Oral Answers to Questions

Ellie Reeves Excerpts

Thursday 9th July 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Attorney General]

My hon. Friend raises an important point. The CPS is not immune to the impact of the backlog. I am pleased that throughout this pandemic it has coped remarkably well, despite the challenges. The recent inspectorate report published at the end of last month sets out in a lot of detail how well the CPS has responded to the difficulties. It is currently receiving 1.8 cases for every one that can be completed in the court. I should note that it has also successfully maintained its recruitment plans despite the pandemic, and we now have more than 300 new prosecutors within the CPS.

[Ellie Reeves (Lewisham West and Penge) (Lab) [V]]

The recent HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate report found that it could take 10 years to clear the criminal case backlog, with 41,000 outstanding cases, in a criminal justice system on its knees. While Labour has been calling for Nightingale and covid-safe courts for the past four months, the Government have been discussing scrapping jury trials. So can the Attorney General confirm today when the Nightingale courts will be up and running, and how many victims of sexual violence are still waiting for their case to get to court?

[The Attorney General]

I am glad that the hon. Lady has mentioned the recent inspectorate report, which I think gives a strong commendation to the CPS for its response to this pandemic. In comparative terms, there is a strong vote of confidence in the CPS’s resilience, digital capability and planning for difficulties such as these. She is right to mention the court recovery plan. As I have mentioned, the Lord Chancellor has published a detailed plan. Many measures are under consideration. There is a strong commitment to the right to jury trial, but no decisions have been made yet.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Attorney General]

The CPS has been monitoring the absence level of both lawyer and support staff throughout the pandemic. Where necessary, the CPS has virtually redeployed staff between different CPS areas to ensure that workloads were effectively managed. Court closures and the significant reduction in court sittings resulted in the release of some staff to undertake different tasks and work. This increased the amount of legal and administrative resources available for casework.

[Ellie Reeves (Lewisham West and Penge) (Lab) [V]]

West Midlands police recorded over 4,000 cases of domestic violence in the first month of lockdown, yet only 3% of those cases have resulted in criminal charges. Between 2015 and 2019, despite domestic violence cases rising by 77%, charging fell by 18% and convictions by 20%. I ask the Attorney General again: how many victims of sexual violence are still waiting for their case to get to court, and what is she doing to ensure that domestic abuse does not go unpunished?

[The Attorney General]

It is essential that perpetrators, victims and their families know and understand that the criminal justice system remains open and operational during the covid outbreak, and the CPS and I are working closely with colleagues across Government and the criminal justice system to ensure that those horrendous offences continue to be brought to justice. Priority must be given to the most serious cases to make sure that dangerous offenders are dealt with quickly. That is why the CPS has worked with police colleagues to introduce an interim charging protocol with clear guidance on its use. All non-custody domestic abuse cases were categorised as high priority and will be dealt with accordingly.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ellie Reeves Excerpts

Thursday 4th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Attorney General]

My hon. Friend is right that those scenes of people attacking our heroic police officers were frankly sickening. It is obviously a matter for operationally independent police forces to use their flexibility and discretion as they see fit. My hon. Friend is right that out of court disposals can allow police to deal with low-level offending and first-time offending swiftly and efficiently. Whether that would be appropriate in those cases, I am not so sure personally: assaults on emergency workers are particularly callous. They are heroic men and women who are sacrificing their own health and safety in the service of others. It will always depend on the individual facts of the case and will always be a decision ultimately for the independent police force.

[Ellie Reeves (Lewisham West and Penge) (Lab)]

Can the Attorney General confirm that in assault cases, as in all other covid-related offences, the law should apply equally to all, and that as superintendent of the CPS by tweeting her support for Dominic Cummings, she undermined the impartiality of her role and the rule of law?

[The Attorney General]

It is plain for any reasonable observer to see that there was no question whatever of my having provided any public legal view on the matter to which the hon. Lady refers. To suggest that that was somehow a legal opinion is simply absurd. She should know that I have no role whatever to play in the day-to-day decisions on individual cases. I respect and have full confidence in the operational independence of the CPS and the police, and I would gently encourage her to share my support and share my confidence in them.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Solicitor General]

I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s question, and we will certainly take on board what he says. Body cameras are of course an increasingly used piece of evidence. This does, in effect, often add a workload burden on the court system because there is so much video evidence—so much more virtual evidence—now coming into play. However, the Crown Prosecution Service has seen a dramatic increase in its funding from Her Majesty’s Government, and we will be making sure that payment for members of the legal profession is expedited where we can do so.

[Ellie Reeves (Lewisham West and Penge) (Lab)]

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed inequalities facing the black, Asian and minority ethnic community, and the legal sector has proved no exception: 55% of BAME barristers earn more than half of their income from legal aid, and 84% cannot survive a year without support. What urgent action will the Solicitor General take to reverse the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 and to restore funds to legal aid?

