Victims and Prisoners Bill

Kevin Brennan Excerpts

Consideration of Lords amendments
Friday 24th May 2024 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

This is the last time that I intend to speak from the Dispatch Box in any Parliament. Actually, I have one more statutory instrument to do, so that may not be quite true.

Madam Deputy Speaker, thank you very much for calling me to speak. I thank you for your service to this House in many different capacities over the entirety of my parliamentary career. I hope it does not cause offence in any other quarters if I say that you are my favourite Deputy Speaker, and I am sure that others share that opinion. That is in no way casting aspersions on the quality of your colleagues, but we have known each other and been friends for many years. I wish you good fortune in whatever you do after you leave this place.

I extend equal thanks to the right hon. Member for Charnwood (Edward Argar) for the way he conducts himself as a Government Minister. The way that he deals with colleagues from across the House—with shadow Ministers, Back Benchers and others—is exemplary. He is a class act in that regard, and a model of what many of us should aspire to. I have been a Minister, and I know what a difficult job it is, and what a difference it makes to have a Minister in a Department who takes Parliament, and what Members of Parliament say, seriously; does their best to accommodate opinions and measures suggested by other Members of Parliament; and does not think that the Government have a monopoly on wisdom, or on measures when they bring a Bill to this House. The Minister is prepared to engage in debate and consider amendments, and I thank him for the way in which he conducts himself in this place.

As she is in her place, I will mention the hon. Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Nickie Aiken). Some Members may be aware that many years ago she was a pupil at Radyr Comprehensive School when I was a teacher there, so I did not think that she would leave the House before me.

[Nickie Aiken (Cities of London and Westminster) (Con)]

Or be a Conservative!

[Kevin Brennan]

Indeed. I was obviously a lousy teacher, as she ended up a Conservative Member of Parliament, but I wish her well in the future as she leaves this place. I also send my well wishes to the Chair of the Justice Committee, the hon. and learned Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Sir Robert Neill), who is a friend from across the House, and who conducts himself in a manner that we can all aspire to.

--- Later in debate ---

[Chris Stephens (Glasgow South West) (SNP)]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way with his typical generosity. Does he agree that it is now important to move quickly? The Cabinet Office needs to meet and engage with the infected and affected community to make sure the compensation payments are right, and to ensure that the community is represented on the compensation authority board.

[Kevin Brennan]

The hon. Gentleman is right, as he often is. I completely endorse his remarks. I thank him for the £50 he will pay to charity after losing a bet with me that there would be a referendum on Scottish independence by the end of this Parliament. I put that on record, not because I do not trust him but because I said that I would send him the name of the charity after today’s debate. He is a man of honour and a man of his word, so I know he will pay up.

On a serious point, I thank the hon. Gentleman for his contribution on this important issue. His background in the trade union movement means that he will always be thoughtful about the essential job of helping the weak against the strong, which is what we are trying to do in this place.

I should also pay proper tribute to my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull North. A few months ago, her amendment to hold the Government’s feet to the fire on this issue caused them to suffer possibly their only defeat in this House during this Parliament, which is quite an achievement.

To echo Sir Brian Langstaff, we must tackle the lack of “openness, transparency and candour” that has left victims suffering for decades. We welcome the movement towards this important milestone, and we look forward to seeing victims get the financial redress they deserve sooner rather than later.

I should say that Les, the husband of my constituent Sue Sparkes, died in 1990 as a result of receiving infected blood.

There has been a lot of discussion and work, involving colleagues from all parties, to recognise the considerable concern surrounding sentences of imprisonment for public protection. IPPs are and were a stain on our nation’s criminal justice system, and we have acknowledged our role in the past. It is right that IPP sentences were abolished, and we share the concerns that lie behind many of the proposals suggested by colleagues, both here and in the other place, in relation to these sentences and prisoners.

We have continually sought to work on this issue constructively and on a cross-party basis, wherever possible, which is why we are pleased to support multiple Government concessions on this matter, including Lords amendments 103 and 107, agreeing to a new annual report and provisions for those sentenced to detention for public protection. I pay tribute to our colleague Lord Blunkett, who has done a great deal of work, perhaps to underdo some of the things he might have been responsible for many years ago.

Progress for those remaining on IPP sentences and on licence in the community is pivotal. We want to ensure that any solutions proposed are robust and assessed with public safety properly in mind, as the Minister rightly said. In government, Labour will work at pace to make progress and will consult widely to ensure that our actions for those on IPP sentences are effective, in their interest and based on the evidence in front of us.

