Offenders: Pregnant Women

Lord Loomba Excerpts

Wednesday 17th November 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Loomba (CB)]

My Lords, inhuman treatment and neglect are not part of any sentence handed down by British courts to anyone, let alone to pregnant women offenders. In view of the Baby A case, the circumstances of which are truly shameful, will the Government establish an independent monitoring service for pregnant prisoners to provide confidence that the standards of care are appropriate? Until that monitoring service is established, can the Minister tell us whether the Government will undertake to implement the ombudsman’s recommendations in full, and that the provision of care for such vulnerable women in our care will be pondered sufficiently?

[Lord Wolfson of Tredegar (Con)]

My Lords, there is rather a lot in that. As far as the ombudsman is concerned, we and the Prison and Probation Service have accepted and completed the implementation of the recommendations. We have set up the board, which I mentioned in response to the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath. We have put a lot of money into this area. I am not convinced that setting up another inspection body is needed; we already have a very robust inspection regime for prisons, with a specific focus on prisoners with additional vulnerabilities, including pregnancy.

Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims (Amendment) Bill

Lord Loomba Excerpts

Friday 27th January 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Loomba]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Laming, for initiating this debate. Domestic violence is an important issue which impacts on the lives of many families, including children. There is growing evidence that children who live in families where there is violence between parents can suffer serious long-term emotional, and lasting psychological, damage.

Let me first declare my interest as a vice-president of Barnardo’s, a leading charity in the UK which is working to address the problems of domestic violence and the effect that it has on the children in families. Barnardo’s aims to alleviate the long-term effects of domestic violence on children through counselling and family support services. Many mothers continue to provide love and stability for their children in very difficult circumstances and Barnardo’s tries to strengthen their ability to cope. Where a mother’s ability to look after her children has been undermined by the stress of living with fear, Barnardo’s tries to help her improve her confidence and self-esteem so that she can protect herself and her children from violence.

The violence between adults is often directly projected on to children. Many public inquiries into the deaths of children in recent years have shown that the men responsible for the death of children have a history of violence towards their female partners. In a liberal society equality should apply to all: legislation and practices should take into account the specific needs of all its citizens. UNICEF’s Convention on the Rights of the Child defines its mission as to protect children’s rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. Yet how often does this convention take into account the difficulties that families face?

For example, one of the areas that is least understood is the role that alcohol plays in the family structure. A man does not necessarily have to go to a pub or a bar; he can drink to excess at home and the family will not wish to publicise it to the outside world. In many cases neither social services nor alcohol dependency groups understand what is happening in such families, or how to create awareness within isolated communities. On average, women contact 11 agencies before they receive the help they need. The number increases to 17 in cases of black and ethnic minority women.

Domestic violence has often been seen as a problem between adults; it was thought that as long as children were not in the same room and caught in the crossfire they would not be affected by violence between their parents. However, there is a growing understanding of the risks to children. We must accept that children’s lives can be damaged by domestic violence. It is also clear that children are not deceived by closed doors. They are extremely aware of tension in the adult world, particularly the tension that leads to violence. This exposure to extreme and continuous violence without intervention allows the child to accept it as part of their development, often resulting in their perpetrating such violence in adult life. Through violence in the home, children may suffer emotional and psychological damage. The very young may show physical signs of distress such as bedwetting, stomachaches and disturbed sleep. Older children can become withdrawn or exhibit extreme behaviour such as misusing alcohol or drugs. Social workers need to be more aware of these inherent problems and what they can do to help.

Poverty often leads to domestic violence. People seek asylum in civilised countries because of the level of violence they face in their own countries. Forced marriage, as mentioned earlier, is another form of domestic violence, as the woman does not give consent to the marriage and the decision is made by family members, most likely for immigration purposes. Her body is violated against her will, which one can say is tantamount to rape. A message must be conveyed that forced marriages must never be tolerated, and stern action must be taken against those who perpetrate them.

I shall now refer to Clause 5. The ambiguity surrounding this part of the Bill needs to be promptly addressed, and I hope that this Second Reading will end the doubt surrounding the Bill. The noble Lord, Lord Laming, mentioned the case of Baby P. That case was shrouded in doubt as both defendants were passing the blame and the judge could not confirm which party was to blame. This seems not only flawed but quite simply a juvenile act which makes a mockery of the judicial system. Although resolution was eventually found and both the mother and her partner were sentenced, one must see that had the child not died, Clause 5 would have been negated, and there is a chance that no conviction would have been found.

Murder and manslaughter are dealt with in sentencing, yet if a child is seriously harmed, left with broken bones and multiple wounds, Clause 5 will not be applicable. This clause desperately needs to be extended to include serious physical harm, as there are far too many cases when no conviction of parent or carer is found because of each passing the blame and the fact that the child is alive, even if it is in a vegetative state. Many more convictions and much more resolution will be found by the expansion of the Bill to include the term “serious harm”.

