Draft Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (Amendment) Order 2017
Sarah Newton Excerpts(7 years ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Sarah Newton)
I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (Amendment) Order 2017.
The draft order was laid before Parliament on 14 March.
It is a great pleasure, Mr Rosindell, to serve under your chairmanship. I am sure that you and all hon. Members present will join me in welcoming the Hansard trainees, who are observing our proceedings this morning. As we all know, Hansard plays an incredibly important role in the life of Parliament. For hundreds of years it has been providing an invaluable service. They will be joining some very illustrious recorders. If we think back in history, some of the greatest writers, such as none other than Charles Dickens, were Hansard recorders. In this digital age our constituents, and indeed anyone around the world, can follow the proceedings of Parliament, so accurately reported by Hansard recorders, and that is an invaluable part of democracy that has been copied all over the world. I genuinely wish them great success in their traineeships: I hope that you stay on, become recorders and that we see you at events such as this, so we can look up from the Benches and see you in your places—a very warm welcome.
As Members might expect, especially the hon. Member for West Ham, who is a regular attendee at these Committees, the information that informs the draft order was provided from the expert advice of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. That advice has led to the order.
The draft order relates to one opioid, U-47,700, 12 methylphenidate-based drugs and 16 benzodiazepines. It places U-47,700 in class A under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, in schedule 1 to the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001, because the associated harms of U-47,700 are similar to those of other synthetic opioids controlled under the 1971 Act.
In relation to the methylphenidate substances, at the recommendation of the ACMD, 12 compounds will be placed as class B drugs under the Act. They include the seven originally under a temporary ban through a temporary control drug order, which is due to expire on 26 June. That recommendation was informed by a report from the National Programme of Substance Abuse Deaths that, as of November 2016, ethylphenidate had been found in 28 cases of post-mortem toxicology and was implicated in the cause of death in 17 cases, albeit with other drugs present in many of the cases.
The 16 named benzodiazepines, including etizolam, are to be controlled as class C drugs. That is consistent with the classification of other benzodiazepines, which are already controlled under the 1971 Act. The ACMD has recommended that they are classed as schedule 1 substances. We will continue to monitor them to ensure that their scheduling remains appropriate given that one of the benzodiazepines, etizolam, has been authorised for medicinal use in Italy. The draft order will make it an offence to produce, import, export, supply, or offer to supply the in question drugs without a Home Office licence. For those reasons, I accepted the ACMD’s advice that the substances should be subject to the order before the Committee today.
Given the recent media focus on synthetic cannabinoids, or spice as they are sometimes known, it is worth highlighting the Government’s action over the past few years to tackle the problems associated with those drugs. The hon. Lady will recall that as recently as December third-generation synthetic cannabinoids, such as those found in spice, were controlled as a class B drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act. That subjects them to the stricter controls and penalties of that Act, including by making the possession of them illegal. That measure followed the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016, which outlawed the production and supply of so-called legal highs. The Act covers the formulation of synthetic cannabinoids capable of producing a psychoactive effect.
The combination of those measures has helped to arm enforcement agencies with the powers they need to tackle these substances, while making it clear that the Government will not tolerate such dangerous drugs. We believe that the harms associated with drug misuse are best tackled through a combined approach that includes reducing demand, restricting supply and improving recovery. We expect the order to have a significant effect on the availability of the three types of synthetic substances and to reinforce the message that the misuse of them poses an unacceptable health risk if they are not placed under the controls of the 1971 Act. I commend the order to the Committee.
Sarah Newton
I welcome the constructive comments of the hon. Member for West Ham and will attempt to respond to them now. She raised some detailed points about evidence from the ACMD, and I will be pleased to write to her about them. She is right to say that all our decisions are based on the ACMD’s advice; I am very grateful for the work of Dr Owen Bowden-Jones, who so ably chairs the organisation, and that of the people who share their expertise to enable us to make the best possible decisions. I will write to the hon. Lady about the details, but I will say a few words about our approach. We asked the ACMD to look at the scope of the scientific research on the particular questions that she raised. That work is ongoing, and I will give an indication in my letter of when we anticipate that the ACMD will complete it.
It is really important that we understand how harmful these substances are. We must make every effort not only to send out very clear messages about their harmfulness, but to restrict supply—both internationally, by preventing such substances from coming into our country, and domestically, by preventing those that are being manufactured here from getting into the hands of the vulnerable people whom the hon. Lady described so well in her speech. Equally, some controlled substances can have a positive medicinal effect, and it is important that we have a regime that permits that to happen. I am very pleased that the ACMD is getting on with looking into and revising the structure of it to ensure that it is really fit for purpose and that we are striking the right balance. I look forward to its coming back to me shortly with its review.
I hope that that has addressed the issues that the hon. Lady raised about these substances. I agree with her that although it is essential that we take action to ban such substances, as we are doing today, that is not everything that we need to do. We must also prevent people of all ages from desiring to take them in the first place, in order to prevent all the terrible consequences—the health consequences for users and the consequences for society more broadly.
The hon. Lady invited me to comment on the Government’s direction of travel. It is absolutely clear that, irrespective of whether it has been published, the strategy is really focused on an evidence base for how we can best educate young people in particular about the harms of wanting to take drugs. We need to enable them to be resilient and understand the risks so that they do not even want to take them in the first place. I am sure she agrees that the Government’s decision to make PSHE and sex and relationships education compulsory is vital for that. Extremely good work is already being done by PSHE teachers throughout the country. We also have the excellent resource “Frank”, which pools all the best available information for young people.
Lyn Brown
I was trying to be sisterly by not intervening any earlier, but the issue of “Frank” has got to me. When we discussed “Frank” on the Psychoactive Substances Bill Committee, we agreed across parties that it was not the best resource that could be available and that it needed a massive overhaul and update. I say gently to the Minister that it would be lovely if she wrote to me to let me know how that work is progressing.
Sarah Newton
I appreciate the spirit and manner of the hon. Lady’s question, and I can assure her that the comments that she made were obviously taken on board. That work is ongoing, and it is regularly updated. I have met the PSHE Association, and I have been to conferences where there have been experts from around the world, so we are constantly learning and updating that resource.
It is pleasing to note that the number of young people taking drugs is really declining. The high was in 2003, and the number now is less than half the number then; it is down to just over 8% of young people who are experimenting with drugs. That is 8% too many, but it is a significant reduction in the number of young people who want to take drugs in the first place.
The interventions to support people to come off drugs are also improving. The number of people going into therapy has increased—it is up on the 2010 number. People get access to that treatment, and the percentage of people who are sustaining not taking drugs after they leave treatment is about 80%, so we have seen significant progress.
I would love to get on and publish the drugs strategy, but I assure Members that even without that strategy we are moving with vigour and at pace to address what we would all agree is a scourge for the people concerned and the communities involved. The hon. Lady mentioned the situation in Manchester. I have been in touch with the police there, and they have reassured me that they have the resources needed. The police budget has been protected, but operational decisions about how the police are deployed are very much down to the police themselves. Of course, measures such as the one we are now considering will give them more enforcement powers. They will be able to go after people even for possession offences, to reduce the prevalence of this harm on the street.
I hope that I have given enough evidence today to enable Members to agree with me that this order is an important step in tackling a very challenging issue for our country, and that alongside work to prevent people from taking drugs and to make sure that good-quality recovery opportunities are always available for people, it will really help to prevent the harms that we associate with these substances.
Question put and agreed to.
Disclosure and Barring Service
Sarah Newton Excerpts(7 years, 2 months ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Sarah Newton)
The 2015-16 annual report and accounts for the Disclosure and Barring Service (HC 451) are being laid before the House today and published on www.gov.uk. Copies will be available in the Vote Office.
[HCWS541]
Child Abuse Offences (Sentencing)
Sarah Newton Excerpts(7 years, 2 months ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Sarah Newton)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Moon. I am sure you will agree that this has been a well-informed debate, and I very much appreciate the spirit in which all Members have made sincere and thoughtful contributions.
This is an incredibly important issue, and I thank the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne North (Catherine McKinnell) for leading the debate and bringing the issue to our attention today. It has allowed us to have such a thorough discussion. Other Members have said this, but this issue is not really something that any of us wants to debate. It is horrendous to think that such appalling acts of depravity and crime are happening in our country in the 21st century.
Before I address all the very thoughtful questions that have been put to me, I want to speak directly to the family of April Jones—to her parents Coral and Paul, and to Jazmin—who are here today. I cannot imagine the horror of what you have had to experience. You are an inspiration to us all. You have managed to take such grief and the worst imaginable situation and use those feelings so constructively to campaign for changes to ensure that no other family or community has to experience what you had to experience. I thank you sincerely for your bravery and persistence in bringing this matter to the attention of the people of Great Britain and us here today. It is not a problem that any one of us will deal with alone; it requires a whole society approach, and each and every one of us has an important role to play. I thank you very much for everything you are doing.
I also commend the family’s excellent MP, my hon. Friend the Member for Montgomeryshire (Glyn Davies). He has given the family a lot of support and gave voice to their concerns today. What a powerful advocate he is for the family—and he is well supported by his neighbouring MP, my hon. Friend the Member for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire (Simon Hart). As others have said, the issue transcends all party politics. Members of Parliament representing all parties work together constructively to ensure that the Government are doing everything we can to prevent, detect and prosecute these horrendous crimes.
I want to answer some of the questions that have been asked. The first set of questions were about what we are doing about who is on the sex offenders register. I understand why people think that anyone who has committed any such crime should go on the register and stay there for life without any reconsideration. I understand that strong sentiment, but the Supreme Court ruling in 2010 has been mentioned, and I want to go into a bit more detail about it. It prevented us from not giving sex offenders the opportunity to be removed from the register: we were told that there must be opportunities for that to be reconsidered. There was an objection about human rights and the offenders being denied the right to a family life. At the time, the Government were disappointed by the ruling, and we remain disappointed today. I am sympathetic to the demands of the petition and the concerns of the Jones family. I understand why they feel that the petition is necessary.
It is precisely because we are determined to do everything we can to protect the public from predatory sexual offenders that we made the minimum possible changes to the law to comply with the Supreme Court ruling, while ensuring that the police and others can protect the public from the serious and appalling sorts of crime that have been committed by individuals on the register. That means that no offender comes off the register automatically. The most dangerous offenders—those we cannot afford to leave unmonitored in this country—will stay on the register for life; they do not have a right to request reconsideration of their status on the register.