On the MAPPA issues in the Bill, we are glad to have agreed on an overdue and important change in the arrangements in place to protect victims and the public from the terrible blight on our society that is domestic abuse. When the Bill passes, offenders sentenced to more than 12 months for the offence of controlling or coercive behaviour will now be automatically included in the multi-agency regime that exists for violent and sexual offenders. That follows strong support in the other place for more rigorous safeguards in such cases, where too often we see women in particular left to face repeating and escalating patterns of abuse within the relationships where they should be most safe. Labour has big ambitions in government to tackle violence against women and girls in particular—far beyond the commitments in the Bill—but we are nevertheless proud to have put this marker down and to support this measure.

Labour’s commitment to reforming the criminal justice system to ensure that victims are more than just bit players is unwavering. We are pleased to have supported and helped to improve the Bill. Our essential additions, from empowering the Victims’ Commissioner to introducing a duty of candour for public bodies, have highlighted our commitment to the rightful place of victims at the centre of the justice process.

We welcome the Government’s movements in the right direction on pivotal issues such as IPPs and on the Infected Blood Compensation Authority, notwithstanding the remarks I made about the slowness of movement to get compensation out to victims. I thank the Minister for his openness in accepting some of these changes. I look forward to the Bill’s conclusion—very shortly, I hope—and hope that the Act will be a step towards a new era of transparency and advocacy for all victims of crime.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

I call the Chair of the Justice Committee.

Tribunal and Inquiries

Kevin Brennan Excerpts

Friday 24th May 2024 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

I can see that I am not your only fan in this Chamber, Madam Deputy Speaker. I am sure that I speak for everyone in saying that we wish you well in what you do. We are also joined by the former Prime Minister, the right hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May). We thank her for exemplary public service in her time in this place. I also pay tribute to my dear friend, my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Camberwell and Peckham (Ms Harman), the Mother of the House, who has had an extraordinary career as a Labour politician. She was briefly—all too briefly, in my view—the leader of the party. I thank her for her service to the Labour party, to Parliament and to our country.

The statutory instrument governs one of the few parts of the Prime Minister’s so-called signature immigration legislation to have actually been enacted—the Illegal Migration Act 2023. Most of the key clauses, including the duty to remove those who arrive without permission, have not been enacted because the Government know deep down that the Act is a bit of a sham. It was the second of three Acts designed, but failing, to tackle the small boats chaos under their watch. We opposed that Act because we warned that it would not work, and the Government’s reluctance to enact any of its key provisions shows that we were right.

The provisions in the statutory instrument govern the appeal procedure relating to removals under the Act, but no such removals are occurring, as the duty to remove has not even been enacted. The truth is that the Government have lost control of our border security. They have allowed criminal gangs to take hold of the channel and they have allowed dangerous boat crossings to soar. They have lost control of the asylum system, allowing decisions to collapse and the backlog to rocket to a record high with record numbers of people in asylum hotels, which costs the taxpayer an eye-watering £8 million a day. Meanwhile, yesterday’s statistics show that they have let returns and enforcement crumble too, with returns of failed asylum seekers down by 35% compared with the last Labour Government.

We will strengthen our border security and fix the asylum chaos. We will crack down on the criminal gangs and their supply chains to stop the boats before they reach the French coast. We will set up a new border security command, backed by new resources and counter-terrorism style powers, to bring those gangs to justice. We will clear the backlog with new fast-track procedures for safe countries and end asylum hotel use to save the taxpayer billions of pounds. We will also strengthen enforcement with a new returns and enforcement unit.

We do not intend to divide the House, but the British public will have their say on 4 July. It will be a choice between gimmicks from the Tories and strong border security and real grip from Labour.

--- Later in debate ---

[Gareth Bacon]

First, I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Cardiff West (Kevin Brennan), who has been my shadow for what feels like a lot longer than seven months. I am not completely convinced by his claim of strong borders under Labour—I am sure that the electorate will sort that out in the next few weeks—but he has been extremely decent in his dealings with me.

[Kevin Brennan]

I apologise—I should have thanked the Minister for the courteous way in which he has dealt with the Opposition spokespeople. I do thank him for that.

[Gareth Bacon]

For the benefit of the people in the Strangers’ Gallery, I should say that it is not normal for politicians to be so nice to each other across the Dispatch Box. It gets a lot worse than this normally. I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his words.

