Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill

Debate between Baroness Smith of Basildon and Lord Flight

Monday 18th November 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Flight]

I would like to respond to that. Yes, there are problems; persistent begging is a very hard thing to deal with. I think that the Westminster argument is that its present tools include a tool which has had some success; it is concerned that the new arrangements, because of the double doing, would be less useful.

[Baroness Smith of Basildon]

My Lords, I listened carefully to what the noble Lord, Lord Flight, had to say in this debate. I noticed at the beginning that he was not 100% convinced that he had the right words in the amendment. That is less important in Committee than the intent of what he is seeking to do. Likewise, I was sorry not to get to the briefing last week with Councillor Aiken, but she also wrote to me. I was very struck by the comments she made in her letter. I do not think it is the point that the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, made that everything is perfect now. Her concern is that there are serious problems and she would be quite happy to see improvements in the legislation to help the council address the issues it is facing. The fear is that the new legislation will weaken its ability. The noble Lord is indicating that I am correct in my understanding of her views.

Councillor Aiken, who, I understand, is the cabinet member for community protection, is probably at the sharp end of this more than any of us in your Lordships’ House are in dealing with these matters. She says:

“While I recognise that the current legislation to deal with anti-social behaviour may require review”;

I think that all of us would accept that improvements can always be made. She goes on to say:

“It is therefore worrying that a Government committed to ensuring people feel safe in their homes and communities and are intent upon freeing up crime fighting capacity, is instead seeking to pass legislation which will weaken local power to protect communities and increase bureaucratic process around enforcement”.

It takes a lot for a councillor to be writing to Ministers and Members of your Lordships’ House with those kinds of comments, when all they are seeking to do is improve their position.

My impression from her letter, as well as information which I have looked for myself, is that the council is being pretty effective in tackling this very serious problem, and there may be a case that more tools are needed to assist them in doing so. They have some suggestions. The noble Lord, Lord Flight, suggested meeting councillors to listen to their concerns. I think that they would be very pleased to know whether their approach and their tackling of this issue would be improved by the Government’s proposals and whether their fears could be allayed. Clearly, there cannot be a situation whereby a council dealing with a serious problem affecting our capital city, and, presumably, a number of other cities, is worried that it is going to lose the capacity to deal with something that has to be addressed and which causes great concern to local residents.

I hope that the Minister or his colleagues can undertake to have a meeting with the council. That would be a sensible way forward and perhaps the noble Lord, Lord Flight, would report back on Report. He mentioned aggressive begging, and there are other kinds of aggressive behaviour, including harassment, that cause great distress to residents and visitors. I hope that the noble Lord will accommodate the comments made by the noble Lord, Lord Flight.