We have provided for a review carried out by the police, but no more than that. Offenders have the right to ask the police to reconsider, but they have no recourse to appeal. We believe that approach complies with the Supreme Court ruling, but it also ensures maximum public protection, which remains at the heart of managing sex offenders. They can seek a review of their indefinite notification requirements only once they have completed 15 years. For juveniles, it is eight years. People have to wait a long time before they can even request a review.
The review takes a range of considerations into account. Information is provided from a wide range of agencies operating within the multi-agency public protection arrangements framework. This ensures an individual assessment of the risk before any offender is considered for removal. As I have said, the most serious offenders are never even considered for that. The process has proven robust and workable and puts public protection at the heart of sex offender management, while at the same time preventing sex offenders from being able to waste public money by repeatedly challenging decisions in the courts.
We want to make sure that victims are also engaged in the process. We want to ensure that the feelings of victims’ families—for example, in the tragic case of the Jones family—are taken into consideration. Victims’ needs and safety are absolutely fundamental in the process. It is important to remember that many victims who have undergone appalling acts against them want to move on with their lives. They have had therapeutic interventions and they want to put it behind them. We need to bear in mind their views as well. The police look at cases to make sure that victims’ voices are heard in a sensitive way. They are not necessarily publicly forced into anything; they are treated according to their needs.
When we made the changes in 2012, we also introduced additional safeguards to tighten the notification arrangements even further, making it compulsory for sex offenders to report to the authorities before travelling abroad, whenever they are living in a household containing a child under the age of 18, and when they have no fixed abode. It is important that we always know where they are. Collectively, the safeguards ensure that the public continue to be protected from the sex offenders who continue to pose a risk.
We have continued to work with the police and other law enforcement agencies to ensure that the right powers are available for the authorities to tackle sexual crimes and bring perpetrators to justice. For example, we have introduced new civil orders that capture a range of risky behaviours and allow the police to further restrict the behaviour of those who pose a risk, preventing them from escalating to contact abuse. I want to be absolutely clear that victims and survivors of sexual and other forms of violence against women and girls are at the heart of all our policy making. Over the spending review period, we will spend more than £100 million to make sure that victims get the help they need when they need it and to ensure that no victim is turned away.
The petition that we are debating today also calls for better policing of search engines and internet service providers. I agree that that is absolutely critical. Under the Protection of Children Act 1978, it is illegal to take or distribute an indecent photograph of a child under 16. The penalty can be up to 10 years’ imprisonment. Possessing indecent photographs of children is an offence with a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment. However, we know that more can be done.
Through the campaigning of Paul and Coral Jones, major search engines have tried to address the abuse of technology. Since 2014, both Google and Microsoft have introduced changes that make it significantly harder to find child sexual abuse material online. Using new technology, they have experienced an eightfold reduction in search engine attempts over an 18-month period. The message is clear: when industry works together with law enforcement to take action, it really can deliver results.
The Government’s response has been significant, with law enforcement agencies taking action against online offenders, developing new capabilities to find and safeguard victims, and working with the industry here and overseas to make sure that we remove as many images as possible. All UK police forces and the National Crime Agency are connected to the child abuse image database, which was launched in 2014. CAID provides law enforcement agencies with effective tools to search seized devices for indecent images of children, reducing the time taken to identify such images and increasing the ability to identify victims.
Recently, the NCA was able to use CAID to review one of its largest ever seizures within six weeks. Based on the case size, that would have taken six months to review before CAID. Collaboration and use of the new tools that are available are dramatically reducing the time it takes to search, find victims and secure prosecutions. That has resulted in around 400 arrests each month for online CSE offences, and we estimate that it is safeguarding around 500 children each month.
Child sexual exploitation and abuse is one of the national priorities in the strategic policing requirement. The threat will be more visible and there will be more consistent understanding, prioritisation and planning of capabilities to tackle child sexual abuse. The strategic policing requirement enables forces to collaborate and to share resources, intelligence and best practice, and provides improved access to specialist capabilities.
Some Members have asked whether we are giving the police enough money to do the work. I absolutely want to reassure everyone here that the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, the main specialist agency within the National Crime Agency, has had its resources nearly doubled. We have committed an additional £20 million over the spending review period. It also gets a significant amount of help from specialists within GCHQ, so our top intelligence community, which is there to keep the nation safe, is now deployed to help CEOP. I regularly meet police officers in CEOP. Every time I visit, I ask them, “Do you have the resources you need to tackle this crime?”, and they all say yes. The amount of investment that we put in is something we keep under constant review.
One Member asked whether we were investing in WeProtect. The need to work internationally has rightly been raised today because the threat is global. I can confirm that the £40 million commitment that the previous Prime Minister, David Cameron, made to WeProtect over this spending period is absolutely secure and is being spent. The UK leads the world in this effort, and we will continue that work. As has been rightly said by many people here today and outside this Chamber, all companies have a responsibility to ensure that they do everything they can to make sure that their platforms and services do not allow the exploitation and victimisation of children. They must address the abuse of what is otherwise legitimate technology. It is really important that they step up to the plate and do everything they can.
The Prime Minster, the Home Secretary and I have regular meetings with all the internet providers—the Prime Minister herself chairs a meeting—to make sure they do everything they can. In the light of the revelations reported by the BBC about Facebook, the Home Secretary will have an urgent meeting with Facebook to ask why the images were not taken down after being reported. We must be satisfied that lessons are learnt by Facebook. We must not leave any stone unturned.
There has been quite a bit of discussion about sentencing. Although it is a matter for our courts, in December 2013, as a result of a lot of pressure, the Sentencing Council issued revised guidelines on sentencing for sexual offences, which came into force three years ago. They include guidance on assessing offender behaviour and the appropriate sentence level in proceedings relating to indecent images of children. The Sentencing Council keeps the maximum penalties under review to ensure that the courts have adequate powers to deal with offences effectively and proportionately, while taking into account the circumstances of the offences and any mitigating and aggravating factors.
More adult sex offenders are being imprisoned and they are being imprisoned for longer. The number of prisoners serving immediate custodial sentences for sexual offences is at its highest since 2002. At the end of last year, more than 13,000 adult sex offenders were in prison. That is a rise of 9% on the preceding 12 months, and is up by more than 5,000 since 2010.
Gareth Johnson
The Minister will recall that the manifesto that she and I stood on at the last general election included a commitment to extend the scope of the unduly lenient sentence scheme. Even after the Budget, our manifesto must mean something. Does she therefore agree that it is time to extend the scope of the unduly lenient sentence scheme to include the distribution and creation of indecent pictures of children?
Sarah Newton
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that important issue. He must have read my mind, because I was coming to it. The manifesto we stood on does mean something, and I am pleased to confirm that the Attorney General is undertaking that work as we speak. The scope of unduly lenient sentences is being reviewed at the moment. I hope that gives my hon. Friend the satisfaction for which he rightly asks.
I was asked by other hon. Members to look at other aspects of the criminal justice system. Although they are the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice, I will do so. I agree that it is important that, if perpetrators who are arrested have a range of digital devices, they should be forfeited and searched for inappropriate images. As we have heard, that puts a lot of demand on the police, but new digital tools, such as CAID and fingerprinting, enable much faster recognition of images and should enable the police to manage the increased demand.
Simon Hart
In the Minister’s representations to the MOJ, will she commit to raising the issue of whether the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority reflects the 21st century? It has been put to me that it treats the crimes of sexual assault by penetration and rape entirely differently. Any victim of those crimes would find that an extraordinary distinction.
Sarah Newton
My hon. Friend makes a very important point. Of course I will speak to my colleagues in the Ministry of Justice.
I want to finish my point on perpetrators time-wasting, demanding things of the police and extracting information from forfeited devices. The hon. Member for Dwyfor Meirionnydd (Liz Saville Roberts) gave an example of a teacher who undoubtedly, as they were going on the sex offenders register, would never be a teacher again. They did not need the teaching plans and resources that they wanted to extract from their computer. That was a dreadful waste of police time. I will certainly take that up to see what more we can do to clamp down on it.
The Prime Minister recently said that she is minded to introduce a new Bill in the next Session to look at what more we can do about domestic abuse and domestic violence. This debate is specifically about child sexual violence and abuse, but that Bill will enable us to look at what more we can do legally. The Home Secretary will chair a group of experts to look at what more we can do to support victims in the criminal justice system to ensure their experience is as positive as possible. The evidence that we get will secure the best possible outcomes. As that Bill is developed, there will be opportunities to look at some of the issues that have been raised today.
A question was asked about what is called Helen’s law. We heard about the absolutely horrendous situation of families who want to know where the bodies of their loved ones have been put by the horrendous criminals who perpetrated those acts. I am a mother myself, so I understand that families want to know exactly where their children’s remains are so they can be reunited with them, lay them to rest and have a place to visit them. The Justice Minister made it clear that he is looking at options to encourage offenders to say where the remains are, including making their release conditional on declaring that information. The Ministry of Justice is doing good work to ensure that happens.
Catherine McKinnell
The Minister is giving a very thorough response to many of the issues that were raised, but one issue that she has not touched upon, which does not always seem a priority but could go a long way to protecting children in the future, is rehabilitation. Does she have a response to the questions I asked about funding for the rehabilitation of offenders or potential offenders?
Sarah Newton
I am very happy to talk about that. We are undertaking a comprehensive piece of work in the Home Office with experts, academics, law enforcement officers and some particularly good charities that have a good track record, to ensure that young people understand what consent is, what good relationships are and what the law of the land is. We have seen reports about the amount of sex offending committed by young people against other young people. The very tragic case that we are talking about today involved an older person who perpetrated a terrible crime against a child, but there is a growing category of younger people who commit appalling abuse—even rape—against children younger than themselves. We are doing a lot of work to educate young people that that is simply wrong and about what good relationships look like. The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, the association for personal, social and health and economic education—the PSHE Association—and the Department for Education have developed extremely good tools to enable teachers, parents and youth workers to engage young people.
I expect that people have seen Disrespect NoBody, a large campaign that the Home Office funds every year. It uses material developed by children that they can see online on their phones and iPads to get those messages across. We work with young people to develop age-appropriate messages, and campaigns are thoroughly evaluated to ensure that they are having the right effect. Now that sex and relationship education and PSHE are to be compulsory, there will be even further opportunity to send that message to everyone.