Coroners

Kevin Brennan Excerpts

Friday 24th May 2024 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

May I, too, put on record my thanks to you, Mr Speaker, and to the Deputy Speakers for looking after our interests during this Parliament? I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool South (Chris Webb) on his brilliant maiden speech. We learned that his wife is called Portia. That is quite appropriate as we are discussing a justice Bill, given that Portia gave one of the most famous speeches on justice in “The Merchant of Venice”:

“The quality of mercy is not strained;

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven

Upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed;

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes”.

I am glad he aptly reminded us of his wife’s name during the course of his speech. I congratulate him, and I am sure we will be seeing each other again soon—without being complacent in any way about the electorate.

We will not divide the House on this measure. Given the state of the backlog impacting the coronial system, this is a sensible measure and the Opposition will not contest it today. However, it is worth discussing very briefly the reasons for the backlog and the Government’s complete inability to get a grip on any aspect of our justice system.

After 14 years of Conservative rule, we have significant and, in some cases, record high backlogs across the whole of the courts and tribunals system. Victims and their families are waiting years for answers and for justice. It has become the “Department of Justice Delayed”, and we all know what that means. Labour will work at pace to tackle the backlogs that are grinding our justice system to a halt, and to restore public confidence in the justice system, but we do not seek to divide the House on this measure.

Oral Answers to Questions

Kevin Brennan Excerpts

Tuesday 14th May 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

Victims should have the right to know who this Government are letting out of jail early. With today’s news that, despite Ministers’ protestations to the contrary from the Dispatch Box, high-risk offenders have been released early, why should the public have any confidence that this is a Government who put victims first?

[Laura Farris]

I want to provide some reassurance to the shadow Minister. Under our scheme, no sexual offender, no terrorist offender and nobody who has been convicted of a serious violent crime or been convicted for four years or more will be eligible for early release. I would just remind him that the slight distinction between our scheme and that conducted under the last Labour Government between 2007 and 2010 is that we have a governor lock. That means that the governor of any prison can prevent an individual prisoner from being released early if they do not think that it is suitable to do so, and that was not the case under the last Labour Government.

Parc Prison

Kevin Brennan Excerpts

Monday 13th May 2024 Commons Chamber

[Edward Argar]

I am grateful to the shadow Minister for her question. If it is helpful, I will write to her in the same terms that I have written to the hon. Member for Ogmore (Chris Elmore), to give some more information that I may not be able to say fully at the Dispatch Box. As she kindly acknowledged, I have set out the steps that are currently being taken to restrict supply, and to tackle at source those scanners and measures at the gate. As I understand it, there is a bid for enhanced gate security, which is currently being looked at and taken forward by HMPPS. At the appropriate time, I am happy to update her in the usual way.

On promoting recovery, training has been undertaken by around 400 staff in the use of naloxone, which, when administered, can swiftly counteract the effect of, for example, nitazenes. That is an important step forward. In terms of reducing demand, we are working at the prison with the alcohol and drug treatment centre Dyfo—this is where Welsh colleagues will correct my pronunciation—

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

Dyfodol.

[Edward Argar]

I am grateful to the shadow Minister. We are engaging with Dyfodol, and indeed the health board. We are also supporting the Welsh emerging drugs and identification of novel substances project through prison radio and literature, to seek to be integrated and joined up in tackling what is, as I say, a challenge for both the prison and the community.

Oral Answers to Questions

Kevin Brennan Excerpts

Tuesday 26th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

It is telling that the Minister is refusing to come clean with the public on how many prisoners are being released early under the scheme. As we know, the public are overwhelmingly in favour of an early release scheme if it were applied to his colleagues in a general election. [Laughter.] Does he have any intention, before that happy day, of releasing the truth about how many prisoners are being let out early?

[Edward Argar]

It is always a pleasure to face the gentle barbs of the hon. Gentleman, whom I have known for a long time. As I have made very clear on a previous occasion in the House, and indeed just a few moments ago, we consider that an annualised publication of these statistics is the most appropriate approach, in line with the publication of similar statistics such as those relating to deaths of offenders in the community.

Community and Suspended Sentences (Notification of Details) Bill

Kevin Brennan Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 23rd February 2024 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

I am back again—this time on the Front Bench—for a third outing today. I apologise for my ubiquity. It is a pleasure to support this Bill, which was presented by my hon. Friend the Member for Newport West (Ruth Jones). I congratulate her on her success in the private Member’s Bill ballot.

