drugs were involved and, if they were, could drugs also come under the treatment required? We all know that, alas, the consumption of drugs, as with alcohol, is rife. Equally, I totally accept that the amount of alcohol consumed by the young today is huge compared with what young people drank in the past. I am talking about quantities, because one sees how much is drunk by the younger generations. Having heard the noble Baroness, Lady Hayter, I also agree that it might be a good idea to have a sunset clause. Somewhat to my surprise, I am quite attracted to this idea and I shall be very interested to hear what the Government have to say.

[Baroness Finlay of Llandaff]

It may be helpful if I respond briefly to the question about drugs. Drugs can be tested using this model, as has happened in Hawaii. However, this is about alcohol monitoring. The drug problem involves a much smaller number of people and there is not the same level of gratuitous violence as one gets with alcohol. Also, drug-testing usually requires a urine sample, whereas here we are talking about a breathalyser which will pick up alcohol levels. This is exactly why a pilot is important. One can find out the problems that can occur and the pilot could be rolled out further if it was successful. This is about alcohol monitoring, and we are dealing with alcohol because it is the biggest problem that we face. In conjunction with that, of course, there is lots of support on offer to people. The problem is that they do not take it up.

Insurance: Gender Discrimination

Baroness Howe of Idlicote Excerpts

Tuesday 8th March 2011 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Verma]

My Lords, the noble Lord raises a question that I posed to civil servants. The response I received was that any insurance sold in the EU, whether or not it is from outside the EU, will be applicable under these rules.

[Baroness Howe of Idlicote]

My Lords, I have some sympathy with the predicament of the noble Baroness, but perhaps she would tell the House whether the Government, if they had the choice, would support the payment of equal annuities to men and women who have earned an equal financial entitlement to them, rather than continuing with the existing system in which a woman gets considerably less just because her average life expectancy is a few months more.

[Baroness Verma]

My Lords, the noble Baroness raises very important questions. However, the responses to these questions are for the industry to make.

Children: Parenting for Success in School

Baroness Howe of Idlicote Excerpts

Thursday 3rd February 2011 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Howe of Idlicote]

My Lords, I join in thanking my noble friend Lord Northbourne for securing this debate on the importance of parenting. The subject and, especially, the role of fathers in bringing up children is one where his considerable expertise and persistence in keeping the subject well up on your Lordships’ agenda have at last paid off. Above all, I want to applaud the recognition that has at last been given to why early intervention is so important in a child’s development—indeed, for their whole life—to say nothing of the value it will bring to society as a whole.

Many reports have been mentioned by my noble friend and other speakers, but I am particularly pleased about the fact that two Labour MPs—Frank Field and Graham Allen—were commissioned by the coalition Government to produce this report. I shall construe that as definitely an indication that there is all-party support for this approach. Ironically, we are also to some extent indebted to our catastrophic economic situation because the Government are increasingly looking for evidence of clear value for any money spent. Therefore, they are at last prepared to acknowledge that locking up offenders, particularly young offenders, produces an endless churn in and out of prison at huge personal, social, and financial cost. I welcome the current Government’s declared policy of keeping as many offenders out of prison as makes sense by imposing more big society-type community sentences, paying more attention within prison to education deficiencies and to training for jobs and having a clearer, more effective approach to treating drink and drug addicts and those with mental health problems. All that is certainly a good start and if combined, as it should be, with effective mentoring and help with housing and finding jobs on release, it should help reduce the level of reoffending.

However, what we are discussing today—early intervention—will be even more effective in reducing the ultimate cost of that group, and it is also clearly the right way to unlock the potential in every child, particularly those with physical or other forms of special needs who sadly appear to be growing in number. It is equally important to give support to the poorest, most deprived families, perhaps particularly to those from chaotic backgrounds whose children are at far greater risk of underachieving or worse at school and afterwards.