We know that a lot of young men view images of young girls online, but that they do not realise that what they are doing is illegal. They seem to think that it is a victimless crime. They do not appreciate that a girl is being abused to make those images, that every time someone watches them she is being re-abused, and how devastating that is. We have worked with experts in the field to make hard-hitting little films that are put out on the internet to communicate to young men—I am afraid that it is young men—who might be tempted to view that material or who might inadvertently come across it. The films are to educate them about the harm and to prevent them from becoming criminals—if they were caught, they would be convicted of a criminal offence and go on the sex offenders register, which would have a devastating effect on their life.
We are working with the Lucy Faithfull Foundation. Where we know perpetrators are watching images, we want to send out clear messages that they are illegal, and about the harm they are doing. We want to give them access to helplines where they can get advice on how to wean themselves off their addiction—it is an addiction. We also fund care and support services for the perpetrators, enabling them to say, “I want to stop this behaviour but I need help to do it.”
That is all new and emerging work. It is important to build up the evidence base on its effectiveness, so that we understand what works, what does not, the risk profile of the perpetrators, and who can be diverted or prevented from behaviour escalating into contact abuse. We take that seriously and invest in it, and we want to leave no stone unturned in preventing people from watching those dreadful images and all the abuse that goes with them. I hope that that is a full answer for the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne North.
Some hon. Members mentioned the comments of Chief Constable Simon Bailey. As politicians, none of us is a stranger to being misquoted, or having our quotes being taken out of context so that we do not say everything we would want. That is what happened to the chief constable in this case. It was helpful for the Chair of the Home Affairs Committee to write to ask him about some of the comments he made and the media published. My understanding is that he has written back a full response, which will be published on the Select Committee’s website. The chief constable does not need me to speak for him—he is more than capable of speaking for himself—and it is important for Members to read what he has to say. He might be appearing before the Select Committee, when Committee members will have further opportunity to ask him about what he said so that there is absolute clarity.
I can assure the House, however, that the Government’s policy has not changed. As we have discussed today, issues to do with sex offenders are complicated and contentious, but our position is crystal clear and unequivocal: we will reduce the harm to children and other vulnerable people; we will continue to protect the public; and we will keep dangerous people on the sex offenders register for as long as they are a risk. I am proud of the progress we are making to tackle all aspects of violence against women and girls and to protect all victims, but the truly terrible murder of April Jones highlights how much all of us need to do to protect victims. In my time as Minister, I am determined to do absolutely everything I can to protect people in our country and to bring those perpetrators to justice.
Oral Answers to Questions
Sarah Newton Excerpts(7 years, 2 months ago)
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Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Sarah Newton)
I very much welcome this question from my hon. Friend, who is chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on retail crime, which recently launched a report on this very subject. I can assure him that we take retail crime very seriously. I am co-chair of the National Retail Crime Steering Group with the British Retail Consortium, which brings together retailers and the police to understand the challenge and take effective action.
Martin Vickers
I thank the Minister for her reply, but she will be aware of growing concern among retailers about levels of both physical and verbal abuse. Will she do something to ensure that police across the country prioritise this issue sufficiently? Retailers are worried that different areas receive a different response from the different forces.
Sarah Newton
Let us be absolutely clear: violence or verbal abuse of any kind is simply not acceptable for any workforce in our country. I shall take this issue forward through the national steering group, and will draw particularly on the very effective work that has been done between the police and forecourt retailers, where we put in place measures that are really improving police response around the country.
Mr David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)
On that very point, the Minister will know that as well as seeing an increase of crime carried out on shop workers, we have also seen under-reporting of that crime. Will she urge businesses to encourage their employees to support the campaign of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers on freedom from fear and indeed to report these crimes?
Sarah Newton
The right hon. Gentleman makes an incredibly important point, and we very much work alongside USDAW on the national steering group that I mentioned. I absolutely back up his call that everybody should report crime. There are some excellent initiatives in town centres all over the country through which businesses and the police are working well together to ensure that such an increase in reporting happens.
Kelvin Hopkins (Luton North) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Sarah Newton)
Mrs Newton indeed, Mr Speaker.
We introduced the new offence of controlling and coercive behaviour to shift the focus of the criminal justice system from single incidents to identifying and addressing patterns of abuse. The Home Secretary will chair a working group to drive change in how we think about and tackle domestic abuse, and this will include closely monitoring the implementation of this new offence.
Kelvin Hopkins
I thank the Minister for her answer, but existing police powers to remove perpetrators of domestic violence from a property are tremendously under-used, largely because costs and cuts in police funding have made the situation worse. What is the Minister going to do to help protect women affected by domestic violence?
Sarah Newton
This new offence was brought in right at the end of 2015, so the Office for National Statistics will not report on the level of uptake of the new police powers until later this spring. From my conversations with the police up and down the length and breadth of the country, I know that they are making very good use of the new powers.
Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)
Sarah Newton
My hon. Friend is quite right to talk about stalking, which can be a truly devastating crime. This Government are placing an absolute priority on keeping women and girls safe across our country through extra resources, extra training and new forces so that they can go after the perpetrators of these terrible and devastating crimes.
Ms Diane Abbott (Hackney North and Stoke Newington) (Lab)
The Opposition welcome the introduction of this legislation—it was, after all, Labour party policy—but when are the Government going to put their money where their mouth is on domestic violence? We know that local authority spending cuts have severely impacted on specialist domestic abuse services, which has meant cuts and closures. Women and children are being turned away daily at the point of need. Data from the Women’s Aid annual survey showed that on just one day in 2015, 92 women and 75 children were turned away from a refuge. When are the Government going to address the financial pressures on women’s refuges?
Sarah Newton
This Government have done more than any other to keep women and children in our country safe. It is very disappointing when the right hon. Lady takes a partisan approach to something that should unite the House rather than dividing it. As she knows, we have committed £20 million to refuges, and we have an £80 million transformation fund. Grassroots organisations throughout the country are benefiting from our record level of investment in services to keep women and children safe.
Ms Abbott
It is very disappointing that the Minister is not prepared to accept that, as a result of local government cuts, services are being reduced and refuges are closing. As for the question of resources, Her Majesty’s inspectorate of constabulary recently flagged up failings on the part of the police when they were dealing with the most vulnerable victims. In at least two forces, domestic abuse risk assessments were being conducted over the telephone. This is a consequence of trying to deal with increasing levels of demand with few resources, and if the Government are serious about combating domestic violence, they must make those resources available.
Sarah Newton
I very much welcome HMIC’s work in inspecting the police response to domestic abuse and violence. It is making excellent progress, as we saw in the police effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy programme—PEEL—reports last week. However, the right hon. Lady is right to point out that some force areas have more work to do. That is why we are helping the College of Policing to ensure that training is available, and why we are investing record amounts in the police transformation fund, which is enabling more organisations to provide the services that women and girls all over the country deserve.
Mr Stewart Jackson (Peterborough) (Con)
Coercion and controlling behaviour take different forms. Will the Minister undertake to extend the legislation to the postal voting regime? At every election, the votes of thousands of women are stolen through abuse of the postal voting system during so-called community voting, largely in the Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities. That is not acceptable, and the Government need to act now.
Sarah Newton
My hon. Friend has raised an incredibly important issue. What could be more important than people’s fundamental right to express their opinions at the ballot box, and to elect representatives to town councils and the House of Commons? We shall be taking a very close look at what more we can do to use those powers, and any others, to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to vote.
Byron Davies (Gower) (Con)
Carolyn Harris (Swansea East) (Lab)
Does the Home Secretary really believe that the 45 days of support for suspected victims of trafficking is adequate, given that the organisations working at the coalface of the problem, such as the Human Trafficking Foundation, the Salvation Army, the Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group, the Snowdrop Project, City Hearts and ECPAT, all say that it is completely unrealistic to expect to deal with the immigration, psychological, economic and housing issues that these vulnerable individuals are experiencing in 45 days? All those organisations also agree that this lethal combination is exposing victims to the real possibility of being re-trafficked.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Sarah Newton)
I think that it is important to remember that the Prime Minister has led a global challenge to crack down on slavery. We now have some of the best anti-trafficking legislation in the world, and really excellent protection for victims. What the hon. Lady said is not actually correct, because the average time that people receive through the national referral mechanism is 90 days. We are working on reforms to the system to ensure that it is absolutely the best in the world.
Craig Williams (Cardiff North) (Con)
Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Ratification of Convention) Bill
Sarah Newton ExcerptsFriday 24th February 2017
(7 years, 2 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Ratification of Convention) Act 2017 View all Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Ratification of Convention) Act 2017 Debates Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts Amendment Paper: Consideration of Bill Amendments as at 24 February 2017 - (24 Feb 2017)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Sarah Newton)
I thought I might assist the House by rising at this stage of the debate to explain Government amendments 1 to 17 and to address the valid concerns raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Philip Davies).
I very much welcome the opportunity to discuss the Bill on Report and to continue to work with the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Dr Whiteford) on this important issue. As the Prime Minister made absolutely clear at Prime Minister questions on Wednesday, the Government share the hon. Lady’s commitment to ensuring that the UK ratifies the Istanbul convention.
We signed the convention in 2012 to signal our aim that everyone, men and women, should live a life free from violence. The convention’s key priorities already align with those of the UK. They are to continue to increase reporting, prosecutions and convictions, and, ultimately, to prevent these crimes from happening in the first place. The UK already complies with or goes further than the convention requires, including by delivering against its practical requirements such as ensuring the provision of helplines, referral centres and appropriate shelters for victims, as well as by meeting its requirement to ensure we have robust legislation in place. However, before we are fully compliant with the convention, there remains one outstanding issue in relation to extraterritorial jurisdiction that we need to address.
The UK already exercises ETJ over a number of serious offences, including forced marriage, female genital mutilation and sexual offences against children. However, there are some violence against women and girls offences over which we do not yet have ETJ, and primary legislation is required to introduce it. I am working closely with my colleagues in the Ministry of Justice to progress this issue and, as the Prime Minister has signalled, we will explore all options for bringing the necessary legislation forward.