It really is a great day for the Welsh. By the sound of it, this will be the third Bill from a Welsh Labour Member of Parliament to gain support from across the House and receive its Second Reading today. For those who say that MPs from the devolved nations do not play a role in this place, the proof that they do is the fact that these three Bills have reached this stage today. I thank everyone across the House for their support for our Bills, and it is a pleasure to support my hon. Friend’s Bill from the Front Bench.

I thank Members who have contributed to the debate, including the hon. Member for Truro and Falmouth (Cherilyn Mackrory), the hon. Member for Heywood and Middleton (Chris Clarkson), who, like me, has been on his feet a lot today, and the hon. Member for North Norfolk (Duncan Baker), who I would never have guessed was an accountant in a previous life, as he revealed in the debate. He spoke with a lot of compassion and sense, and he mentioned probation, which relates to a point that I want to make in my brief remarks. Twenty years ago—I was here—the last Labour Government introduced community orders and suspended sentence orders in their current form. They were designed to be robust alternatives to prison in cases of less serious offending. It has been disappointing to note that the use of community sentences has declined sharply, particularly in the last decade, and particularly between 2012 and 2022.

In 2017, a survey of magistrates found that over a third were not confident that community sentences were an effective alternative to custody, and two thirds were not confident that they cut crime. It is plain to see that more must be done to strengthen the confidence of the courts and the public that sentences served in the community are effective, appropriate and, above all, safe. That is particularly pressing given the Government’s proposals in the Sentencing Bill—we are waiting for Committee of the whole House, hopefully soon—for a new presumption that all sentences of less than a year will be suspended unless there are exceptional circumstances, such as the breach of a previous order, or a risk to an individual.

The Bill before us makes an important contribution to that effort. It will require offenders serving community or suspended sentences to alert their probation officer or youth offending team if they change their name or contact details. The question is how these necessary measures will be properly enforced while the Government continue to load more and more pressure on to the probation service, without giving it any additional resource. Sentences served in the community can be effective only if there is a functioning probation service rooted in the area that can enforce sentences and keep offenders on the right track.

I am sure that the Minister can see that our probation service is already critically understaffed, undervalued and overstretched. Probation workloads are soaring. Almost 50,000 working days among probation staff have been lost to distress, with 68% of probation officers rating their case load as unmanageable. More and more experienced prison officers, who were also mentioned, are leaving the service, and there are over 1,000 vacancies for probation staff. A recent watchdog report warned that such understaffing is having a devastating effect on delivering the good outcomes that the Bill is intended to support. In September, the annual report of His Majesty’s inspectorate of probation said that 31 inspections of probation delivery units had been completed since the probation service was reunified in 2021, and only one unit was found to be good. The rest were rated either “requires improvement” or “inadequate”.

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Newport West for bringing forward the Bill and urge all Members to support it as a necessary step forward. I challenge the Government to ensure that the probation service is given the resources that it needs to ensure that the reforms are successful, and that the public remain protected, as they and the courts expect. I call on the Government to affirm their commitment to enforcing the crucial measures in the Bill when it becomes law.

Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation Bill

Kevin Brennan Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 23rd February 2024 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

This could be quite a big day for the Welsh, with my hon. Friend the Member for Caerphilly (Wayne David) introducing his Bill and my hon. Friend the Member for Newport West (Ruth Jones) introducing hers later, I hope. I also hope to move from the Front Bench to the Back Benches to introduce my own Bill later in proceedings, so that is three Welsh Bills this morning. Of course, on the Front Bench we also have my right hon. Friend the Member for Alyn and Deeside (Mark Tami) from the Opposition Whips Office, so it really is a big morning for the Welsh.

My hon. Friend the Member for Caerphilly and I came into the House together in 2001—it is hard to think that that is nearly 23 years ago. I congratulate him on his first outing in all that time promoting a private Member’s Bill this morning. I am glad he was successful in the ballot, as it is an important Bill. For years, strategic lawsuits have enabled the wealthy and powerful to weaponise their wealth to sue critics into silence. As hon. Members have said, it is important that this House votes to put an end to these tactics that gag the press and intimidate people asking legitimate questions by threatening them with enormous legal costs—lawfare, as it has been referred to today.

I thank those who have participated in the debate: my hon. Friends the Members for Poplar and Limehouse (Apsana Begum) and for Hammersmith (Andy Slaughter), and the hon. Members for Heywood and Middleton (Chris Clarkson) and for West Bromwich East (Nicola Richards). They all spoke extremely effectively in support of the Bill, but also raised appropriate questions about how it should proceed in Committee. I am pleased that the Bill has cross-party support, and I understand the Government are in full support of it. I can confirm that it has the support of those on the Labour Front Bench as well.

