Protections for Emergency Service Workers

Matt Vickers Excerpts

Wednesday 4th November 2020 Westminster Hall

[Matt Vickers (Stockton South) (Con)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered protections for emergency service workers.

It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Murray. I thank everybody for taking the time to contribute to this debate.

The pandemic has reminded everyone of the important role our emergency service workers play in protecting, defending and saving lives. Doctors, nurses, police officers, paramedics, fire service personnel and everyone else on the frontline have served with fortitude and commitment during these unprecedented times. While the country has retreated to the safety of our own home, our emergency service workers have rolled up their sleeves to protect and save lives. They have held the hands of dying patients, provided counselling to distraught family members, maintained order in some of our most vulnerable communities, and upheld hope in our everyday lives. I am proud that in Stockton we have an award-winning hospital that is filled to the brim with a talented and passionate workforce. Throughout the pandemic, I volunteered at University Hospital of North Tees and saw at first hand the commitment of a workforce who give 110% to caring for local people.

While this pandemic has made us appreciate those who work in the health service, it has also allowed us to see the diverse roles that other frontline workers play. In Cleveland, we have frontline police officers who are second to none. To most of us, it seems perverse that anyone would want to assault another person for doing their job. Abusing someone who, by definition, goes to work and dedicates their life to helping others is simply wrong, but during a night shift with my local police force, I witnessed the horrid abuse our emergency service workers face. I shadowed police officers as they attended a call to deal with an aggressive, drug-fuelled individual who was making it his business to abuse the hospital staff who were trying to help him. Matters then turned physical, and the individual lashed out at officers, throwing fists and feet in an effort to evade arrest.

Whether physical or verbal, abuse is abuse, and it should never be tolerated. Sadly, incidents like the one I witnessed are not rare. In 2019, more than 11,000 people were prosecuted for assaulting emergency service workers, and it is thought that this number has risen by as much as a third this year. In our year of crisis, when we are more reliant on our emergency service workers than ever, the number of assaults has increased. We cannot allow that to go on.

Between 2008 and 2019, 92 police officers lost their lives while on duty. Some 39% of officers across the country have been assaulted. Between August 2019 and July 2020, 6,668 were assaulted, which is an average of 18 assaults on officers every single day. Within those national statistics are even darker pockets of local problems. In Cleveland, in the year to October 2019, there were 440 assaults on emergency service workers. That is 440 too many. This year, that has risen by more than 50%, to 662. Whatever we are doing is not working, and we must do more.

It would be impossible to discuss this issue and not think about a man who embodied duty and service, and who committed his life to uphold, defend and protect. That man is PC Andrew Harper. At the time of the incident, Andrew Harper had finished his shift and, like many other emergency service workers across the country, he carried on to do a few more jobs, to help colleagues and his community. I realise that we are not allowed to discuss the details around the case and the sentence imposed, but let us be honest: I do not think anybody here is not aware of the case. The nation has been shocked by a story that has pierced the public consciousness and has been inspired by PC Harper’s wife in her quest for justice.

PC Harper’s wife, Lissie, has shown unbelievable courage, bravery, energy and passion in her effort to ensure justice for her husband and the family of any other emergency service worker who might find themselves in such a horrific situation. Lissie’s online petition, calling for life sentences for those convicted of killing emergency service workers, has attracted more than 730,000 signatures. It is a new movement for change from a British public who want to see protection for their protectors, and justice for them and their families.

I am delighted that Lissie’s drive and relentless pursuit for positive change has been recognised by the Government. Through discussions with the Lord Chancellor, I am aware that the Government are looking at options for strengthening the law in relation to those who kill emergency service workers while engaged in unlawful activity. I hope that through debates like this one we can continue to push the issue up the agenda.

When someone signs up to work for our police force, our NHS or our fire service, and gets up each morning and puts themselves in harm’s way for us, they should do so with confidence that if things go wrong we will stand by them and, when necessary, ensure that justice is delivered for them and their families. We must do more. I know that the political will is there and appreciate the progress that has been made.