[The Solicitor General]

We are supporting the legal aid system, as we always have done. The reality is that we are expediting outstanding fee schemes where payments need to be made more quickly than normal; we have reduced the stage lengths before payments are made in the cases that are ongoing; and we have concluded main hearings and ongoing cases and made payment before hearings have been concluded. A multiple series of measures is being made to assist everyone at the Bar and, in fact, in all branches of the legal profession, including payments of up-front fixed fees of £500 for covid-19 matters. Every measure is being taken to support the legal profession, but I accept that there are challenges, as there are in many professions during this crisis.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ellie Reeves Excerpts

Thursday 3rd October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Thangam Debbonaire (Bristol West) (Lab)]

8. What assessment her Department has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on the UK’s creative, digital and media industries in the last three months. [R]

[Ellie Reeves (Lewisham West and Penge) (Lab)]

14. What recent assessment she has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on the UK’s creative industries.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Helen Whately)]

The UK’s creative, digital and media industries are a global success story. Our creative industries continue to outperform the wider economy: their value went up from £95 billion in 2016 to £102 billion in 2017. As Europe’s leading tech hub, we generate more billion-dollar tech businesses than any other country in Europe. Over the past three years, we have maintained a dialogue with the creative industries on EU exit. I recognise that the movement of people and goods are among their concerns, but the UK is a global leader in these sectors, and our decision to leave the EU will not change that.

[Helen Whately]

We are talking to the industry about exactly those concerns. I have already had some conversations along these lines, as has the Secretary of State, who met UK Music earlier this week. It is true that, when the UK leaves the EU on 31 October, free movement as it currently stands will end. In the event of a no-deal exit, creative professionals will need to check whether they need a visa or a work permit for the EU country that they are visiting. I am very optimistic that we will get a deal, and I would encourage the hon. Lady to vote for it when she has the opportunity to do so.

[Ellie Reeves]

The Musicians Union states that most UK musicians rely on performing and touring in the EU to make a living, so a bad deal or a no-deal Brexit will jeopardise their careers. I have listened to what the Minister has had to say, but we are almost at Brexit date. What discussions has her Department had with the Home Office about creating a musician’s passport that is inexpensive, lasts for a minimum of two years, and would do away with the need otherwise for permits, permissions and so on, which are unsustainable for the music industry?

[Helen Whately]

I very much appreciate the hon. Lady’s concerns and those of the industry, as I have already said. The Secretary of State, in fact, spoke to the Musicians Union earlier this week. We are acutely mindful of the concerns that exist, but I will say yet again that the best way through this is to have a deal and, when there is the opportunity to vote for one, I encourage her please to do so.

Problem Gambling

Ellie Reeves Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd July 2019 Commons Chamber

[Jeremy Wright]

My right hon. Friend makes a very good point. It is difficult to be precise about the number of young people in particular who have problems with gambling, as my right hon. Friend will recognise, but it is a fair assumption that online gambling contributes significantly to that problem. As a result, we have already seen improvements in identification and age verification. We need to see further improvements to make sure that the trend decreases.

[Ellie Reeves (Lewisham West and Penge) (Lab)]

I have been contacted by the family of a constituent who is addicted to online gambling and is trying to recover. There are some measures, to which the Secretary of State referred, to prevent online gambling, such as the website GamStop, which allows users to put controls in place to restrict their gambling activity. However, it is not compulsory for betting companies to sign up for this, and it is far too easy to bypass the current controls. Will the Secretary of State look at making GamStop mandatory, and will he support tougher controls?

[Jeremy Wright]

We will certainly look at what more we can do. The five companies we have talked about are signed up to GamStop, and it is important that more accept this as a useful mechanism to help those with problem gambling. It is also right that we look at banks to make sure mechanisms are in place to allow the people who choose to do so to indicate to their bank that they do not wish to spend money in these areas. We have already seen banks such as Monzo and particularly Barclays, which is a large bank, doing exactly this. Other banks are now looking at it, at our urging, because it is important that we have additional safeguards in place.

Dulwich Hamlet Football Club

Ellie Reeves Excerpts

Friday 16th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Helen Hayes]

My hon. Friend makes a powerful point about the role that football can play. I shall address some of those issues a little later in my speech.

There are stories similar to Dulwich Hamlet’s from the football community throughout the country: from Skelmersdale to Merthyr, Torquay, Hereford and Coventry. Communities are fragile and the spaces and institutions that bring people from a diverse range of backgrounds together can be rare. Local football clubs provide this focus and an opportunity for friendships to be developed and bonds strengthened through the sharing of the passion that football inspires.