It is a step forward that the scope of protection provided for in the Bill is not limited, as is currently the case, to economic crime. SLAPPs, often masquerading as defamation or privacy claims, are not really about seeking justice, but about imposing silence—exploiting the financial and emotional strain of proceedings to discourage individuals from exercising their right to speak on matters of public interest.

Labour has long recognised the danger posed by SLAPPs to our democratic values. We have already committed to introducing legislation to halt the ability of Russian oligarchs and the super-wealthy such as Roman Abramovich, who has already been mentioned today, to use their wealth as a weapon against those who dare to scrutinise their actions. The background to my hon. Friend’s Bill is rooted in a disturbing trend of legal harassment. From aggressive pre-action letters to the targeting of vulnerable financial defendants, SLAPPs undermine the foundations of accountability and freedom of speech. The enormous legal costs threatened by SLAPPs serve not justice, but the suppression of truth.

The Bill is not merely a response to a growing trend of legal harassment, but a declaration of our values as a society that cherishes free speech and the rule of law. It broadens the scope beyond economic crimes, offering protection across all public interest discourse to ensure that no avenue is left for the misuse of our legal system to suppress legitimate scrutiny and accountability. The legal reforms proposed by my hon. Friend in his Bill are both necessary and timely. They reflect a deep understanding of the challenges posed by SLAPPs, as outlined in the evidence sessions of several parliamentary Committees. By providing mechanisms for early dismissal and costs protection, and extending protections to all courts and tribunals, we are fortifying our defences against the abuse of legislation.

As we consider the provisions of the Bill, let us remember the individuals—and, indeed, institutions—who have been unjustly targeted by SLAPPs. Their struggles underscore the imperative for this legislation. I acknowledge the efforts of campaigners, including the UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition, for their tireless work in bringing this issue to light. We must ensure that our legal system serves justice, not the interests of those who seek to wield it as a tool of oppression.

I acknowledge the issues that have been raised about the Bill. I am sure they will be rehearsed in Committee when we will have a deeper discussion on them. In addition to the concerns that have been raised, we need to make sure—although I am sure it does not—that the Bill does not prevent ordinary people who wish to restrain the publication of libels and intrusions by wealthy publications from being able to do so in law. As my father always used to say, in life we should help the weak against the strong. I know that that is my hon. Friend’s intention in bringing forward his Bill.

I urge all hon. Members to support the Bill. In doing so, we are taking a stand against the tactics that gag our press, intimidate our citizens and erode our democracy. It is a step forward in an ongoing effort to protect freedom of expression and to ensure that those who seek to report on wrongdoing can do so without fear of retribution. In the fight for justice and accountability, there is no room for silence. The Bill can help to end the scourge of SLAPPs and reaffirm our dedication to the principles of democracy and freedom.

Oral Answers to Questions

Kevin Brennan Excerpts

Tuesday 20th February 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call shadow Minister Kevin Brennan.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

I welcome the meeting that the Secretary of State has just offered.

The problem with the Government’s response is that it ought to be centred on the experiences of families, not on the convenience of state bureaucracy, in order to ensure that they are never repeated. There is nothing in what we have seen so far from the Government that goes as far as we and, more importantly, the families believe is necessary to require public authorities to act with candour and transparency. Why is the Secretary of State persisting with a piecemeal approach, instead of committing to a clear, compelling and comprehensive duty of candour, as proposed in the Hillsborough law?

[Alex Chalk]

As I say, the recommendations of Bishop James Jones’s report, which we have considered extremely carefully, contained the charter for bereaved families, and it is worth reflecting on what paragraph 3 of the report says. It requires the public body to

“approach forms of public scrutiny—including public inquiries and inquests—with candour, in an open, honest and transparent way, making full disclosure of relevant documents, material and facts.”

Taken together with the powers that exist under the Inquiries Act 2005, there is potentially criminal culpability, misconduct in a public office and perverting the course of justice, but of course we will keep this under review. We want to make sure that public bodies do what they should—that is, act transparently—and we will always consider what further steps can be taken.