I made it clear in Committee that the Government fully support the principles that underpin the Bill. The hon. Member for Banff and Buchan is seeking to ensure that we deliver on our commitment to ratify the convention, and I thoroughly commend that aim. However, as I indicated in Committee, some amendments are necessary to ensure that the Bill achieves that aim. I shall set out the rationale behind the Government amendments.
Government amendment 1 would remove clause 1, but I should make it absolutely clear that we fully support the motivation behind the clause, which would require the Government to take all reasonable steps required to ratify the convention as soon as reasonably practicable. As I have set out, though, both we and the devolved Administrations need to legislate to introduce ETJ before we can ratify the convention. Members will appreciate that that this means there is a danger the clause could be interpreted as imposing a duty on the Government to legislate; indeed, it could be interpreted as pre-empting the will of Parliament. I assure Members that we support the intention behind the clause, and the requirements in the remainder of the Bill will ensure that we deliver on its aims. I am absolutely clear that seeking to remove the clause in no way changes our absolute commitment to ratifying the convention.
Clause 2 would require the Government to lay a report setting out next steps to be taken to enable the UK to ratify, and the expected date for that, within four weeks of the Bill receiving Royal Assent. As I outlined in Committee, we fully support the motivation behind the clause but, as we need to legislate on ETJ before ratification, we need to ensure appropriate flexibility for the timing within which we need to lay the report. Such flexibility is also necessary because Northern Ireland and Scotland will need to legislate on ETJ. Amendment 2 would therefore replace the words “date by” with “timescale within”, and amendment 3 would replace the four-week timeframe with
“as soon as reasonably practicable after this Act comes into force”.
Clause 3(1 )(e) would require the Government to lay annual reports on the measures taken to ensure that the UK remains compliant with the convention post-ratification. As with other Council of Europe treaties, once the UK has ratified the convention we will be required to submit regular compliance reports to the Council of Europe. Those reports will include detail on the policy and strategies in place to tackle VAWG and on the role of civil society organisations, particularly women’s non-governmental organisations, as well as data on prosecutions and convictions. The reports will be scrutinised by GREVIO, the independent expert body responsible for monitoring the implementation of the convention. Based on the information received, GREVIO will prepare a final public report with recommendations. In addition, a selected panel of GREVIO members may visit the UK to carry out further assessment of the arrangements in place. I wish to confirm that, once we have ratified the convention, additional members of GREVIO will be appointed, and it will be possible for the UK to have representatives on GREVIO.
As Members will appreciate, we want to avoid duplicating our existing reporting requirements. Amendment 14 therefore removes paragraph (e) of clause 3(1). However, I hope that Members are reassured to hear that, after we ratify, there will be rigorous oversight to ensure that we continue to remain compliant with all the measures in the convention. Clause 4(2) would ensure that the provisions in the Bill come into force a day after Royal Assent. Amendment 15 reflects the usual two-month convention for any Bill receiving Royal Assent. I wish to reassure Members that this will not affect the timescale for any of the measures proposed in the Bill.
The remaining amendments 4 to 7, 9 to 13 and 16 and 17 are consequential on the Government amendments, and are technical to ensure that the Bill reflects usual drafting conventions.
Mr Nuttall
In respect of amendment 16, the explanatory notes say:
“This amendment is consequential on amendment 7.”
Will the Minister please explain exactly how the amendment is consequential on amendment 7?
Sarah Newton
It is related to the fact that we have already accepted everything that is within the convention, and that it is just a matter of verification. The details of what this House has agreed to have been set out very clearly. There is cross-party and cross-country support for every aspect of the convention.
Sarah Newton
I have made my point very clearly. I really want to respect the wishes of Mr Speaker, who has made it very clear to everyone that he is very keen to ensure that today, as on all days, Back Benchers have as much time as necessary to make their cases. I have very thoroughly addressed the issues raised in the amendments by my colleagues. I will now press on in the time that I have available.
I really want to emphasise that ending violence against women and girls is a top priority of this Government. Since publishing the original “A Call to End Violence Against Women and Girls” strategy in 2010, we have made great strides. In the past four years, we have strengthened the legislative framework and introduced a range of new measures including new offences on domestic abuse, forced marriage and stalking; tools such as domestic violence and FGM protection orders; and a range of guidance and support for professionals. Of course we know that there is more to do. I assure the House that we remain committed to driving forward at pace work to tackle violence against women and girls. That is why we recently announced the “Tackling child sexual exploitation: progress report” supported by a £40 million package of measures to protect children and young people from sexual abuse, exploitation and trafficking, and to crack down on offenders.
Last week, the Prime Minister announced plans for a major new programme of work to transform the way we think about and tackle domestic abuse. That is being led by the Home Secretary and the Justice Secretary and it will look at all legislative and non-legislative options for improving support for victims, especially in terms of how the law and legal procedures currently work. It will work towards bringing forward a domestic violence and abuse Act, and the measures that come out of the work will raise public awareness of the problem as well as encouraging victims to report their abusers and see them brought to justice. The £15 million Home Office VAWG transformation fund is currently open for bids further to support local areas in promoting and embedding best practice.
I wish to turn my attention to the issues raised by the other amendments in this group. My hon. Friend the Member for Shipley has spoken about the importance of recognising that men and boys can also be victims of these crimes—he has spoken about that both on Second Reading and in many other parliamentary debates on VAWG and related issues.
Mr Chope
This is an extraordinary occasion. We are discussing a Bill, the long title of which—as put down on 29 June last year—was:
“To require the United Kingdom to ratify the…Istanbul Convention.”
We have just heard the promoter of the Bill explaining why she now wishes that long title effectively not to require the United Kingdom to ratify the Istanbul convention. I congratulate the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Dr Whiteford) on the charming way in which she has been able to explain a complete volte-face in her approach to this important subject.
The Minister has spelt out all the wonderfully effective and good measures that the Government have introduced to address the really serious issues of violence against women and domestic violence. I commend her and the Government for the work they have already done and the work they will do. However, she has not addressed the questions implicit in the amendments I have tabled as to whether, when the Government ratify the convention, they will do so with any reservations. We have not had an answer to that. I would be grateful if the Minister would intervene to assure me that when the ratification occurs, it will be without any reservations.
Sarah Newton
I have made the position very clear: we have already signed the convention, so all we are looking to do now is to ratify it.
Sarah Newton
I appreciate the opportunity for further clarification. We have signed the convention without any reservations.
Sarah Newton
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for allowing me to intervene to address amendment 4—he is quite right that I did not address it in my few words. The replacement of “Her Majesty’s Government” with “the Secretary of State” is to ensure that the Bill reflects the usual drafting conventions. In no way does it alter the overall responsibilities of the Government.
Mr Chope
I hear what my hon. Friend says, and I am grateful to her for that intervention. I am sure that others will be able to check out the issue to see whether it will need further discussion when the Bill gets to the other place. However, having said that, and in light of her intervention, I am not going to speak to the new clauses and amendments that I have tabled, because I get the feeling that the House would like to move on to debate other issues.
Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Ratification of Convention) Bill (First sitting)
Sarah Newton ExcerptsWednesday 1st February 2017
(7 years, 3 months ago)
Public Bill CommitteesRead Full debate Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Ratification of Convention) Act 2017 View all Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Ratification of Convention) Act 2017 Debates Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Dr Eilidh Whiteford (Banff and Buchan) (SNP)
It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Main. May I start by thanking very sincerely Members from all parts of the House who are here today? I really appreciate people giving up time on such a busy day, when weighty matters are being debated in the main Chamber. However, this is a weighty matter too. Violence against women, as I said on Second Reading, is the most pervasive and widespread human rights abuse in the world today, and it affects women in every community represented in this place.
The Council of Europe convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence is a groundbreaking legal instrument that enables a step change in the response to gender-based violence at a local, national and international level. The UK was actively involved in shaping the Istanbul convention, as it is more commonly known, and continues to express support for the convention. However, more than four and a half years after signing it, the UK has yet to ratify the treaty.
The Bill is an attempt to unblock that stalled process and to give it some impetus and urgency. It is an attempt to ensure that the UK’s verbal commitments to the Istanbul convention are backed up by action and to strengthen parliamentary scrutiny and accountability, so that preventing and combating violence against women can never again be filed in a bottom drawer marked “Too difficult” or “Not important enough”.
Before I address specific clauses, I want to put on the record my thanks to the Minister and her colleagues for the constructive way in which she has engaged with me in discussions on the detail of the Bill and to acknowledge her personal commitment to making progress. I also thank the hon. Member for Rotherham, whose helpful insights and suggestions on how to reach our shared objectives have been invaluable. I know that all hon. Members present are committed to tackling the violence and abuse that blight so many women’s lives, and recognise that the Istanbul convention is the best vehicle to drive positive change.
On Second Reading, the Government signalled support for the Bill’s principles but indicated that they would seek to amend aspects of it at subsequent stages. There are no amendments before us, but I am sure the Minister will take this opportunity to set out the Government’s intentions on Report. I am grateful to her for the dialogue we have had on the amendments she intends to table.
Clause 1 places a duty on the Government to take “all reasonable steps” to ratify the Istanbul convention
“as soon as reasonably practicable”.
In other words, the intention behind the clause is to focus the Government’s energy on getting the Istanbul convention off the back burner and on to the statute book. We have had many verbal commitments to the Istanbul convention over recent years and some important legislative progress towards compliance, but there has been a long hiatus that needs to be overcome.
Clause 2 emphasises the need for a clear timescale and an accountable process. Given the long delay in ratification, it should be obvious why a timetable against which progress can be measured and improved opportunities for parliamentary scrutiny are desirable. The key thing is to agree on a realistic timetable and stick to it. I fully appreciate that compliance with the Istanbul convention requires the engagement of a range of actors, not all of whom necessarily attach the same priority to preventing and combating violence against women as we do here. I do not think any of us want to see this kicked into the long grass yet again, so we need to set out a realistic timescale.
Clause 3, which concerns reporting, will strengthen the opportunities for parliamentarians to scrutinise the implementation of the Istanbul convention. The convention’s great strength is that it provides a framework for ongoing improvements in policy and practice, but for those improvements to work optimally, policy makers need to engage with the process. Reporting mechanisms are an integral part of the convention, of course, but in my view they are an insufficient vehicle for parliamentary scrutiny. We all know that, too often, reports are simply laid in the Library and become stoor gaitherers; they gather dust and are easily forgotten or ignored. Clause 3 will ensure that, in the run-up to ratification, Ministers have the opportunity to update Parliament directly on progress, keeping the issue at the forefront of public attention.
