Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 (Amendment) Order 2018

Lord Kennedy of Southwark Excerpts

Wednesday 12th December 2018 Grand Committee

[Lord Paddick (LD)]

My Lords, I do not think I will be able to speak for very long. I thank the Minister for explaining the order. As she has explained, a civil injunction can be taken out against those causing others harassment, alarm or distress, and the order adds Transport for Greater Manchester to those able to apply directly to the courts for these injunctions, as Transport for London can. Clearly, if the West Midlands and London have this ability, there is no reason that Greater Manchester should not have it as well.

However, perhaps the Minister can explain to the Committee how the injunctions are used in practice. How are they enforced once they are granted? How effective have they been in London, where they have been available to Transport for London for some time? How many times have they been used, and to what effect? I have tried to find out. I consulted the chair of the Transport Committee of the London Assembly and she did not know of any issues around the granting of these injunctions, but it would be useful to know whether this is an effective measure, based on experience in other areas that have had these injunctions for some time.

[Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab Co-op)]

I am happy to support the order. The noble Lord, Lord Paddick, asked a pertinent question, which we would like to hear the answer to, about the experience of using these orders elsewhere. But giving the transport authority in Manchester the powers that they have in the West Midlands and here in London is certainly a good thing. As the Minister said, the Mayor of Greater Manchester has applied for these and made a strong case, and the Government have listened to that. I am happy to support the order and I have no questions for the Minister.

[Baroness Manzoor]

I thank both noble Lords for their support of this important SI. I am sorry to hear that the voice of the noble Lord, Lord Paddick, is going, but perhaps not as sorry as I should be, since it means that he did not have the opportunity to ask too many detailed questions.

The noble Lord asked about the evidence base in relation to London. I do not have the information to hand but I do know that the order allows the organisations to go to court to get a civil injunction against an individual for anti-social behaviour. If they are an adult, they could be put in prison. For children over the age of 10 who misbehave, the order can put in place various deterrents to further reduce misbehaviour on trains. But I will see if we have anything specifically on London. I am not getting a nod from the Box. I do not have that detail, so I will have to write to the noble Lord in relation to London. I do not think that we collate that data centrally. We meet various agencies on a regular basis and the reports are that the injunctions are being used to good effect. That is all I can say at the moment.

If I can get more detail—there is no inspiration behind me either—then at least the fact that the London mayor has applied for these orders says that they can be used to try to reduce the detriment being caused by anti-social behaviour on the transport system. With that, and with the Committee’s support, I ask noble Lords to agree the Motion.