Draft Sentencing Act 2020 (Amendment of Schedule 21) Regulations 2023

Kevin Brennan Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd January 2024 General Committees

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Gareth Bacon)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Sentencing Act 2020 (Amendment of Schedule 21) Regulations 2023.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Vickers. Last July, my right hon. and learned Friend the Lord Chancellor made a written statement to this House announcing the publication of the full Government response to the independent domestic homicide sentencing review undertaken by Clare Wade KC. The response announced a package of proposed reforms to ensure that the seriousness of domestic homicides is reflected in our sentencing framework. The draft regulations before us today are the first step in implementing those important changes.

In 2021, Clare Wade KC was commissioned to review sentencing in domestic homicide cases to establish whether the law and sentencing guidelines were fit for purpose. That followed concerns raised by a number of stakeholders, including the Domestic Abuse Commissioner and the Victims’ Commissioner, and by Carole Gould and Julie Devey, the mothers of two young women, Ellie Gould and Poppy Devey- Waterhouse, who were tragically murdered by their former partners in 2018 and 2019 respectively. I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to Carole and Julie for their tireless campaigning following the deaths of their daughters, and to Clare Wade KC for her work on this important review.

About a quarter of all homicides in England and Wales are classed as domestic: that is, they are committed by the partner or ex-partner or a relative of the victim. Over the past 10 years, that represents an average of nearly 160 homicides a year, with almost 90 of those being committed by a partner or ex-partner. The majority of domestic homicides are committed by men against women. In many of these cases, the victim has been subjected to years of abuse before their death and many also involve sustained and excessive violence towards the victim, which I will refer to in this debate as “overkill”. When female perpetrators commit domestic homicide, they have often, although not exclusively, been the victims of abuse and have killed their abuser.

The legal framework for sentencing for murder is primarily contained in schedule 21 to the Sentencing Act 2020. Schedule 21 was first introduced in the Criminal Justice Act 2003, more than 20 years ago, and contains the factors to which the court must have regard when assessing the seriousness of murder. Although it always remains open to judges to consider aggravating and mitigating factors not contained in schedule 21, the schedule does not include any specific consideration of the seriousness of domestic homicides and the abuse that often precedes such cases. Over the last 20 years our societal and legal understanding of domestic abuse has evolved. The Government have made controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship a criminal offence under the Serious Crime Act 2015, and introduced the landmark Domestic Abuse Act 2021, which created a legal definition of domestic abuse for the first time and made non-fatal strangulation a criminal offence.

We are also delivering on our rape review action plan, tackling violence against women and girls strategy and tackling domestic abuse strategy, and more than quadrupling funding for victim and witness support services by 2024-25, up from £41 million in 2009-10. However, as Clare Wade KC highlights in her review, our sentencing framework for murder does not yet fully reflect the increased seriousness that society now recognises in offending committed in a domestic context. Nor does it adequately account for the reduced culpability of a victim of abuse who snaps and kills their abuser. The measures that the regulations introduce will change that.

First, the draft regulations introduce both a statutory aggravating factor and a statutory mitigating factor for murder in relation to controlling or coercive behaviour. Cases of domestic murder are rarely isolated incidents. They are often the culmination of years of abuse underpinned by coercion and control. In the majority of cases, although not all, the abuse has been committed by the perpetrator of the murder, who is usually a man, against the victim, who is usually a woman. The new statutory aggravating factor will apply in those cases where an abusive partner or family member has killed their victim, in recognition of the seriousness of the preceding abuse and the experience of the victim before death.

However, a minority of cases involve a victim of abuse who has killed their abuser, often after years or even decades of abuse. In most of those cases, the perpetrator of the killing and the victim of the abuse is a woman. The new statutory mitigating factor will apply in those cases where a victim of abuse has killed their abuser, in recognition of their experience of abuse which preceded the killing and its impact on their culpability.

Secondly, the statutory instrument introduces a statutory aggravating factor for murder in relation to overkill, which it refers to as “sustained and excessive violence”. The prevalence of overkill in domestic murders is striking. It was identified in more than half the murder cases analysed for the review. In all but one of those cases, the perpetrator was male, and in more than two thirds, the perpetrator had also exhibited coercive or controlling behaviour towards the victim. Overkill causes intense distress to victims’ families. The horror of overkill, and the anguish that knowing that the body of their loved one was violated in such a way causes victims’ families, will now be recognised in statute.

Although the SI is an important first step in the Government’s response to the domestic homicide sentencing review, it forms part of a wider package of measures that we are taking forward in response to the recommendations made by Clare Wade KC.