The Government’s sentencing White Paper, “A Smarter Approach to Sentencing”, includes proposals to increase the maximum penalty for assaulting an emergency service worker from 12 months to two years. It is a good start, but I see it as only that. It is a starting point to build, so that the law can act as a deterrent and deliver real justice.

I am proud to support the Government’s announcement of a police covenant to recognise the sacrifices of those who work in policing. The covenant will recognise the huge contribution made by our officers and ensure that they are not disadvantaged as a result of their commitment and that they have access to justice.

Having spent time on duty with my local police officers, I know the solution lies not just with tougher sentences for those who do harm to emergency workers, but in what we give our officers to do their job. Some say a workman should never blame his tools, but I believe everybody should have the right to ask for the tools they need to do their job safely.

In March 2020, the Home Office provided £6.7 million to English and Welsh police forces to purchase more than 8,000 new tasers. The equipment is there, and I welcome it. However, access to training is sometimes a stumbling block. Looking forward, we should aim to set a standard. If a police officer wants the training to be able to use a taser, he should be entitled to it.

Perhaps most crucially of all, almost every officer I have spoken to has impressed on me the importance of high-quality body-worn cameras. In fact, I have seen at first hand how a poor standard body-worn camera can fail when needed most. My local force is now led by an excellent chief constable and the body-worn cameras have been upgraded and replaced. At that time, an officer down the road, working in Durham, was afforded an acceptable camera. Officers working in my constituency were not. They were put at the risk of harm, with inadequate kit.

There must be a minimum standard. Officers should not be left without the necessary equipment to do the job, just because they work in one force rather than another. There has been a cultural shift away from supporting our emergency services workers. Many mourn the lack of respect, the verbal abuse and the gotcha culture. They are constantly subjected to it. Social media is full to the brim with those gotcha moments—people pushing their phones against the noses of emergency services workers while shouting in their faces. Body-worn cameras act as now-essential security to an officer when that happens, nipping in the bud the threat of false allegations that unjustly create so much anxiety for our emergency services workers.

Our frontline officers must have the highest-spec body-worn cameras—no ifs, no buts. If we are putting people in harm’s way to uphold our laws and to protect and save lives, we need to give them the equipment that they need to protect themselves. When things go wrong and that protection is not enough, we must stand by them and ensure that justice is done.

[Mrs Sheryll Murray (in the Chair)]

Order. I intend to call the Front-Bench spokesmen at about 5.25 pm. There are 11 Back-Bench Members wishing to speak. I am sure that you can all do the maths. If you speak for about two or three minutes each, we should be able to get everyone in.

--- Later in debate ---

[Matt Vickers]

I thank hon. Members for their heartfelt and valuable contributions to this important debate. I thank my hon. Friend the Minister for his response, and for the work he is doing to put more police officers on our streets and properly equip them with the powers and equipment they need to tackle crime. All of our emergency services run towards danger when we run away, and that is why we have to do more, be on their side and protect them.

When I talk to frontline officers and doctors and nurses, they all talk about the word “respect”, and we have to re-instil that respect for our emergency service workers. The work that we do on sentencing is about creating a deterrent and about sending a signal to our society. I thank the hon. Members for South Antrim (Paul Girvan) and for Strangford (Jim Shannon) for a unique perspective on the challenges in Northern Ireland and on the PSNI. I look forward to the hon. Member for Strangford coming back for a “clip around the ear” debate at some point, because I think that might work.

I thank the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle (Emma Hardy) and my hon. Friend the Member for Morley and Outwood (Andrea Jenkyns), who discussed the mental health challenges faced by modern-day emergency services, probably like never before. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Wakefield (Imran Ahmad Khan), who spoke about the continuation of our values. That is what it is about: we made a commitment to put more police on the streets, and we also made a commitment to toughen up sentences for the worst crimes. There are few crimes worse than attacking the people who go out every day to help us.

My hon. Friend the Member for Heywood and Middleton (Chris Clarkson) is clearly a right winger like me, and wants to get tough, get real and hand out real justice. When we look at other countries—

[Mrs Sheryll Murray (in the Chair)]

Order. The sitting stands adjourned.