In all these situations, the returns are demonstrably beneficial. Overall benefit-to-cost ratios are as high as 17 per cent. Quite clearly, if those parenting a child are capable of giving it unconditional love and support, knowledge of right and wrong and that essential ability to communicate and to make and keep friends at school and beyond, then the resources the state will need to spend on those children will be considerably smaller. That does not mean that no resources should be spent on those children. Your Lordships have only to think back to the time when they all became parents. It may be a fairly terrifying world for every child to be born into, as some experts tell us, but for parents— especially, I emphasise, for mothers—it is a completely new and rather terrifying world as well. That is why the coalition's determination to see that there will eventually be enough midwives, health visitors and nurse partnerships to see all parents through those early stages is to be hugely welcomed.

The professional help and advice that they give, together with other family support, of course, will be invaluable to everyone, but if this is the way forward, two aspects are crucial. The first is that the many government departments involved will be committed to working together and to sharing experience and information about the individuals concerned. The second, which is probably of even greater importance, is that the finance involved will be made available. It is no good starting on this path unless the work can be carried through. I do not mind what sources the finance is found from, as long as they are legal, but they must be there before the Government start down this course. If we achieve this, it will in the long run result in savings at every level from reduced prison and policing costs, societal benefits from less fearful neighbourhoods, the economy and individual fulfilment to much, much more. I hope the Minister will be able to confirm that early intervention is indeed an up-and-running, active commitment of the Government.

Violence Against Women

Baroness Howe of Idlicote Excerpts

Thursday 13th January 2011 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Howe of Idlicote]

My Lords, I add my thanks to the noble Baroness, Lady Gould, for the opportunity to debate this important subject. I congratulate my noble friend Lord Lester—he is and has been my noble friend on all subjects to do with equal opportunities for many years—on what he has achieved on forced marriage. It is a great achievement and I am proud to have played a small part in the original debate.

Your Lordships will have received excellent briefing and figures, put together with suggested priorities for action, from Amnesty International and the End Violence Against Women campaign. As they and the noble Baroness, Lady Gould, have said, one-in-three women around the world will have been so abused and in the UK alone, 3 million women a year will experience some form of violence. The direct economic cost of this each year to England and Wales alone is £6 billion with the human and emotional cost considerably higher, estimated to be no less than £17 billion, and quite apart from violence against women being seen as sexual discrimination and a legal violation of their fundamental human rights.

However, we live increasingly in a global world and it is a significant step forward that considerably more attention is being paid at the international level to promoting a legal requirement to end this abhorrent form of violence. The noble Lord, Lord Lester, has said that it is an example of where a bit more action should obviously take place. The role of new institutions such as UN Women—your Lordships discussed that on Monday—is one such example. All this will help and eventually this violence will not only become internationally illegal but also, more importantly, be increasingly seen as a totally unacceptable form of human behaviour—but, and it is a big but, we are a long way yet from achieving that goal.

We need also to be realistic, not least at a time when all countries face degrees of severe economic hardship. It would seem obvious, for example, that third world countries will take longer to achieve such a goal than developed countries. In parts of the world where conflict or environmental disasters have struck, progress will inevitably be limited or non-existent without much more external support. In environmental disaster areas, the example of Haiti is all too relevant. Hundreds of cases of rape and other forms of sexual violence have been reported in the camps during the past year, with organisations working on the ground believing that these are really only a fraction of the true number of women and girls who have experienced violence. Shamefully, it remains all too clear that in any conflict area it continues to be the unspoken but accepted view that the right to rape women and children is part of a “reward” for successful armies. That disgraceful situation needs a far higher international profile together with the determination to eliminate such behaviour.

Apart from our international role to promote the whole issue—I am sure other noble Lords will mention the importance of that—we surely have a duty to set a firm example here in the UK of what can be achieved. Yet there remains far too much domestic and other violence in the UK. The internet’s existence may mean that the amount could be increasing. Your Lordships will recall recent court cases—they have been referred to already—of organised gangs of young men grooming very young women via the internet and I will not go further into that. However, the Government are certainly to be congratulated on having published two months ago their strategic vision, Call to end violence against women and girls. We all look forward to hearing their strategy and priorities for achieving this, due out I believe in March. I hope the Minister will be able to give us some hints about how this is all developing.