The final legislative measure in the package is being taken forward separately in the Criminal Justice Bill. It will make the connection between a murder and the end of a relationship, or the victim’s intention to end a relationship, a statutory aggravating factor. In 40% of the murder cases analysed for the review, the murder occurred at the end, or perceived end, of the relationship. In all those cases, the perpetrator was male. Killing in those cases is the final controlling act of an abusive partner and its seriousness will now be recognised in law.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

When describing the overkill provision in the statutory instrument, the Minister referred to the body of the victim. That matter was raised in our recent consideration of the Victims and Prisoners Bill. Is the provision applicable when such desecration took place after death, or does it apply only if it happened during the course of the murder?

[Gareth Bacon]

It will be applicable if the desecration took place after death as well as during the course of the murder, because the state of the body causes anguish to the relatives who are left behind.

As part of the Government’s response to the review, my right hon. and learned Friend the Lord Chancellor wrote to the independent Sentencing Council to propose that they revise their guidelines in the light of the recommendations and the Government’s response to them. I am glad to inform hon. Members that in response, the Sentencing Council is consulting on amending the aggravating and mitigating factors in the manslaughter sentencing guidelines to include a history of controlling or coercive behaviour. That consultation also seeks views on adding an aggravating factor to the manslaughter sentencing guidelines for strangulation, suffocation or asphyxiation.

Finally, the Lord Chancellor has invited the Law Commission to undertake a review of the use of defences for murder in cases involving domestic abuse, and to consider in particular whether there is any evidence to suggest that defences are used in different ways, or to different effect, depending on the gender of the defendant.

Although I hope that hon. Members will support the Government’s important changes in response to Clare Wade KC’s review, I recognise that some Members may want us to go further. We have therefore launched a public consultation to ensure that all options are fully explored. We recognise that there are issues and options that would benefit from further consideration, beyond the recommendations made in the review. The consultation seeks views on a minimum term starting point for murders preceded by controlling or coercive behaviour against the victim, and for all murders committed with a knife or other weapon. The consultation will close on 4 March and the Government will carefully consider the responses to determine whether further reform is required. We will update the House on the outcome of the consultation in due course.

Murder is the most serious crime that a person can commit, and we must ensure that in every case the sentence is commensurate with the seriousness of the crime. Our sentencing framework must reflect the seriousness of violence and abuse committed by those closest to the victims.

I commend the regulations to the Committee.

[Kevin Brennan]

I thank the Minister for explaining the statutory instrument that we are considering today, and I echo his comments about Carole and Julie and their campaign, which is partly responsible for this change in the law. It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship for the first time, Mr Vickers.

As the Minister stated, the statutory instrument adds two aggravating factors and one mitigating factor to schedule 21 of the Sentencing Act 2020—the sentencing framework for murder—to recognise the seriousness of excessive violence and the preceding abuse that is so common in domestic abuse cases. It addresses some of the recommendations in Clare Wade KC’s domestic homicide sentencing review to give, for the first time, domestic homicides specialist consideration in the sentencing framework for murder.

I will not repeat the statistics that the Minister gave about those, predominantly women, who are victims of domestic homicide and lose their lives annually at the hands of a current or former partner. The crime leaves families engulfed in profound grief, and it is high time that the law specifically addressed its magnitude.

We are grateful to Clare Wade KC for carrying out the independent review in 2021. It was a crucial and complex task. Labour supports moving forward with reforms aimed at ensuring that domestic homicides are distinctly recognised and appropriately addressed in murder sentencing guidelines. That includes acknowledging controlling and coercive behaviour as a factor that both exacerbates the severity of the crime and, in certain contexts, might mitigate sentencing.

The pattern of domestic abuse, which is often characterised by escalating violence and manipulation, predominantly affects women, but it is also crucial to recognise instances where women, after enduring prolonged abuse, sometimes resort to violence. It is therefore important that preceding abuse can be a mitigating factor in sentencing, as envisaged in the SI.

I want to probe the Minister on a few things and make a few general comments. The SI addresses recommendations 5 and 8 of Clare Wade’s review with three measures: overkill, controlling and coercive behaviour as an aggravating factor, and the experience of such behaviour being a mitigating factor in killing by a victim.

The Minister has clarified that overkill would be applicable when sustained and excessive violence took place after the victim’s death. I welcome that clarification because the hon. Member for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr (Jonathan Edwards) raised the matter during consideration of the Victims and Prisoners Bill. He had a particularly horrifying constituency case. Perhaps the Minister will confirm that overkill is applicable not just in the context of domestic abuse, but in all cases of murder. In the case that the hon. Member for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr mentioned, his constituent, Mr Michael O’Leary, was murdered in a carefully planned way in January 2020 and his body was subsequently desecrated. I will not go into the details this afternoon—it is a horrific case—but the family has campaigned to try to ensure that there is a specific crime in relation to that sort of activity. I hope that the SI will go some way towards meeting their concerns, even if they would like the law to go further.