[Ellie Reeves (Lewisham West and Penge) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for securing this debate. Many of my constituents have contacted me about Dulwich Hamlet and they have all spoken about their love and affinity for the club. As my hon. Friend says, football clubs are often the linchpin of communities, but they are increasingly threatened by buy-outs, as we have seen in Dulwich. Does she agree that the Government should look into strengthening protections for these community assets?

[Helen Hayes]

I do indeed agree that more can be done to protect these powerful institutions. When such institutions are lost they may be gone forever, so we must do all that we can to keep them alive. The Government may argue that they cannot intervene in the commercial or legal affairs of any individual club, but the situation at Dulwich is not individual; it is representative of a much wider problem, in which short-term financial gain seeks to assert itself over an institution valued not just in pounds and pence, but in people, friendship, aspiration and history.

Music: Contribution to the UK Economy

Ellie Reeves Excerpts

Friday 3rd November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Conor McGinn (St Helens North) (Lab)]

I tweeted yesterday that I was leading a debate in the House on music, and was asked whether I would be doing so in song. I am afraid my singing abilities are restricted to one genre, the warbling and melancholic kind normally reserved for a certain hour of the night—the sort of songs that give rise to the joke about the Irish boomerang, which never comes back but sings about how much it wants to.

First, I want to thank key figures and organisations in the music industry who are true champions of this vibrant sector, and whose work has, in large part, led to this debate.

I am sure Members across the House will join me in thanking UK Music, which is working at the forefront of the industry to ensure its success now and in the future. I pay tribute in particular to UK Music chair Andy Heath, who has done a magnificent job in bringing all the component parts of the industry together since the foundation of UK Music nearly 10 years ago, and to former UK Music chief executives Feargal Sharkey and Jo Dipple, who have made an immense contribution to the profile of the music sector, and who continue to work in the industry ensuring it can speak with one voice to policymakers. I also could not forget, because he would not allow me to do so, the good work of the current UK Music chief executive, the former Member for Barnsley East, Michael Dugher, who is leading the organisation through a very interesting but unpredictable time for the sector—similar to the situation in his previous role before leaving to take up his post. We wish him well in his work.

I also want to offer thanks to all the individual members—the sum of the parts—of UK Music: the Association of Independent Music, the British Academy of Songwriters Composers and Authors, the BPI, the Featured Artists Coalition, the Music Managers Forum, the Music Publishers Association, the Music Producers Guild, the Musicians’ Union, Phonographic Performance Limited, PRS for Music and the UK Live Music Group. We benefit greatly from their knowledge and expertise when contributing to debates such as this.

UK Music’s “Measuring Music” and “Wish You Were Here” reports make a compelling case for the importance of our music sector. The reports show the UK music industry contributed £4.4 billion to the economy in 2016, up 6% on 2015. There are now more than 140,000 people employed across the industry, with year-on-year growth of 19% since 2015, and more people than ever before are attending festivals and gigs, with an incredible 31 million people attending live music events in 2016. These figures are testament to the remarkable success, and indeed the resilience, of the UK music sector in what are very uncertain economic times.

[Ellie Reeves (Lewisham West and Penge) (Lab)]

Is my hon. Friend aware of form 696? It is a risk assessment form for live events in the capital that unfairly targets grime music and other urban acts. Will he join me in calling on the Met police to use the Mayor of London’s review to scrap form 696 and to support a more proportionate system of ensuring safety and security at live events which are so successful and contribute positively to the UK’s economy?

[Conor McGinn]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend’s point. I was going to mention that later, but she gives me the opportunity to say that I know that that matter has been raised with the Mayor of London, and it is certainly being raised across the industry. I had intended to mention it today because it is a hugely important issue, particularly for music in London.

Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility

Ellie Reeves Excerpts

Tuesday 31st October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Tracey Crouch]

We are looking at the issue of online gambling. As it stands, about 10% of the adult population participate in online gambling and betting, and 5.1% of those players are problem gamblers. That compares to 11.5% of FOBT users who are problem gamblers. We are addressing both issues, but, although we have seen a growth in online gambling, we know where the current issues lie.

[Ellie Reeves (Lewisham West and Penge) (Lab)]

On Thursday, I visited a residential gambling rehabilitation centre in my constituency, which provides a 14-week programme for about half a dozen residents at any one time. It is run by the Gordon Moody Association, and demand for the service outstrips what it can offer. Will the Minister commend the vital work of the Gordon Moody Association and commit to a compulsory levy on the industry to fund such vital work?

[Tracey Crouch]

I am happy to commend the work being done in the hon. Lady’s constituency. There is a shortage of places dealing specifically with gambling addiction. We would like to see the situation vastly improved, and we are talking to colleagues in the Department of Health to ensure that that happens. I hope the hon. Lady heard my answer to the previous question, which was that the industry should contribute more on a voluntary basis, but if it does not, we will consider a mandatory levy.