I know that the Government are keen not to duplicate reporting on the Istanbul convention, but I hope that today the Minister will put on the record her commitment to putting annual progress reports before Parliament, before and hopefully after ratification. Will she commit to making an oral statement on progress? I believe that that would be a very significant step for the visibility of the issues surrounding gender-based violence—issues that have been swept under the carpet for so long, out of sight and out of mind. I hope that she will also set out in detail the areas in which she believes the UK will need to introduce new legislation or change existing legislation to comply with the convention.
Clause 3 alludes to the fact that a number of policy areas that relate to the implementation of the convention fall within areas of devolved competence in Scotland and Northern Ireland. I know from my dialogue with the devolved Administrations that there is genuine cross-party support throughout these islands for the Istanbul convention, but for the UK to be fully compliant, primary legislation and/or legislative consent will be required in a number of areas. May I ask whether the Minister has opened discussions with the devolved Administrations on the steps towards ratification? Will she update us on her progress?
Clause 4 is simply a technical clause that sets out the short title, commencement and extent of the Bill.
I have not rehearsed the arguments that I made on Second Reading, but I want to say in closing that the Istanbul convention can make a profound difference to women’s lives and I hope that the Government will pursue ratification with all due haste.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Sarah Newton)
It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this afternoon, Mrs Main. I welcome the tone and spirit with which my hon. Friend the Member for Banff and Buchan opened this debate, and the opportunity to continue our work together. I am grateful to all hon. Members who have given up their time this afternoon; it is a pivotal day in Parliament, not just because we are talking about this very important Bill, but because of the debate in the Chamber, and I am grateful to those who have prioritised being in this Committee Room. It underlines the cross-party support for what we are doing.
We remain absolutely committed to ratifying the Istanbul convention. Combating violence against women and girls remains a top priority for the Government; the Prime Minister has made that absolutely clear, as have the Home Secretary and I. Since we signed the convention in 2012, the UK has made significant progress towards ratification. In most respects, we are already compliant with the convention’s requirements or we go further than them. We have put a range of measures in place to tackle VAWG—violence against women and girls—including criminalising forced marriage; allowing women to request information on their partner’s criminal history; introducing new laws on stalking and female genital mutilation; rolling out domestic violence protection orders; and introducing new domestic abuse offences.
We know that there is more to do. Last March, we published our new cross-Government VAWG strategy, which sets out our ambition that by the end of this Parliament no victim of abuse will be turned away from the support they need. To support that, we have increased funding, pledging £80 million through to 2020. We recently published a national statement of expectations, to set out what local commissioners need to put in place to ensure that their response to VAWG is effective; new guidance on domestic homicide reviews; and a new domestic abuse statistical tool and data set. We have announced our intention to introduce a new stalking protection order.
We are making progress, but before we ratify the convention we must ensure that the UK is fully compliant with it. There remains just one outstanding issue relating to extraterritorial jurisdiction, which I will call ETJ today for the purposes of brevity, that we have to address. Article 44 requires that all signatories take the necessary legislative measures to establish ETJ over any offence established in accordance with the convention. The UK already exercises ETJ in relation to many serious offences, including forced marriage, FGM and sexual offences against children. However, there are some VAWG offences to which it does not yet apply. Introducing ETJ for the remaining offences requires primary legislation and, as my colleagues at the Ministry of Justice have highlighted to Parliament, the Government will seek to legislate as soon as time allows.
In addition, Northern Ireland and Scotland also need to legislate on ETJ. We therefore need to allow sufficient time for their respective Governments to do that. We realise the importance of getting on with this matter. We liaise regularly with the devolved Administrations on VAWG and I have been in touch with my counterparts about the Bill. MOJ officials have also had informal contact with their counterparts about the ETJ requirements of article 44 and we will continue to liaise closely with the devolved Administrations on this issue. I am sure that all hon. Members know that, at the moment, that is quite challenging for Northern Ireland, given the situation there, but that does not diminish our commitment. Nevertheless, it means that we must be realistic about the amount of time that we need to spend on this issue.
On Second Reading, the Minister for Policing and the Fire Service made it clear that the Government supported the Bill in principle but that further consideration of the detail was needed. We have now had time to consider the Bill in detail and our intention is to propose amendments on Report. I would like to take this opportunity to set out the direction of, and rationale behind, those amendments.
Clause 1 would require the Government to take “all reasonable steps” necessary to ratify the convention
“as soon as reasonably practicable”.
The Government fully support the aim behind the clause, which is to ensure that we deliver on our commitment to ratify the convention. However, as Members will appreciate, because one of the steps that we and the devolved Administrations need to take will require primary legislation to introduce ETJ, there is a danger that the clause could be interpreted as imposing a duty on the Government to legislate. In effect, that would pre-empt the will of Parliament. Much as the Government always want to get our own way in Parliament, we cannot take that for granted. We must acknowledge the democratic processes that need to happen in Parliament.
Therefore, we will table an amendment to remove clause 1, while ensuring that the spirit behind it is captured by the remaining clauses. Once again, I would like to put on the record the Government’s commitment to ratifying the convention. The proposed removal of the clause does not change that in any way, shape or form.
Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)
I apologise if this is a stupid question, but I would be grateful for the Minister’s answer to it. I understand what she says about the will of Parliament. However, if this legislation were passed with the wording in the Bill, as tabled, would that not mean Parliament had expressed its will?
Sarah Newton
I have discussed this matter a great deal with the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan, who is promoting the Bill, and taken a lot of advice from expert parliamentary draftsmen. We just want to make sure that there is absolutely no confusion in what we are attempting to do. When the hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston has the opportunity to read the amendments—of course, there will be further opportunities to discuss the Bill on Report—I think she will see that in no way, shape or form are we diminishing the commitment that the Bill seeks to place on the Government to ratify the convention. We have been crystal clear: we want to ratify the convention. It is just a question of using the appropriate language to make sure that we put the matter beyond doubt.
We fully support the requirements of clause 2. It would introduce a requirement on the Government to lay a report, setting out the steps to be taken to enable the UK to ratify the convention and the timescale for doing that. However, we have concerns about the four-week timescale. The Committee will recognise the need to ensure that a more proportionate timeframe is in place, given that in order to set out when we intend to ratify, we need to be clear about the likely timescales for putting in place the necessary legislation on ETJ. We need a proper amount of time to have our discussions with the devolved Administrations so that we can give a realistic timeframe.
Craig Whittaker (Calder Valley) (Con)
Although not only I but most Members can fully appreciate some of the difficulties, in particular to do with the devolved Administrations, does my hon. Friend agree that women who are denied justice and help do not have time? They are living with the injustices that are committed against them, often by the hour. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need to up the game and put some timescales into the process so that we can ratify the convention as soon as possible?
Sarah Newton
As I said at the beginning, we already comply with or exceed the vast majority—in fact every aspect—of the convention. My hon. Friend is quite right, and one victim is one victim too many, but the UK is already meeting its obligations.
This is a question of those crimes for which we need extraterritorial jurisdiction in order to be fully compliant. It is quite right that when we sign up to something as a nation we deliver and we are working very hard to make sure we are 100% compliant before we move to ratification. That should not be interpreted in any way, shape or form as our not being utterly determined to work at pace to tackle all forms of domestic abuse and violence against women and girls. My hon. Friend the Member for Calder Valley can be proud of his achievements and of what we have achieved in this Parliament, although we are not being at all complacent as we know there is more to do. By accepting this Bill, we will be doing exactly what my hon. Friend asks. We will be setting out what actions need to be taken. We will be setting out timeframes. Every year, we will come to Parliament to account for our actions, and that imposes tight timescales on us. We are first due to report on 1 November, which is only a matter of months away. I hope that my comments reassure my hon. Friend.
We are utterly determined to ratify this convention, and nobody should doubt that we will work very constructively. We will table amendments on Report, and, subject to their being accepted, we are keen to see this Bill pass.
Sarah Champion (Rotherham) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship for the first time, Mrs Main. It is particularly poignant that you are assuring the safe passage of this Bill, which will protect everyone against gender-based violence.
I am particularly proud to support the work of my hon. Friend the Member for Banff and Buchan. Her approach is an example to us all. She focused on the issue and worked in a collaborative and cross-party manner to achieve this goal for everybody in this country. I know that the Minister is also of that mindset. The way that they have worked together should be commended, because what they are doing today and will do in the future—I hope, based on what the Minister said—is the very best of this Parliament. I thank them both for doing that and for giving me the opportunity to be part of the process.
I am very proud that a Labour Government led the original negotiations that resulted in the Istanbul convention, and that the Leader of the Opposition has confirmed that a Labour Government will ratify the convention. The Bill is important, as my hon. Friend the Member for Banff and Buchan said, because it seeks to ensure the ratification of the first international treaty on preventing and responding to gender-based violence. That landmark treaty gives all survivors of domestic abuse the right to access the specialist support services that my hon. Friend the Member for Calder Valley mentioned, which they need to live in safety and rebuild their lives.
As we have seen in the past two weeks, the international community’s role in holding Governments to higher standards and protecting all citizens is becoming more necessary. The convention and therefore the Bill will change the landscape locally, nationally and internationally on how we tackle and prevent violence against women and girls and support survivors. As my hon. Friend the Member for Banff and Buchan said, now is not the time to rehearse those arguments, but I hope that we will have a meaningful, well-attended debate on Report and that we will all be there to support the Minister as she tries to secure the Bill’s safe passage.
I am keen to get some further confirmation and clarification from the Minister on the issues that she raised. First, I understand her argument about clause 1, and I know that she has approached the Committee with good intentions. It is good to hear her state clearly on the record that the Government are committed to ratifying the Istanbul convention. On the barriers to ratification, I appreciate the clarity that she gave us on ETJ, but she said it will happen “as soon as time allows”. Will she give us some assurances about the timescale? Does “as soon as time allows” mean within a month, a year or a decade? I welcome the fact that the Minister has opened dialogue with the devolved Administrations, but can she give us some clarity about the point that those negotiations have reached? Has she started them, or has there been a coalescence around the timescales? Will she set out a timescale for the changes that she suggested, especially those to clause 2(1)(b)?
