Violence Reduction, Policing and Criminal Justice

Neil Hudson Excerpts

Wednesday 15th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Dr Neil Hudson (Penrith and The Border) (Con)]

It is an honour to speak in this debate on the first King’s Speech of His Majesty’s reign. I pay tribute to him for his unstinting service to our country and the Commonwealth, carrying on the truly humbling legacy of his mother, Her Majesty our late Queen.

It is important that those who commit crime must feel the full force of the law and serve the penalty for the crime they have committed. I very much welcome the Government’s clear commitment to that in the King’s Speech. The Sentencing Bill will introduce steps to ensure tougher sentences for criminals and increase the confidence of victims. It is heartening that the Government have also announced a Criminal Justice Bill to let our police tackle the developing crimes of our age.

It is important that we heard a commitment to ensuring that the treatment of victims will be a key feature of the Government’s approach to crime. I believe that at the heart of the desire for a firm and effective criminal justice system is the shared belief that everyone deserves safe and secure communities in which to thrive, and our amazing police forces are key to that. I pay tribute to our police, the security services and our military, who do so much to keep us safe.

The Government have delivered an extra 20,000 police officers nationally, and I welcome that. In Cumbria, we have seen a more visible police presence on our streets and more police stations opening up. As a local illustration, since PC Stewart Green started as the community beat officer in Penrith in July, there has been a 15.7% reduction in antisocial behaviour compared with in the same period last year. My constituents, who live in rural areas, are often affected very different types of crime. Rural communities face issues such as theft of farm equipment and machinery, fly-tipping, hare coursing, poaching, wildlife crime, and the theft of pets, farm livestock and indeed horses. I welcome how, over the course of the Parliament, the Government have taken important steps to tackle that. Those crimes also affect the mental health and wellbeing of our rural communities, which I am passionate about. The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee recently published a report on rural mental health and has noted the impact of such incidents on our communities.

I am proud that the Government have a strong record of action on animal welfare in this Parliament. In the King’s Speech, their commitment to banning live exports for fattening and slaughter is a clear sign that they support our high animal welfare standards. I look forward to them continuing that in this new Session on issues such as puppy smuggling, the smuggling of heavily pregnant dogs, banning the importation of dogs with horrifically cropped ears and tackling pet theft.

Biosecurity is pivotal to national security, and it is so important that the Animal and Plant Health Agency is supported in tackling infectious diseases such as avian influenza. At the EFRA Committee, when we had the Secretary of State and permanent secretary before us, we reaffirmed how important it is that APHA’s Weybridge site is redeveloped.

On the safety of our communities, I am fully behind the Prime Minister in bringing forward the necessary ban on the American XL Bully dog to keep both people and other animals safe.

I would like to give my wholehearted support to the Government’s timely commitment to the Holocaust Memorial Bill. In a deeply troubling time for the Jewish community, it is only right that we make sure the holocaust is never forgotten.

I strongly support many Bills in the King’s Speech, including on improving transport connectivity. It is important that they go ahead. The Renters (Reform) Bill will give renters and landlords important rights and is to be welcomed. The tobacco and vapes Bill has my full support and is a landmark step to eradicate the threat of vaping for our under-18s. I hope that the Bill will be wide-ranging and that we truly get a grip on a potential ticking time bomb for public health. I welcome the football governance Bill and I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Chatham and Aylesford (Tracey Crouch) for her strong work leading the fan-led review.

I very much welcome the Government’s legislative agenda in the new Session, which is strong on criminal justice and on empowering our communities and keeping them safe and prosperous.

Oral Answers to Questions

Neil Hudson Excerpts

Tuesday 28th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Edward Argar]

Under this Government victims are always put first. The hon. Lady raised two or three points, and she will be aware that reports and charges of rape, and receipts in the Crown court, have been going up. There is more to do in that space—we have been clear about that—but we have continued to drive progress, not least through the Operation Soteria approach that we have piloted in a number of areas. She mentioned the appointment of a Victims’ Commissioner, and my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister has been clear that we are in the process of recruiting for that role. I am sure she would wish us to follow due process—those on the Labour Front Bench have called for that on a number of topics—and that is exactly what we are doing. I urge her to be patient with respect to the victims Bill, and I hope she will shortly be satisfied on that score.

[Dr Neil Hudson (Penrith and The Border) (Con)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

[The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Dominic Raab)]

Since the last Justice questions I hosted a conference of Justice Ministers and representatives from around the world—more than 40 countries—and we agreed a package of financial support and technical assistance to help the International Criminal Court, in particular with the indictment in relation to alleged war crimes in Ukraine. We have also published the independent domestic homicide sentencing review, announcing new statutory aggravating factors, to increase sentences for those horrific crimes.

[Dr Hudson]

Although we know that vaping and e-cigarette products can reduce the harms of tobacco smoking in adults, those products are not risk free and there is an alarming popularity of vaping among under-18s, and even among primary-age children. There are concerning reports of schoolchildren becoming addicted to those products, disrupting their sleep patterns, and leaving lessons and even exams to vape. Will my right hon. Friend assure me that the Government are taking action to prevent the promotion and illegal sale of vapes to under-18s, and prosecute those who break the law in that regard?