Like other noble Lords, I, too, have a wish list of issues that I hope will be included but above all I could not agree more with the noble Baroness, Lady Gould, that education of the rising generation must be a priority and the earlier it all begins the better. Some schools—they tend to be the equivalent of not private but voluntary schools—have succeeded with pupil mentoring of new recruits from nursery school upwards and firm stands have been taken against any forms of bullying. That needs to be spread much further. The noble Lord, Lord Northbourne, was here a moment ago but has disappeared. With him, I was hopeful that the previous Government’s legislation for citizenship would enable genuine discussions about what parenthood involves to be gone through with the younger generation so that they have a much clearer view of their role in that respect. This should be a high priority now and in future in all schools.

We should not forget either the progress that has been made and when more is achieved things will improve further. Equal pay and more and wider job opportunities have not yet been totally achieved but there has been progress. A lot of this has helped to give women more confidence and money to leave abusive partners if that becomes necessary. More flexible work patterns will also help give more financial freedom as well as time with their children for both parents to develop satisfying, long-term relationships.

I end with two brief points about the need for us all to look carefully at the role of the media in all their forms—particularly, perhaps, the role that the internet plays. Knowing that the material we listen to and watch is not only viewed at home and at work on TV sets and computers but on machines that we all carry around in our pockets throughout the day and night, the first point is the extent to which all our broadcast media have become increasingly frightening and dramatic—even violent—in the drama and social issues that they cover. Noble Lords will certainly remember the recent bloodcurdling screams from “The Archers” but I am certainly thinking also of television soaps and much more, which we all see on television these days.

When I chaired the Broadcasting Standards Council, the watershed was still more or less observed but, again, with the 24-hour impact of the internet there is, in effect, no watershed these days and self-regulation by broadcasters reigns. It is almost as if the public appetite not only demands but, increasingly, is being fed frightening and aggressive material on an escalating scale. My concern is that this is unlikely to be soothing any potentially aggressive or violent behaviour. Those of us who do not believe that what we see and watch on television does not have an influence on us are an increasingly diminishing number. Anyhow, I hope that the Minister will take this back with her, think about it and, perhaps, have discussions with Ofcom about whether there is something more than we can be doing here.

My second point is more specific and will be briefer. It concerns the increasing need in this internet-dominated world to protect children from early contact with pornography and other forms of violence. I frequently raised this issue with the previous Government during the consideration of media legislation. All media equipment needs to have easily understood parental guidance on how to prevent children accessing this material. We must never forget that our children are always much more expert at these things then we are ever likely to be.

There is also, one feels, the need for more action at an international level. I really do not know and have not had the time to look up whether UNESCO or anybody else has, rather than just the ability to influence in this area, more specific responsibilities or powers. Internet service providers have some responsibility for checking that those wishing to access that kind of material are indeed adults, but should they have more responsibility? Perhaps someone could look at that. I know that some rules exist which should prevent the use of children in pornography and, to some extent, those are much more likely to be firm. Again, however, we all know that there is quite a lot of this stuff around even if it is more protected in certain ways.

It would be reassuring if the Minister could look at this whole area as part of the Government’s strategy in looking at how to get rid of violence against women and children in the future.

Women: Economic Policies

Baroness Howe of Idlicote Excerpts

Thursday 16th December 2010 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Howe of Idlicote]

My Lords, earlier this year the Women and Work Commission estimated that improving women’s participation in the workforce is worth between £15 billion and £23 billion to the economy each year. With the British economy clearly in need of such extra financial input, what plans do the Government have to ensure that both the private and the public sectors maximise talent at its appropriate qualification level? I ask this not least in light of the drastic cuts being made to government services, which will mean that the major job losses are in fact for women.

[Baroness Verma]

My Lords, in responding to the noble Baroness, Lady Massey, I pointed out that the Government take seriously the fact that the impact will fall predominantly on the lowest paid workers. That is why the Government have decided it is much better to ensure that flexible working is available to far more people. It means that women who often work in jobs below their potential are able to work at times better suited to them and their families, and that fathers are able to take more responsibility for caring at home.