I understand the Government’s reservations about clause 3, but it is necessary for Parliament to be able to hold them to account on the reports created by the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence. It is welcome that the Minister committed to providing an annual statement to Parliament to allow us to debate our steps towards ratification and our compliance. However—I am not sure whether I misheard the Minister or whether she did not say this—will that be an oral statement to the House, rather than a written one? It is important that Members of Parliament have the opportunity to debate this issue in full once a year, as the Minister is offering.
Sarah Newton
I thank the hon. Member for Rotherham for the way in which she has welcomed the Bill. There is cross-party support for it, and I want to keep working constructively on it.
I am conscious of time. The Bill seeks to set out the timetable that the hon. Lady asks for, so I will not put the cart before the horse. Once the Bill is passed, the Government will be committed to its obligations. As I said, subject to the amendments being acceptable on Report, we will, of course, produce a report that clearly answers the questions she asked today.
The one thing on which I can absolutely give the hon. Lady some clarity is that we will have written statements before Parliament and an oral statement. Once the written statements are published, there will be an opportunity for an oral statement, so that we can have a full debate in this place and celebrate the achievements that we will be making, and give Members the opportunity to scrutinise and push the Government further.
Dr Whiteford
I intend to be quite brief in summing up this afternoon’s debate, and I thank all hon. Members who have participated. It is clear that there is a great deal of consensus across the House on this issue and that there is some political will from those of us who understand its importance and urgency.
Most of the Minister’s comments on amendments were very constructive and helpful. I was glad that she raised extraterritorial jurisdiction—every time I say that, I think I am going to say “extra-terrestrial jurisdiction”, so I understand why we are calling it ETJ. Obviously it makes civil servants and Law Officers queasy, but we are getting much more used to exercising it in a range of policy areas. ETJ has been a sticking point in this legislation because it is quite legally complex, but we are now exercising it for so many other serious crimes that failing to exercise it for serious crimes against women seems like a dereliction of duty and a failure to protect our citizens, who are travelling and working abroad more than ever—I know that the hon. Member for Calder Valley has raised in the Chamber the dreadful experiences of one of his constituents.
I suppose my remaining reservation is about the Minister’s phrase “as soon as time allows”, which my hon. Friend the Member for Rotherham also mentioned. That is the kind of language that we are all familiar with in this place and that we have seen used in relation to the Istanbul convention over the last four and a half years. The problem is that with ETJ it will not just be the Home Office that leads on this issue; it will relate not only to other jurisdictions—Scotland and Northern Ireland—but to other Departments in Westminster. I do not want the Government let off the hook and allowed to push this issue on to the back burner, nor do I want to see vague, principled commitments replace a real road map for progress. I take on board the Minister’s concerns about constitutional phrasing, but I really do not want to see the teeth pulled from this initiative, because it is a road map with identifiable milestones for which other Departments and other Administrations can also be held accountable.
As for the other amendments, we need a realistic and reasonable timetable. The Government have a clear sense of how long these things take, and I am amenable to constructive dialogue, but I emphasise that it is important that we keep this issue at the top of the priority list. Members of the Committee are well equipped to ensure that we do.
Question put and agreed to.
Clause 1 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clauses 2 to 4 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Bill to be reported, without amendment.
Oral Answers to Questions
Sarah Newton Excerpts(7 years, 3 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mike Freer (Finchley and Golders Green) (Con)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Sarah Newton)
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising such an important matter. We made forced marriage a criminal offence in 2014 to better protect victims and send a clear message that this abhorrent practice will not be tolerated in the UK. We want to see more victims having the confidence to come forward to report this often hidden crime, and that is why we are introducing lifelong anonymity for victims through the Policing and Crime Bill.
Mike Freer
I am glad that this country is leading the way on tackling violence against women and girls, but does the Minister agree that we need to keep up the pressure to eradicate child marriage, as it is a particularly pernicious form of violence?
Sarah Newton
I do indeed. The UK is a world leader in the fight to stamp out forced marriage, and I am clear that to end these crimes in the UK we must end them overseas, too. That is why we are pursuing an ambitious programme of work at an international level, including with the Department for International Development, through its £36 million programme to end child, early and forced marriage.
Christina Rees (Neath) (Lab/Co-op)
John Mann (Bassetlaw) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Sarah Newton)
The hon. Gentleman has made a very important point. Hate crime has no place whatsoever in our society. It destroys communities and people’s lives, and we are taking every possible action against it. We have the strongest legislative framework in the world, and that includes working with internet providers. I can absolutely assure the hon. Gentleman that we have agreements with internet providers, and that when hate crime is identified, they will take the horrendous stuff down.
Antoinette Sandbach (Eddisbury) (Con)
Rebecca Pow (Taunton Deane) (Con)
Sarah Newton
I am absolutely delighted to commend the work of this multi-agency Halcon One Team, which operates in my hon. Friend’s constituency. It is, indeed, a marvellous example of where the police and local agencies work together in their communities with vulnerable people, tackling environmental issues and providing young people with a constructive alternative, to avoid them being dragged into a life of crime and antisocial behaviour.
Joan Ryan (Enfield North) (Lab)
In the light of Holocaust Memorial Day this week, will the Minister join me in paying tribute to the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and the Holocaust Educational Trust, which remind us of the worst example we have ever witnessed of where anti-Semitism can lead? In the light of the publication of the Community Security Trust 2016 anti-Semitic incident report next week, and bearing in mind the fact that last year saw the third highest annual level of anti-Semitic hate incidents in the UK, what are the Government doing to combat rising levels of anti-Semitism?
Draft Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (Codes of Practice) (Revision of Codes C, D and H) Order 2016
Sarah Newton Excerpts(7 years, 3 months ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Sarah Newton)
I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (Codes of Practice) (Revision of Codes C, D and H) Order 2016.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this afternoon, Mr Nuttall. I hope not to detain the Committee for too long, but I will go into some explanation of the order because, in preparation for the debate, I had to do quite a bit of homework to understand what the codes are about, which I thought Members would also find useful.
The order, which was laid before the House on 22 November 2016, will bring into effect three revised codes of practice issued under section 66 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. These are code C, which concerns the detention, treatment and questioning of persons detained under PACE; code H, which concerns the detention, treatment and questioning of persons detained under terrorism provisions; and code D, which concerns the identification of suspects by witnesses and biometric data such as fingerprints, DNA and photographs.
I will briefly describe the PACE codes and how the changes have come before us. For England and Wales, the statutory provisions of PACE set out the core framework of police powers to detect and investigate crime. They also require the Home Secretary to issue codes of practice. The eight accompanying codes of practice —codes of practice A to F—do not create powers but provide rules and procedures for the police to follow when exercising their powers. PACE and the codes establish important safeguards for individuals that are designed to strike the right balance between the need for the police to have powers to tackle crime and the need for safeguards for suspects and other members of the public.
To maintain that balance, we regularly update the codes as we change primary legislation. The three codes before us today were published in draft format in March 2016 for statutory consultation in accordance with section 67 of PACE. The consultation, which was also open to the public, ran for eight weeks, and the bodies that the Secretary of State is required to consult in accordance with section 67(4) of PACE were invited to comment. Others invited to comment included the Crown Prosecution Service, Liberty, Justice, and the Youth Justice Board. The drafts, together with the invitation to the public at large to respond, were also published on gov.uk. A total of 18 responses were received, which is normal for this type of consultation.
In accordance with section 67 of PACE, the revised codes were laid before the House and the other place, together with the draft order and explanatory memorandum.
Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)
As the Minister will know, one restriction on police interviewing applies once somebody has been charged. When several people are involved in a criminal act, such as an act of terrorism, it is sometimes difficult to get to interview all the people who might have been involved before the police want to charge somebody. The European arrest warrant has been particularly useful in that it gives us the ability to bring people back swiftly to the United Kingdom to be interviewed before other members of the group are charged. Is she confident that we will be able to remain under the terms of the European arrest warrant, or that the PACE requirements will be flexible enough to meet the possible longer times that may arise in such cases?
Sarah Newton
The hon. Gentleman makes a very significant point about the importance of the European arrest warrant, which has provided all the benefits he ably describes. I am confident that we will maintain the same level of arrangements we have had with our colleagues in Europe. Keeping citizens safe is absolutely the first priority of the Government. The former Home Secretary, now Prime Minister, made huge strides in closer relationships with our colleagues in Europe, keeping citizens here and in Europe safe. As she outlined yesterday, although we are leaving the European Union, we are not leaving Europe. We are determined to work very closely with our colleagues in Europe to ensure that we can share information and data, so that we can continue to provide effective ways in which to enable our law enforcement officers to bear down on terrorists.
Mr Pat McFadden (Wolverhampton South East) (Lab)
I thank the Minister for that reply, but how is it consistent with the Prime Minister’s statement yesterday that we will not take part in any bits of the EU? The European arrest warrant is a European Union measure, so how can we possibly stay part of it after the Prime Minister’s speech yesterday?
Sarah Newton
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his question, but you will agree with me, Mr Nuttall, that we are straying well beyond the purpose of the debate, which is to consider these very specific PACE powers.
The Chair
Order. The Minister prejudges what I was about to say, because I am slightly concerned that we should not go too far down the road of general European matters. I entirely concede that there is linkage between the matters raised in the two interventions and the subject matter of the statutory instrument, but we do not want to expand the debate into a general discourse about European matters.
Sarah Newton
Thank you, Mr Nuttall. If this Committee does not sit for long, the right hon. Member for Wolverhampton South East will have the opportunity to go to the Chamber, where this very matter is being debated this afternoon. I am sure his points will be very well handled by the Minister for Policing and the Fire Service.
The subject of the order—the three codes, which will hopefully be approved by the Commons and another place this afternoon—will come into force 21 days after the date the order is signed.
The main revision to PACE code C is expressly to permit the use of live-link communications technology for interpreters. The changes enable interpretation services to be provided by interpreters based at remote locations, and allow access to be shared by forces throughout England and Wales, which will avoid interpreters having to travel to individual police stations and improve the availability of interpreters of all languages. By reducing delays to the investigation, the measure will enable a more streamlined and cost-effective approach to the administration of justice.
