Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Bill

Mike Hill Excerpts

2nd reading: House of Commons
Friday 20th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant]

The legal advice that I have had is that they would be included, but we need to make sure of that in Committee.

I think every single one of us will feel it is inconceivable—incomprehensible—that, when somebody comes to save a life, they can be physically attacked for doing so. How does that happen? There is a cry of outrage at the heart of this Bill. It is an attempt to give an extra tool to the prosecuting authorities to make sure that we can stem the tide of these assaults.

[Mike Hill (Hartlepool) (Lab)]

Will my hon. Friend give way?

[Chris Bryant]

My hon. Friend is not Welsh, but of course I give way.

[Mike Hill]

This is not just about people saving lives. Attacks on firefighters who are putting out fires occur time and again. Does my hon. Friend agree that that is equally bad and needs the right level of punishment?

[Chris Bryant]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Two years ago I stood in utter amazement in Porth watching kids on the other side of the valley throwing bricks at fire officers who were trying to put a fire out on the mountain. Words fail me.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mohammad Yasin (Bedford) (Lab)]

It is an honour to follow the hon. Member for Corby (Tom Pursglove) and to listen to his experiences as the child of two police officers. I also congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) on introducing this timely and important Bill and my hon. Friend the Member for Halifax (Holly Lynch) on her hard work to bring it forward.

More action is necessary to protect emergency workers such as healthcare staff, police officers and firefighters from violence and aggression. They perform a vital public service, putting our safety before their own, and we must do all we can to protect them. Earlier this year, PC Jack Denton from Bedfordshire police had to have staples in his head after he was struck by a blunt object. He was called to assist armed police who had handcuffed a suspected car thief who ran away. PC Denton chased him to a house and then felt a massive thud. Bleeding and weak, he fell to the floor. He had been hit by a candlestick most likely thrown from the top window. Fortunately, PC Denton recovered from his injuries, but instances like this are far too common.

We all owe a huge debt of gratitude to frontline public workers placed in dangerous situations on a daily basis. Jim Mallen, chairman of Bedfordshire Police Federation, told me:

“Police Officers do not go to work to be verbally or physically abused. Too many officers return to their families every day having been assaulted – not only having to deal with the physical effects but battling the often long term mental impacts.”

[Mike Hill]

I understand the issues around capacity, but does my hon. Friend agree that mental health workers, by the nature of their jobs, are often at risk of assault, that such attacks need to be recorded and dealt with properly, and that adequate support needs to be provided to workers subjected to such assaults?

[Mohammad Yasin]

I agree with my hon. Friend. It is a very important point. Mental health workers do an important job and should be protected, like many other key workers in our country.

Just yesterday, Jim Mallen wrote to six more officers who had been injured on duty. Their injuries were from their being driven into, elbowed in the face, bitten and kicked. He believes that the emergency services are becoming the punch-bags of society and that the time has come to punish those who see fit to assault those on the frontline. I agree with him: it is time to protect those who daily protect us.

As MPs, we all know the dangers of violent and aggressive behaviour. I am grateful for the steps the House has taken to increase security in all our constituency offices so that all MPs and their staff can feel safe at work. We now owe it to all our frontline emergency workers to do all we can to make their workplaces as safe as possible.

--- Later in debate ---

[Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills) (Con)]

If the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) will not accept our congratulations or thanks, let us then acknowledge his work and that of the hon. Member for Halifax (Holly Lynch), as well as that of previous Administrations who have worked on this particular topic and of those responsible for taking this Bill through the House. It was interesting to hear how the hon. Gentleman conducted his own ballot to find which topic the public supported most for a private Member’s Bill.

The Bill and today’s contributions send a clear signal from this House that certain attitudes towards and attacks on emergency workers will not be tolerated. Emergency workers are among the most respected people in this country. They should be able to do their job in the knowledge that if anyone assaults them while they carry out their duties, the persecutor will be punished. My own sister is a nurse, although not in the emergency sector, and I would not wish to think that she was doing her job without adequate protections and safeguards.

I have done some research on emergency workers and frontline staff in the west midlands and my own constituency. In the west midlands in 2016-17, there were 1,312 recorded assaults against officers. That is the second largest number of attacks, by police force area, with only the Metropolitan police recording a higher number. Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust recorded 175 assaults in 2015-16, which equates to 3.5% of staff being attacked. We have to remember that behind every police officer, fire officer and nurse who is assaulted, there is a partner, husband, wife or family. As we have heard, they are equally affected.

I will turn briefly to the Bill’s specifics—I must get my teeth in today and keep my pieces of paper in the right order. This is the disadvantage in having one’s speech curtailed.

There has been a lot of debate about clause 3 and the definition of “emergency workers”, and I mentioned earlier an assault on a constituent of mine who is a refuse collector. We need to look very closely at that definition. For example, are members of the armed forces under Operation Temperer covered under the Bill? I am not quite sure, so I ask the Minister to confirm that in his winding-up speech.

[Mike Hill]

I hope the definition will include the civil nuclear police, too.

[Wendy Morton]

The hon. Gentleman highlights the need to look at the specifics of the Bill.

My hon. Friend the Member for Dartford (Gareth Johnson) highlighted the need to look beyond emergency workers in accident and emergency. We have heard about minor injuries units, but what about nurses on wards? Could they be included in the Bill?

It is very important for the Bill to undergo line-by-line scrutiny in Committee so we can get it right. We have an excellent opportunity not just to send the right message, but to protect the people who need our protection most. What we have heard today, and what we have seen in our own constituencies, is absolutely not to be tolerated. That message must go out loud and clear, and be backed up by legislation that works to protect our frontline services.