Oral Answers to Questions

James Grundy Excerpts

Thursday 26th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Solicitor General]

As always, my hon. Friend makes an absolutely critical point. Yes, there are convictions taking place. We can talk about Glencore, Petrofac and others, but he is absolutely correct that we must consider whether the law is there to meet the changing circumstances. The point he makes about corporate criminal liability is one that we are looking at very closely, not least in light of the Law Commission’s conclusions. If there are gaps in the law, we will fill them.

[James Grundy (Leigh) (Con)]

5. What recent assessment she has made of the CPS’s ability to effectively prosecute cases of (a) stalking and (b) coercive behaviour.

[The Solicitor General (Alex Chalk)]

Stalking and coercive and controlling behaviour are serious crimes which disproportionately harm women. Prosecutions for both have increased in the years since the offences were created. In the case of coercive and controlling behaviour, they have risen from just five in 2015 to 1,403 in 2020-21. I am pleased to say that the conviction rate for domestic abuse cases in the last quarter for which data is available was 76%.

[James Grundy]

The Government first legislated to deal with stalking and coercive behaviour in 2012 and 2015 respectively. Can my hon. and learned Friend assure me that the Government will continue to prioritise tackling violence against women and girls?

[The Solicitor General]

My hon. Friend is right. Those are just two elements of violence against women and girls. I am pleased that in the last decade the Government have: outlawed upskirting; criminalised sending revenge porn images; created a standalone offence of non-fatal strangulation; passed the Modern Slavery Act 2015; introduced the Domestic Abuse Act 2021; banned virginity testing and hymenoplasty; and reversed the decision to automatically release sexual offenders at the halfway point of their sentences. Those who commit crimes against women should expect condign punishment.

Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill (First sitting)

James Grundy Excerpts

Committee stage
Tuesday 15th March 2022 Public Bill Committees

[The Chair]

Thank you. The Clerks will note that declaration from Ruth Edwards; and Ruth, if you wish to refer to it later in the proceedings, do so.

[James Grundy (Leigh) (Con)]

This is slightly tangential, but better declared than risked. The Grundy family farm has a mobile phone mast, for which my father receives yearly payment.

[The Chair]

Thank you. The same applies.

Examination of Witnesses

Anna Turley, Dr Charles Trotman and Eleanor Griggs gave evidence.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Chair]

If you are finished, are there any other questions?

[James Grundy]

Q I refer the Committee to my earlier declaration of interest. We mentioned the issue of particular sites and the considerable reductions in rent. Is that a universal problem across all telecoms companies, or are there any particularly egregious offenders regarding the practice of aggressive rent reduction?

Anna Turley: That is a really interesting question. We have not seen particular companies standing out any more than others. I think that they all have strong legal arms and come in with a very strong approach. However, what we have seen change, even since the 2017 code changes, is the development of tower companies, which I think is an interesting thing that has not really been taken into account when looking at the new changes.

These middlemen have been created, where tower companies will now rent the site from the landlord and use the code to cut the rent that they are paying, but will continue to charge high amounts of money to the telecoms companies—Vodafone, EE, Three, and others. The savings are not actually going back to those original companies, but somebody is making money in the middle. I think that is an important change in the market, partly, I think, because of the 2017 changes, which has not been properly explored.

Again, I think that we should be looking at that before we change this legislation, because the development of tower companies has distorted the market even further. It has not resulted in reinvestment in infrastructure, and is essentially creating middlemen who are profiting off the changes brought in to essentially accelerate 5G roll-out, and that money is not going back into the development of infrastructure.

[James Grundy]

Q Are those changes, with the creation of those middlemen tower companies, largely developments since the 2017 review of the legislation?

Anna Turley: Yes, that is when we started to see them emerge. They are a recent phenomenon.

[James Grundy]

Q Just for clarification, on that basis, do you think that the pressure for dramatic rent reductions is coming from those middlemen companies, rather than the telecoms companies themselves?