Significant reductions in the vital help and support available to women and children at risk will put additional pressures on the services that survive. The impact of reduced specialist domestic violence services as well as cuts to other services, such as police, risks an increase in deaths or serious harm caused by domestic violence. We cannot afford to take that risk. I urge the Minister to examine these cuts, because when you assist a woman you are actually helping the entire family. Today’s debate indicates how important it is to focus not only on domestic violence but on its impact on the family and, more importantly, more generally. No civilised society or nation can live in peace if crimes are committed against women and children. We must set an example to the rest of the world in affirming that women are the cradle of civilisation and we will not be compromised by any legislation that treats them differently, particularly on issues of violence.

Rehabilitation of Offenders (Amendment) Bill [HL]

Lord Loomba Excerpts

Friday 21st January 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Loomba]

My Lords, it is with some trepidation, but a lot of courage, that I rise to address your Lordships for the first time in this magnificent Chamber. I was introduced to your Lordships' House by the leader and the deputy leader of my party, my noble friends Lord McNally and Lord Dholakia, for which I am most grateful.

I was introduced last Monday, just four days ago, but it feels as if I have been here much longer. Nobody warned me about long night shifts. The good thing is that I have enjoyed my short time here, but it would be so nice to get back to normality soon.

Your Lordships may like to know that I am a businessman. However, during the past 13 years, I have been engaged with my charity, the Loomba Foundation. It is committed to raising awareness of the plight of widows and their children around the world who suffer through poverty, illiteracy, HIV, conflict and social injustice.

I am glad that my charity has been able to give respect and dignity to widows, but we need to do more. My work in the poverty, education and empowerment of widows has crossed political boundaries. It has also crossed geographical limitations, because disadvantage does not honour national boundaries.

The Loomba Foundation has educated thousands of children of poor widows in India. It has also provided financial aid to their mothers so that they can live a life of dignity. As part of our global work, we are empowering unfortunate widows by setting up businesses for them in Kenya, Rwanda, Malawi, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Syria.

We are hugely proud that on 22 December 2010 the United Nations recognised 23 June as International Widows Day. It was launched by the Loomba Foundation at the House of Lords in 2005, and we continued to campaign for its recognition by the United Nations.

Noble Lords may ask what is the relevance of my charitable work and the Private Member’s Bill of the noble Lord, Lord Dholakia. Let me explain. Those trapped in a cycle of deprivation find it almost impossible to get out of it. Furthermore, many are dragged into crime, drugs, alcoholism, abuse and human trafficking because these are the only avenues open to them. I support the Bill on the basis that giving offenders opportunities for rehabilitation is a matter of elementary justice. When an offender is sentenced by a court, he or she receives a sentence which the court considers the just punishment for the crime. When an offender has paid the penalty, it is surely wrong in principle for society to inflict further non-judicial punishment on the offender, such as making it difficult or impossible for him or her to obtain employment.

However, rehabilitation is not only in the offender’s interest; it is also a vital part of public protection. The more effectively we can rehabilitate offenders, the fewer crimes there will be in the future. Rehabilitation not only helps former offenders to avoid wasting their lives in criminal activity, it also reduces the loss, distress and injury suffered by victims of crime. There is nothing more distressing for a former offender who is genuinely trying to put his past behind him than to be refused a job because of past offences he is trying not to repeat. There is nothing more distressing for a former offender seeking insurance so that he can get honest employment in a driving job than to be refused insurance because he has a criminal record.

Yet these things happen to former offenders day after day. Many employers and insurance companies will not consider people who have a criminal record, however sincerely they are trying to reform their lives. In a government-commissioned research study by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, employers said that they were likely to reject people with criminal records for half their vacancies and to reject those with more serious convictions for 90 per cent of their vacancies.

The human cost of the current position was well illustrated in a letter received by the noble Lord, Lord Dholakia, from a former offender who had read about his Private Member’s Bill. The letter said:

“I am an ex-offender who committed a single criminal act at the age of 18 whilst in the grip of an addiction to gambling, for which I was sentenced to three years in a young offender institution. At the time I thought the loss of my liberty and my chosen career was the greatest punishment but I was so wrong. Having to live in fear at every job interview that I will be asked ‘the’ question has hung over me like a cloud since the day I was released over 21 years ago, even leading to bouts of depression”.

When this happens, there is always a risk that in despair and depression the individual will return to the criminal way of life that he has been trying to leave behind. Therefore, I strongly support the provision of this Bill, which will reduce the number of old and irrelevant convictions that ex-offenders have to declare to employers.

The extent to which society supports rehabilitation of offenders is a key test of that society’s civilised values. Do we want to live in a society that offers those who have made mistakes in their lives an opportunity of rehabilitation and inclusion, or do we want to live in a society that continues to inflict punishment on former offenders for the rest of their lives, driving them further and further to the margins of society and making it difficult or even impossible for them to find redemption and reform? I believe that the first kind of society is in every way morally preferable and ask noble Lords to join me in supporting this Bill as a step towards a society that reflects the values of compassion, fairness and justice. This is something that has shaped my life and is the basis of a decent, civilised society.