[Dominic Raab]

As my hon. Friend will know, vapes can only legally be sold to those over 18 in this country. We limit nicotine content and refill bottle and tank sizes, and there are also restrictions on labelling and advertising. When there is evidence of any breaches, we expect and I know that law enforcement authorities take that seriously. More generally, given the age group we are talking about, the Department of Health and Social Care is exploring a range of new measures, particularly about addressing youth vaping, and preventing and spreading awareness of the harms.

Approved Premises (Substance Testing) Bill

Neil Hudson Excerpts

3rd reading
Friday 21st January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Rob Butler]

If my hon. Friend is patient, I will also come on to that point in just a moment. It is all in my speech, I promise.

Returning to the need for this Bill, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, which investigates deaths in custody, has made repeated recommendations on the urgent need for a comprehensive drug strategy for the approved premises estate, including expanding the range of drugs for which tests can take place. The Bill will do exactly that.

Of course, deaths are not commonplace in AP, and we should not imply that they are. However, the impact of drugs on the physical and mental wellbeing of individuals in both the short and long term is profound. Drug use also undermines an offender’s ability to engage in rehabilitation, which was mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Bracknell (James Sunderland), and potentially hampers an offender’s efforts to turn their back on crime at the very moment they most need to desist and begin a new law-abiding life.

The Bill will enable Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service to create a comprehensive framework for drug testing in approved premises. It will bring APs in line with the testing regime that was recently introduced across the prison estate—to which I referred a moment ago, in response to the intervention by my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Aaron Bell)—and that was established by the Prisons (Substance Testing) Bill, which was introduced in the last Session in the name of the former right hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham, the late Dame Cheryl Gillan.

Dame Cheryl and I discussed her Bill in some detail; she knew I had experience in this area and was very interested in it. She was very clear on the positive impact that these changes could have on prisoners. The fact that her Bill received no opposition during its passage and received Royal Assent is just one further example of the tremendous legacy left by Dame Cheryl. She is very much missed in this place and, I would like to say, across the whole of Buckinghamshire and more widely across the country.

I recognise that some right hon. and hon. Members might wonder why drug testing does not already exist in approved premises. I would like to reassure them that there is already some provision in place, although it is far from sufficient for today’s landscape of substance misuse. Currently, residents are tested for drugs if they are asked to do so by staff in accordance with the house rules that they accept as a condition of their residence in the approved premises. Although that provides a basis for some drug testing, it does not set out a comprehensive statutory framework for the testing of illicit substances, for the type or scope of substances that may be tested, or for the types of samples that may be taken. What is more, at present, HMPPS tests residents only on a risk and suspicion regime and can test for only four groups: opioids, cannabis, cocaine and amphetamines. In short, the current testing regime is unsatisfactory and insufficient, hence the need for the Bill before the House today.

[Dr Neil Hudson (Penrith and The Border) (Con)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on bringing his Bill this far, and I wish him well in its further passage. It is an important Bill. He has fluently described the changing patterns of drug use, the different substances and the ever-changing types of drugs used that are a blight on our society. Does he agree that, by bringing forward a robust and regulated drug-testing system, his Bill will provide an effective response to the ever-changing picture of the types of drugs in use? He has mentioned psychoactive substances. Given that ever-changing picture, an approved testing regime will help.

[Rob Butler]

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention; once again he demonstrates knowledge of the impact of drugs on the human body. He has expertise on animal bodies rather than human bodies, but he demonstrates none the less a profound understanding of pharmacology and the changing pattern of drugs. There has been great news about prescription medication—we have seen real advances in drugs. However, there is a flipside to that, which is that there is an ever-growing group of criminals who seek to exploit scientific development and advances, and use them to prey on the most vulnerable in society. What we need to do is help those who might fall prey to that victimisation. That is why this testing regime will result in help, guidance and support, alongside potentially criminal consequences if the misuse is continued or results in particularly poor behaviour.

[Dr Hudson]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way again. He brings up the point about the different types of drugs that are available. I was not going to bring this up, but he has made the important point that some of the drugs that are misused in society are used in a veterinary setting, perhaps for analgesia and anaesthesia—ketamine, for instance. It is important that legislation is passed that mitigates, reduces and cancels out the inappropriate use of drugs that are so beneficial in human and veterinary medicine, but create such a blight for people if they are misused. They are dangerous and potentially fatal.

[Rob Butler]

Again, I thank my hon. Friend for sharing his expertise and contributing to the greater education of Members across this House. By expanding the range of substances that can be tested for, and taking the step to require that testing be done on urine, the Bill will increase HMPPS’s ability to detect and address drug use quickly and efficiently. As I have already indicated, the Bill will extend the range of substances that can be tested for. It makes provision to test all residents in approved premises for controlled drugs, psychoactive substances and prescription-only medicines.

I will now move on to the manner of testing. Approved premises currently test for drugs using oral fluids. However, relatively few drugs can be detected reliably in oral fluid. That means that the current testing regime has a limited capacity to identify drug use among residents. As a result, residents’ needs are not identified and treatment and care cannot be planned or managed effectively. The move to urine testing will allow HMPPS to both test for a much wider range of substances and, crucially, provide a longer timeframe in which to detect the use of illicit substances. That is because certain drugs are only detectable for a relatively short period of time in oral fluid—12 to 24 hours—but in urine some drugs, such as heroin, are detectable for up to five days. Clearly, this increases the opportunity to detect the use of substances and will provide an additional deterrent to those who might be tempted to abuse them.