Anna Turley: I think that they are certainly playing a role in it. We have seen examples where, as I said, they have continued to charge, say Vodafone, £17,000 a year for a site, but then slashed the rent to the actual site owner to a few hundred pounds. That is absolutely a huge driving force, coming from profiteering, from those guys in the middle.

[The Chair]

If there are no more questions, I thank our three witnesses for a very informative session, and for giving us their time. Thank you very much.

Examination of Witnesses

John Moor, Dave Kleidermacher and Dan Patefield gave evidence.

Oral Answers to Questions

James Grundy Excerpts

Thursday 18th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Attorney General]

I again point out that the number of rape prosecutions by the CPS has increased to 65% of all of those rape cases referred to it. That number is an increase on just under 50% some time ago. None the less, the hon. Gentleman makes a perfectly reasonable point about domestic abuse. The Government are working on this area, as I have alluded to, with the Domestic Abuse Bill. There is also a call for evidence, which will inform our upcoming Violence Against Women and Girls strategy. That call for evidence has recently had tens of thousands of new people emailing and writing in. I encourage anyone listening to take part in that before it closes We will look at those responses very carefully and see what else we can do.

[James Grundy (Leigh) (Con)]

What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of steps taken by the CPS to tackle the increased backlog of cases before the courts as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

[Lee Anderson (Ashfield) (Con)]

What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of steps taken by the CPS to tackle the increased backlog of cases before the courts as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

[The Solicitor General (Lucy Frazer)]

Notwithstanding the pandemic, the courts have continued to operate and the Crown Prosecution Service has continued to play its part in our justice system. I was very pleased to read the recently published report by Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate on the CPS’s response to the court backlogs in the light of covid. The report reflects the CPS’s hard work, and finds that over the pandemic it has maintained its ability to function well, and to continue to deliver its essential public services.

[James Grundy [V]]

Will my hon. and learned Friend tell me what reassurance I can provide my constituents that the most serious cases are being prioritised, to ensure the protection of the public?

[The Solicitor General]

Ensuring that perpetrators are brought to justice, and that the public are protected, is a priority of the Attorney General’s Office, of the CPS and of this Government. To achieve that, with the CPS working with the police, we introduced an interim charging protocol last year. The protocol prioritises the most important cases, and I am really pleased that those cases include high harm cases and those with vulnerable victims, such as rape and domestic abuse.

Covid-19: Restrictions on Gyms and Sport

James Grundy Excerpts

Monday 23rd November 2020 Westminster Hall

[James Grundy (Leigh) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Mundell.

I thank the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne North (Catherine McKinnell) for securing this debate. She pointed out that about 1 million people had signed the various petitions we are considering today; I suspect that I am not alone in this Chamber in feeling that all 1 million of them have been emailing me personally.

I very much welcome the announcement today on gyms. Gyms are important not only for mental health but physical health, and as the nights draw in it becomes increasingly difficult to engage in activity and exercise outside safely. Also, as others have already said, gyms have done a great deal to try to make themselves covid-secure, so it is very important that we had the announcement today that they can reopen. That will be welcomed, certainly by the very large number of people who have been emailing us all.

Amateur sports teams, of which there are many in my constituency playing football, rugby and other sports, have been suffering sorely from the restrictions. Constituencies like mine, and I suspect that that includes the hon. Lady’s constituency, are rather poor, so the clubs’ inability to take in funds has an effect on their long-term viability. Leigh Centurions is very much looking forward to reopening. It is not in the dire circumstances that other rugby league clubs have been in, due to both Government help and the sound financial management of the club itself. It would be remiss of me not to mention the club’s attempt to join the Super League this year, which would be a tremendous boost to the physical and mental health of all my constituents, as well as to the economics of the town.

This has been an incredibly difficult year and restrictions on the return of spectators will continue, especially for those in tier 3 areas, but we are getting there. Hopefully, the vaccine will come along in the new year and we will be able to transition back to normal by Easter. I hope that we are able to make that transition as smooth as possible.