European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill

Debate between Keir Starmer and Shailesh Vara

Ping Pong: House of Commons
Monday 13th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Keir Starmer]

I am going to make some progress. We should not bring unnecessary uncertainty and distress into those people’s lives, but that is exactly what is happening as a result of the Government’s approach.

The Brexit Select Committee’s report states that it has heard

“a wide range of concerns of EU nationals since the referendum, including stress, and anxiety and feelings of depression to practical concerns about pensions and healthcare, children being abused in the school playground and worries over the ability to work in the UK in the future.”

What have we come to, if we cannot deal with those levels of anxiety and stress? Many Members will have seen that in their own constituency surgeries. I certainly have: families have come to me in tears about the situation in which they find themselves. It is time for the Government to act; increasingly, it is only the Prime Minister and the Government who think otherwise. Trade unions and campaigns such as the3million and New Europeans have made a very powerful and compelling case for this issue to be dealt with, as of course has the Brexit Committee in its report’s conclusions.

[Mr Shailesh Vara (North West Cambridgeshire) (Con)]

Will the hon. and learned Gentleman give way?

Court Charges (Access to Justice)

Debate between Keir Starmer and Shailesh Vara

Tuesday 17th November 2015 Westminster Hall

[Mr Vara]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for intervening; she gives me the opportunity to explain an important issue. The criminal courts charge is payable only after, first, the compensation has been paid; secondly, the victim surcharge has been paid; thirdly, the prosecution costs have been paid; and, fourthly, fines have been paid. A judge imposes those, and only when all four have been paid does the criminal courts charge come along; and, although set at a specific rate, it is nevertheless assessed by the court’s officers on the basis of ability to pay. That means that the other debts, income and all other such financial factors are taken into account; and then, based on what the officer feels is an acceptable way for the charge to be paid, the money is paid, after the other four impositions have been dealt with. I might add that if an individual has made all reasonable efforts to make the payment and they have not reoffended, then after two years whatever is left is scrapped.

[Keir Starmer]

Does the Minister agree that it is highly unusual for a number of magistrates to resign over an issue such as this? When they do so, what is the level of concern in the Department, ranked between one and 10?

[Mr Vara]

We have some 20,000 magistrates. At any given point, there are always some who are resigning. It is regrettable that some have felt it necessary to resign on that basis, but I will say that magistrates do hugely beneficial work. It is an important role in society and they give up valuable time of their own to do a good service. Of course, it would be wrong for me to comment on individual circumstances, but it is regrettable that some have felt it necessary to resign on that basis.

[Mr Vara]

It is not yet known how much has been recovered, because those statistics will be forthcoming in the December quarterly statistics. Just to explain, they were not in the September quarterly publication because, although initial data from the first three months of operation—the change having taken place in April—were included in the regular September quarterly statistics, it was not possible to provide separate figures on the charge in time for that publication which met the data quality standards required for published management information. Detailed figures will, however, be published on 17 December.

I note the comments made about the effects on the offender’s plea decision and the issue of access to justice. The Government are committed to ensuring a fair and effective criminal justice system that is accessible to all, and we are assured in the knowledge that the coalition Government carefully considered the compatibility of the criminal courts charge provisions with the European convention on human rights, on article 6 “access to the court” grounds. Article 6 of the European convention on human rights has an implicit right of access to the courts, and the charge does not interfere with that right in any way. In particular, it should be remembered that the charge is imposed at the end of proceedings. Defendants facing trial are not required to pay the criminal courts charge and the charge is not a condition of an offender being able to access the courts. A person will be subject to the charge only if convicted following a court hearing that will have taken into consideration all the available evidence. Therefore, those who are innocent and should be found not guilty by the courts will not be required to pay the charge.

We should also remember that our justice system already creates a number of incentives for those who enter early guilty pleas to ensure that the wheels of justice run more smoothly. For example, if defendants who are guilty enter a guilty plea as early as possible, the courts recognise the benefit to victims, witnesses and the criminal justice system as a whole by means of a reduction in sentence. I recognise, however, the need to ensure that any incentives are proportionate and I note the concerns expressed about the matter.

[Keir Starmer]

I spent many years working on proposals for early guilty pleas and I support them, but the underlying principle was always that the sentence or consequences were reduced for an early guilty plea, not increased for not pleading guilty. Does the charge not offend that principle, and was the Sentencing Council consulted before the charge was brought forth?

[Mr Vara]

I am not sure I follow what the hon. and learned Gentleman is saying. It seems pretty straightforward that at the moment we have a system whereby if somebody pleads guilty, it assists the criminal justice system, the witnesses, the victim and so on, and proper due regard is taken of that. In this instance, if a person pleads guilty, due regard is taken, but they should not plead guilty if they are not guilty. They should allow the court process to take its course.

[Keir Starmer]

Will the Minister give way?

[Mr Vara]

I will happily give way, but I hope the hon. and learned Gentleman is mindful that this is a time- limited debate and I will have less time to respond.

[Keir Starmer]

I will be brief, and I accept that the debate is time limited. The point I am making—it is a point of principle—is that the courts have always fixed the penalty and then reduced it for an early guilty plea. The penalty has never gone up because someone did not plead guilty in the first place. That is the fundamental principle that is being offended.

[Mr Vara]

The charge is not part of the sentencing process, and that has been made abundantly clear to magistrates and the judiciary. It is a contribution to court costs and is not intended to be taken into account for sentencing purposes. There has been confusion, and I want to put on the record the fact that it is not intended to be a means of sentencing.

Given the financial imperative to bring down public spending, the Government must ensure that the courts are adequately funded in the long term in a way that allows the budgetary challenges ahead to be met. There is a high level of consensus across the justice system that the current system is unsustainable.