The revisions include safeguards for suspects to ensure, as far as practicable, that the fairness of proceedings is not prejudiced by the interpreter not being physically present with the suspect. The provisions therefore require the interpreter’s physical presence unless specified conditions are satisfied and allow live-link interpretation.
Chris Bryant
How do the Government expect to be able to meet those requirements in terms of timeliness and physical attendance for interpretation purposes when all police forces in the country are concentrating their interrogation suites and cells in small areas rather than spreading them across rural areas? That has happened in my patch in the past couple of years, meaning that the journey to the suite is at least an hour.
Sarah Newton
Representing as I do a rural area with a dispersed population, I recognise that there are fewer suites where people can be interviewed than there were. However, I believe there is a sufficient supply of centres where people have timely access to justice. All those decisions have been much debated and well scrutinised in the House.
Revisions to code C reflect the amendment to PACE made by the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015, which defines a “juvenile” for the purposes of detention under PACE as someone aged 18 rather than under the age of 17. That resulted from a Government review of the way in which 17-year-olds were treated under PACE. The review concluded that the age at which a person should be treated as an adult under PACE should be raised from 17 to 18. That accords with the age-related jurisdiction of youth courts and other legislation applicable to children.
There are also new provisions supporting section 38(6) of PACE, which requires juveniles who are not released on bail after being charged to be moved to local authority accommodation pending their appearance at court. Under the revisions, the certificate given to the court in accordance with section 38(7) must show why the juvenile was kept at a police station, and their case is required to be monitored and supervised by someone of the rank of inspector or above. Separate measures in the Policing and Crime Bill will ensure that outstanding provisions of PACE that continue to treat 17-year-olds as adults are amended.
New provisions in code C permit an appropriate adult to be removed from an interview if they prevent proper questioning. When a suspect who is a juvenile or a vulnerable adult is interviewed, the code requires an independent adult, known as the appropriate adult, to be called to help. Their job is to help the suspect understand—and exercise—their rights as a suspect and the safeguards provided by the codes, which include their right to legal advice, the meaning of the caution, and when adverse inferences can be drawn if the suspect chooses not to answer questions. These new provisions are necessary to ensure consistency with provisions that have been in code H since 2006, and they are modelled on code C, paragraph 6.9, which concerns the removal of a solicitor from an interview if they prevent proper questioning.
Before an appropriate adult can be removed, an additional safeguard in both codes requires the inspector or superintendent called on to determine whether the appropriate adult should be excluded to remind them about their role and advise them of the concerns about their behaviour. If that advice is accepted, the appropriate adult can remain. The changes to code C are, where applicable, mirrored in code H for persons detained under terrorism provisions. This ensures consistency in provisions that are common to both codes.
In code D, eyewitness and witness identification procedures are updated to take account of significant changes and developments in case law and police practice, and to address operational concerns raised by the police. Revised video identification provisions clarify and confirm the identification officer’s discretion to use historical images of the suspect; regulate the presence of solicitors at witness viewings; and direct others, such as police officers and police civilian staff, to implement any arrangements for identification procedures. The investigating officer’s responsibility concerning the viewing of closed circuit television and similar images by a witness other than an eyewitness is also clarified. Other revisions to code D reflect amendments that the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 made to PACE concerning the retention of fingerprints, DNA profiles and samples.
There are revisions to all three codes to highlight the need to check all sources of relevant information in order to establish a detainee’s identity; enable officers to use electronic pocket books and other devices to make records required by the codes; clarify those who are not eligible to act as the appropriate adult for children under 18 and vulnerable adults; and highlight the requirement under section 31 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 to separate children from adult detainees in police stations and other places of detention by including a link to College of Policing guidance on this matter. Also, minor typographical and grammatical corrections have been made.
The revisions strike a balance between the need to safeguard the rights of suspects and the need to support the operational flexibility of the police to investigate crime. They are being introduced to bring codes C, D and H in line with current legislation, and to support operational policing practice. The revised codes provide invaluable guidance to both the police and the public on how the police should use their powers to ensure that they act fairly, efficiently and effectively.
Sarah Newton
The hon. Member for Swansea East and I have begun to have weekly exchanges across Committee Rooms, but today’s is on quite a different subject. We are usually together banning illegal substances. I thank her for her questions and will do my best to answer them, but I am sure that I will also take up her invitation to write in more detail.
As I will probably touch on only some aspects, I should let hon. Members know that at the same time as the Government tabled the revised measures, we set out all the changes that were made in response to feedback from Liberty and others to the consultation. Any hon. Member may therefore look on the gov.uk website or visit the Library to see all the revisions based on the feedback that we received. As the hon. Lady said, that information is detailed and specific.
The hon. Lady asked first about the live-link implementation. The presumption is that a live interpreter will be sitting with the suspect. This gives an opportunity for flexibility, however. If it was agreed by all the parties concerned and their representative that it was acceptable and appropriate and that they thought that the suspect had capacity and understood what would happen, that live-link facility could be used to improve the speed with which they could conduct the interview. If there was any concern from the suspect, the appropriate adult, their representative or, indeed, the police that the vulnerability of the suspect meant that having remote access to the translator would in any way compromise them or would not give them the justice they deserved, it would not go ahead. The assumption is that the process will happen face-to-face, but this is a tool that can be used if everybody agrees that it is in the best interests of the suspect and of securing the evidence.
On the question of reviewing whether the code lives up to expectations and the opinions of suspects, lawyers and the police about how well it works, all such codes are kept constantly under review by Her Majesty’s inspectorate of constabulary in its inspection process, in which it considers the opinions of suspects and how they are treated. There will be opportunities to make sure that it is working.
Of course, the Home Office works closely with the Chief Constable’s Council and the national police leads to reflect back on the implementation of policy and how well it works in practice so that we can make refinements. If we look back in Hansard, we will find that PACE codes are often debated in Parliament—at least a couple of times a year—as operational best practice is brought up to date. If HMIC finds poor practice when it does inspections, then of course there is a process of continuous improvement. I hope that provides the assurance that the hon. Lady is looking for.
The safeguards around the removal of an appropriate adult are important. Everybody should feel that there are adequate safeguards and that the police cannot be heavy-handed in the way that the hon. Lady mentioned. The involvement of a senior officer—it has to be an inspector or above—in making the decision is really important. When I was talking to colleagues about the practical applications of the code, we were thinking more about a situation in which, as one can imagine, a parent comes in with a child who, out of love and enthusiasm to protect their child, shouts, “Don’t say anything! Don’t give evidence! Don’t answer the questions!”, when in fact that is not the best advice and is not in the interest of the young person.
In such circumstances, the first course of action would be for an officer to explain to that appropriate adult and ask them to moderate their behaviour. At that point, most people would think, “I’ll moderate my behaviour and we can carry on with the interview,” but if that is not the case and an amicable solution cannot be found, the inspector will be called. They will look at all the evidence and discuss with everyone the best way forward. Everyone would hope that the behaviour would be modified and that the interview would carry on, but I can assure the hon. Lady that if that was not the case, another appropriate adult would be found. That would be an essential safeguard for any suspect, or anybody being interviewed, but particularly for such vulnerable people.
The hon. Lady asked about electronic devices. Of course, we all want to keep up with the times and we want to enable police officers to use their time in communities talking to people and keeping us safe and well. We do not want them to have to spend hours in police stations filling out loads of forms, and technology has been proven to enhance the operational effectiveness of police officers, enabling them to spend more time in communities, where we all want to see them. The use of electronic devices has been piloted and trialled. As for the hon. Lady’s point about safety and ensuring that they cannot be hacked into and that the evidence cannot be tampered with, that has been fully tested during the piloting. However, I do not think that any of us is complacent. Technology is always changing and there are determined criminals out there who would like to be able to break into these data and tamper, so we will always be vigilant to ensure that appropriate actions are taken.
The final question was about changes in relation to witness identification. The best assurance I can give the hon. Lady is that those procedures—the identity line-ups that we always think about—will be filmed and videoed. That gives a great degree of transparency so that, when it comes to the court case, there is plenty of opportunity for the defendant’s representatives to challenge the admissibility of the evidence coming into court. If there were any doubt about the way in which evidence had been collated, especially when that was to do with the identity of the suspect, the openness and transparency of the process would enable their representative to challenge that in court. I think that assures us all that the codes can be properly monitored.
I thank and put on record my appreciation of all those who participate as stakeholders on a regular basis and all the organisations who contributed to the development of the codes. I also thank hon. Members for their contribution to the debate. I really think that the codes are in the best interests of justice and operationally necessary. We must ensure that we always strike that right balance between enabling the police to have all the powers they need and plenty of safeguards for suspects and citizens. I thank the Committee for its consideration.
Question put and agreed to.
Resolved,
That the Committee has considered the draft Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (Codes of Practice) (Revision of Codes C, D and H) Order 2016.
Asylum Seekers: Right to Work
Sarah Newton Excerpts(7 years, 4 months ago)
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Westminster Hall is an alternative Chamber for MPs to hold debates, named after the adjoining Westminster Hall.
Each debate is chaired by an MP from the Panel of Chairs, rather than the Speaker or Deputy Speaker. A Government Minister will give the final speech, and no votes may be called on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Sarah Newton)
indicated assent.
Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)
I beg to move,
That this House has considered asylum seekers and the right to work.
It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mr Bailey. I have taken an interest in the rights of asylum seekers for some years now. One of the very first events I attended as a councillor in Glasgow in 2007 was the opening of Refugee Week, the inspirational and ever-growing festival co-ordinated by the Scottish Refugee Council. That was the first time I heard directly the testimonies, experiences and views of those who had fled violence and persecution. They told their stories through music and dance as well as in words, because the trauma they were expressing was often beyond description.
The right to seek asylum is set out in the universal declaration on human rights, and it is one of the most important obligations in international law. However, it has become clear to me over the past few years that sadly in the UK we are not fulfilling our duties to asylum seekers. We often keep them in a situation of destitution and danger, with little acknowledgement of the difficulties that led them to flee. Worse still, we are devaluing these precious human beings. Asylum seekers have skills they could bring and talents they could share. These are people who have overcome everything and lost so much. The very least we should do as a nation is give them a means of living in dignity, and I believe, as I will lay out, that there are circumstances in which they should have the right to work. That is consistent with the position that the Scottish National party took, along with Labour Members, in proposing amendments to the Immigration Act 2016 to enable asylum seekers to work if they had been waiting more than six months for a decision. The UK Government sadly rejected the amendments.