The review gave the Government 17 different recommendations, so will the Minister inform us about progress on all the other recommendations? He specifically mentioned one of the other recommendations. A fourth measure—to make murder at the end of a relationship an aggravating factor in sentencing—is covered in the Criminal Justice Bill. I would therefore be interested to know why that was not covered in this statutory instrument and why it required a separate piece of primary legislation. The Government are taking the recommendations forward, but that just means they will be implemented at a later date, should that Bill make its way through both Houses unamended. Will the Minister explain why we are not covering that off today with these other offences? Is there a specific reason?

Will the Minister also explain what is happening to the other 15 recommendations from Clare Wade’s review? There is some concern out there that the Government have taken a bit of a piecemeal approach to sentencing—this might be evidence of that—which could have the potential to lead to unintended and unwelcome consequences. Page 40 of the “Domestic Homicide Sentencing Review” states:

“Schedule 21 remains a product of its time and frozen in 2003 since when it has been amended in a piecemeal fashion… There is an argument that there should be a wholesale reform of schedule 21, with guidance being issued by the Sentencing Council.”

That does raise the inevitable question as to why the Government are not undertaking a wholesale reform of schedule 21, rather than continuing with this piecemeal approach.

Our approach, expanding on that in new clause 6 which I tabled to the Sentencing Bill, would commission a review into the effectiveness of current legislation and sentencing policy. It would focus in particular on increasing sentences for domestic homicide and abuse, but also examine other areas of concern in the current framework, including sexual violence and other violent crime, assaults on frontline and emergency workers and offences against children, and tougher sentences, including minimum custodial sentences, a greater minimum custodial sentence for rape, and whole life orders for any adult offender found guilty of rape, abduction and murder of a stranger.

Sometimes these measures pass quite quickly in such Committees without a great deal of scrutiny, but it is important for all the members of the Committee to keep in mind that the Government’s best estimate of how much this statutory instrument will cost, as contained in the impact assessment, is nearly £100 million. That is the middle estimate over the next 40 years. It is not an insignificant commitment of resource from the Government, albeit over a relatively long period of time. There is quite an interesting observation within the impact assessment, which states:

“All the cost estimates…have been assessed using HM Treasury guidance”

It then lists the conventions adopted in that process, one of which reads:

“Where appropriate, 20% optimism bias has been applied to future costs.”

Now, it might explain a thing or two about the former Chancellor and current Prime Minister if an automatic optimism bias is built into the estimates before us this afternoon, but that would be a trite point to make at this stage in our proceedings. However, it is significant that we are talking about having to commit £100 million as the middle estimate for what this SI will cost.

A lot of that, of course, relates to the fact that, according to the impact assessment, between 66 and 190 additional prison places will be required to cater for longer sentences as a result of this measure. Even with those extra places, the impact assessment says that one of the non-monetised costs is

“a risk that offenders spending longer in prison… may compound prison capacity and overcrowding”.

That underscores the consequences of the profound neglect of our criminal justice system in recent years. It is a direct consequence of inadequate investment in our Prison and Probation Service, which is only now beginning to receive belated attention. That additional burden could have been averted with a more consistent, pragmatic emphasis on investing in our public infrastructure from the outset. How do those financial implications align with the current budget? Will the Minister say more about that?

What measures will the Minister take to monitor and evaluate changes in sentencing patterns, prison population, and the overall justice system? I accept that it will take considerable time before the full effects of the SI come into force. What is the Government’s plan to monitor its effectiveness? I would be grateful if he informed the Committee when we can expect all the other recommendations from the review to be implemented and whether the views and concerns of victims’ advocacy groups, legal professionals, and other relevant organisations will be considered in such changes.

Will the Minister clarify the position of the proposed exemption from new restrictions on parental responsibility for those who commit murder but are victims themselves of domestic abuse? That is not contained in the SI, but what is happening to that exemption? When and how will it be enacted? If he cannot tell me this afternoon, I would be happy for him to write to me. I accept that he may not have prepared that point.

We will support the adoption of the SI instrument today, but it falls short of the comprehensive and less piecemeal approach that the Government should take to support victims.