With no permission to work, asylum seekers survive—it is barely survival in many cases—on £5 a day. That affects more than 8,000 asylum seekers in the UK. The right to work was withdrawn by the Labour Government in 2002. At present, asylum seekers can work only if they have been waiting for a decision for longer than one year and they have skills relevant to the occupations on the shortage occupation list, which covers only jobs that few or no UK nationals are able to perform. Those are often very specific jobs, such as various types of scientists and engineers, as well as trades such as professional dancer or musician, which require specific qualifications and experience, as well as an employer who is willing to take a person on when they do not know how long they may be in the UK.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Sarah Newton)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Bailey. I thank the hon. Member for Glasgow Central (Alison Thewliss) for raising such an important issue, and I commend her passionate speech. She is clearly pursuing the issue in the House with great vigour and determination. I also thank the hon. Member for Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East (Stuart C. McDonald) for his speech. I am sure to have said the name of his constituency wrongly, so I apologise. I noted also the remarks of the hon. Member for Rochdale (Simon Danczuk). It is disappointing that the shadow Minister did not bother to come to the debate. I see that the hon. Gentleman agrees with me that that is a sad reflection.
It is right to say that, as a general rule, we do not believe it is appropriate to allow asylum seekers to work in the UK. However, we will grant an asylum seeker permission to work in one of the jobs on the shortage occupation list if their claim has not been decided after 12 months, through no fault of their own. We believe that that is fair and reasonable; it protects the resident labour market and ensures that access to jobs is prioritised for British citizens and those with leave to remain, including refugees.
The immigration rules for non-EEA nationals wishing to work in the UK are designed to meet our needs for skilled labour and to benefit our economy. That approach would be undermined if non-EEA nationals could bypass the rules by lodging unfounded asylum claims. It is an unfortunate reality that some individuals make such claims in an attempt to stay in the UK. It is reasonable to assume that some do that because of the benefits—real or perceived—that they think they will gain.
Sarah Newton
I will not; I have been generous in allowing the hon. Gentleman to make his speech. So that I have the opportunity to answer the serious points that have been raised, I will need to make my whole speech. If he feels that I do not address his concerns, I ask him to write to me.
Allowing asylum seekers earlier access to work risks undermining our asylum system by encouraging unfounded claims from those seeking employment opportunities for which they would not otherwise be eligible. We also must not create further incentives for asylum seekers to risk their lives attempting to travel here illegally. We instead want to encourage genuine refugees to claim asylum in the first safe country they reach.
I know there are those who say, as has been said today, that there is little evidence of a pull factor. I do not agree. We have seen the effect that policies in Europe have had in driving migrant behaviour. In 2015, following a shift in policy, Germany saw its asylum intake increase by 155%. More than 20% of those claims were from countries in the Balkans, which, mercifully and thankfully, have not seen conflict for more than 20 years.
There has been much debate, as has been referred to, about past delays in decision making by the Home Office, but that has been brought under control. In most cases, asylum seekers receive a decision within six months. While they are awaiting that decision, asylum seekers, who would otherwise be destitute, are entitled to free, furnished accommodation that is safe and of a good standard. In preparation for the debate, I met a Home Office official who personally inspects that accommodation in the constituency of the hon. Member for Glasgow Central and was assured of its quality and safety.
A cash allowance is given to asylum seekers to cover essential living needs. It is worth noting that in October, the High Court agreed that the methodology used by the Home Office for assessing the adequacy of payment rates is rational and lawful. The judgment also rightly rejected the argument that the rate should be the same or similar to that paid to benefit recipients by the Department for Work and Pensions. I do not accept that we are in some way treating people in an appalling or degrading way by providing that accommodation.
Sarah Newton
I will not, because I want to address the points that the hon. Lady has raised.
It is worth noting that we encourage asylum seekers to undertake volunteering activities, so that they can benefit the community. That supports integration if they are granted protection, and addresses some of the self-esteem and respect issues that the hon. Lady rightly referred to. Opportunities will be provided in communities for people who are used to being providers for their families or community leaders in the countries from which they fled.
I was pleased to hear the intervention from my hon. Friend the Member for Solihull (Julian Knight), who made an excellent point about the role the voluntary sector is playing in his community in supporting asylum seekers. For clarity, it is important to understand that those volunteering activities must not amount to unpaid work or job substitution. The Home Office recently published revised guidance to help clarify that issue, in case there is any uncertainty.
The current policy strikes the right balance. It is fair and reasonable towards genuine asylum seekers, it is consistent with our international obligations, and it takes into account the rights and needs of asylum seekers and our whole society.
Question put and agreed to.
Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (Temporary Class Drug) (No. 2) Order 2016
Sarah Newton Excerpts(7 years, 4 months ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Sarah Newton)
I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (Temporary Class Drug) (No. 2) Order 2016 (S.I. 2016, No. 1126).
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Gillan. The order was first laid before the House on 23 November 2016; it is the first of what I am sure will be many statutory instruments laid before the House by the Home Office. Action to address the harms of drug misuse would not be possible without expert guidance, and I am grateful to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs for its advice, which informed the order. I also take this chance to place on the record my congratulations to the new chair of the ACMD, Dr Owen Bowden-Jones, who began his important work on 1 January. I look forward to working with him to continue the effective relationship between the ACMD and the Government.
The order subjects methiopropamine—a stimulant drug—to a temporary control order under section 2A of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Methiopropamine, colloquially known as MPA, was controlled under a previous temporary class drug order that expired on 26 November 2016. If the order is made today, the temporary control will continue for a further 12 months. Those further months will allow the ACMD to gather and consider more evidence, in order to make a substantiated recommendation for permanent control under the 1971 Act. That replicates the ACMD’s recommended approach to renew the TCDO covering seven Ritalin-related substances in June 2016.
Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth) (Lab/Co-op)
The Minister mentioned that the drug is known colloquially as MPA; like many other drugs, I am sure it is included in many other products, as with other legal highs previously. Will she tell the Committee what other names it is commonly known by on the street?
Sarah Newton
The hon. Gentleman is right: this drug would commonly have been known as a legal high in the past. However, as far as I am aware, MPA is its colloquial name; I know that other drugs often have a multitude of names, but in this case, the street name—if that is the right term—is MPA. [Interruption.] My helpful colleagues sitting to my left have just pointed out that, while MPA is its most common name, it can also go by the names “Ivory Dove”, “China White”, “Walter White”, “Quicksilver”, “Ultra 3”, “Bullet”, “Mind Melt”, “Pink Panthers”, “Poke”, “Rush”, “Snow White” and “Charlie Sheen”. I hope the hon. Gentleman finds that illuminating. MPA has been compared to cocaine, and some of those names indicate some of the features of that drug.
A number of harms have been evidenced as a result of MPA consumption, including abnormally fast heart rate—perhaps that is related to the nickname “Rush”—anxiety, panic attacks, perspiration, headaches, nausea, difficulty breathing, vomiting, difficulty urinating and sexual dysfunction. A particular concern, as the ACMD noted, is that MPA came to its attention as a replacement for methylphenidate-based compounds, which were controlled under a previous TCDO. Given that the drug is commonly administered by injection, there is a high risk of harm caused by bacterial infection and local tissue damage.
The ACMD notes that the initial TCDO
“has been effective in halting the problematic proliferation of MPA”
since it was first introduced in November 2015. Evidence indicates that the prevalence of the substance prior to the TCDO, most notably in Scotland, appears to have abated. Sources note fewer instances of users injecting MPA, a reduction in phone calls and database inquiries to TOXBASE and a reported decrease in the availability of MPA online.
Parliament’s approval of the order will enable UK law enforcement to continue, under the strict offences and robust penalties of the 1971 Act, to take consistent action against traffickers and suppliers of temporary class drugs while the ACMD gathers further evidence. The order sends out a clear message to the public that the drug carries serious health risks and, in addition to our legislative response, we continue to take action to reduce the damage of drugs and to ensure that those who become dependent have access to the support they need.
We really want to carry on our vital work in updating the public, promoting health messages and informing the public about the harms of these dreadful psychoactive substances. We are utterly determined to continue our work with the ACMD, to do everything we can to prevent these harmful psychoactive substances being used by people in our country.
Sarah Newton
I am grateful to the hon. Member for Swansea East for her support; it is really encouraging that every time we come together to look at drugs issues there is absolute unanimity. It is really important that we send out a strong, united message to all those who seek to exploit the vulnerable people in society by selling them these appallingly harmful drugs.
I also welcome the hon. Member for East Renfrewshire’s comments about seeking to list the drug permanently. Once the ACMD has enough evidence, we will, of course, be able to do that, but I can absolutely assure the hon. Lady that in the meantime the temporary measure gives law enforcement all the powers it needs to go after the people who trade in this most harmful of all trades, selling these appalling substances to some very vulnerable people.
The hon. Member for Swansea East made a point about the drugs strategy. We have been working hard across Government on a thorough and balanced drugs strategy that looks at educating young people, making sure that teachers and everyone working with young people communicate the risks of taking drugs, so that young people themselves make good, informed choices. We have also been working closely with law enforcement bodies to make sure that they have all the powers that they need, and we have been putting the rehabilitation of people who have taken substances and have a problem with them at the heart of our strategy. We are working closely with the Department of Health and we will publish the strategy soon.
In the meantime, we have not been sitting on our hands. We have introduced a whole range of measures, most particularly updating the work done to look at the effectiveness of the educational tools available to teachers and youth workers, and issuing new guidance in that regard. We have also been looking at what works for rehabilitation and detox. We have been doing a lot of work with the Department of Health and sharing that best practice, communicating it out to people in the frontline. New services, communicating tools that people can use to measure the toxicity of drugs, the early intervention schemes—all this good work has been going on while we have been developing the strategy across Government. Although I had hoped that the strategy would be published just before Christmas, I am sure that it will be published very shortly.
I have answered questions and provided the Committee with information this afternoon. I hope that Committee members will feel able to support this important new measure, which, as hon. Members have mentioned, will help us in the good work of increasing the number of prosecutions for the sale of psychoactive substances, closing down head shops and making sure that people who have become addicted to these substances get the support they really need to get their lives back on track.
Question put and agreed to.