Prison Overcrowding

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Monday 16th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

There was no report from the independent inspectorate about this matter. We are increasing the amount of education in prisons where we can. I have just announced a doubling of the amount of education that is done by youth offenders in the youth offender estate. We are also launching a new secure college, which will have an education-focused curriculum. For reasons that completely escape me, the Opposition oppose replacing a prison-type institution that has bars on the windows with something more akin to a school or college that does positive skill building. I think they are bonkers.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

The fact that crime is down suggests that reoffending rates are coming down too. Will my right hon. Friend set out the coalition Government’s progressive, forward-looking rehabilitation measures that will reduce reoffending rates still further?

Voting Eligibility (Prisoners)

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Thursday 22nd November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. This is the problem; at the moment, we have a Court that is drowning in hundreds of thousands of cases in areas that the originators of the convention would never have considered relevant to what they were creating. That has taken the judges in Strasbourg away from the fundamental principles that they are supposed to be there to protect, so I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

The European convention on human rights was set up in the aftermath of the second world war to ensure that the horrors of Nazi Germany never happened again. It was never the intention of its framers to give Albert Speer and Rudolf Hess the vote. Does not that make it clear that there is a difference between the convention and the Court? That is why Parliament will have a moral mandate to defy the Court.

[Chris Grayling]

I really believe that is the central issue, which is why I feel so passionately that we need to reform the system, which has moved a long way from the noble motives of its conservative creators, who were trying to address some of the appalling situations that people in Europe found themselves in at the time. It was not about whether prisoners had the right to vote; it was about people being put in mental hospitals for the rest of their lives without trial as an excuse for taking them out of the political process. That is the kind of thing we should be fighting.

Oral Answers to Questions

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Djanogly]

I confirm that we are giving serious thought to the issue and considering the exact scope of the concession, as well as how such work will be delivered in future, because the operational aspects are just as important. Once we have considered that in full, we will make an announcement.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

13. What recent assessment he has made of the value for money and effectiveness of the Office of the Information Commissioner.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Mr Jonathan Djanogly)]

The Ministry of Justice and the Information Commissioner’s Office meet regularly to ensure that the office operates effectively and secures the best possible value from the resources available to it. The ICO’s next annual report is due out on Thursday.

[Robert Halfon]

As I told the Minister when I wrote to him a few weeks ago, it took a long campaign in Parliament in 2010 before the Information Commissioner was prepared to admit that Google Street View had broken the Data Protection Act on an industrial scale. It has now taken an investigation by The Sunday Times and action in America for the ICO to actually act and pursue Google further. Surely the ICO should be accountable to Ministers, and therefore to the British people, so that when there are such problems someone can take charge.

[Mr Djanogly]

The Information Commissioner is of course accountable to the public via Parliament. His annual reports are laid before Parliament, and he could be questioned on his reports by, for instance, the Justice Committee. It would be wrong for me to comment on the ICO’s handling of any particular case. That said, I understand that the ICO has reopened its investigation into Google Street View because it has received some new information about Google’s capture of data from wi-fi networks in the USA. The investigation is ongoing.

Oral Answers to Questions

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Tuesday 13th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Djanogly]

I should say that that is a Department for Business, Innovation and Skills policy. However, I can tell the hon. Gentleman that the Government’s policy is that fewer people should go to tribunals in the first place. That is why we are encouraging people to go to ACAS in all circumstances before they go to the tribunal. That is what we have been consulting on.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

Is my hon. Friend aware that 40% of prisoners were excluded from school? Will he work with the Department for Education and charities such as Catch22, based in my constituency, which do so much to get young people off the conveyor belt to crime?

Oral Answers to Questions

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Tuesday 8th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Djanogly]

These will have to be looked at in the context of all not-for-profit organisations—citizens advice bureaux and so forth. If the hon. Lady wishes to discuss her particular concerns relating to her particular CLAC, I would be happy to discuss them with her.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

Following the publication of the Norgrove report, will my hon. Friend reassure anxious fathers in my constituency, including Mr Colin Riches, and will he make every effort to ensure that parents have equal access to children?

[Mr Djanogly]

We have every intention of ensuring that both parents have a meaningful relationship with their children, and we will look carefully at the Norgrove report in order to develop a Government approach to the matter.

Police Detention

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Thursday 30th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Nick Herbert]

I answered those points in terms in my previous answer, and I have nothing to add. It was important for us to establish what the implications of the judgment were first at official level, working with ACPO, and then on the basis of proper legal advice. It was only when officials received the written judgment of the High Court that it became clear that the original judgment might have an implication beyond that which was initially understood. There have been discussions during the course of the week about the appropriate way to proceed, and I have sought to update the House once we knew the course of action, so as to bring clarity. I repeat that I do not regard this as a matter for partisan difference. We are grateful to the Opposition for adopting a sensible approach to this matter and for supporting emergency legislation. We do not need to disagree on this.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

I thank both my right hon. Friend for the statement and the Government for their prompt response in terms of the emergency legislation. Will he ensure that when this legislation is passed it will give a clear signal to judges such as the one who made the decision that we must be on the side of the victim, not the criminal?

[Nick Herbert]

I will not comment on the specific points in that question, for reasons I am sure my hon. Friend will understand, but, of course, in general it is important both that we have a criminal justice system that properly reflects the interests of victims and that justice is done. The police bail system had been operating for 25 years in a manner with which, as far as I am aware, everybody was content, and this judgment alone has, effectively, sought to undo that. That is why we think it right to bring forward this legislation.

Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Wednesday 29th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Heidi Alexander (Lewisham East) (Lab)]

I feel somewhat unqualified to take part in this debate, because we have heard from a lot of lawyers, and I confess to not being a lawyer. I must admit that I am marrying one at the beginning of August, but he is not affected by these changes.

I will speak about the changes to legal aid and the new provisions on knife crime. I do not stand here today to claim that the current system of legal aid is perfect, because it is not. The Opposition recognise that, and we made a commitment in our manifesto to reforming it, but reforming the system is different from decimating it, and that is what the Government propose to do. This Bill will restrict access to justice to those who can afford to pay, and it will leave some of our poorest and most vulnerable citizens completely defenceless. It is a shameful Bill, and I hope that it will change hugely as it progresses through Parliament.

One of the first occasions on which I had reason to think about the availability of legal aid was when I was a local councillor in Lewisham. I was the cabinet member for regeneration, and I led the council’s work to try to find a new Travellers site. Towards the end of the process, the authority’s decision to build a new site was subject to a judicial review challenge that was funded by legal aid.

I remember hearing how an elderly woman of limited means had been persuaded by her neighbours to front the challenge, and I remember being annoyed by that, questioning in my own mind whether it was right, but as time passed I concluded that it was right: right, because there is a fundamental principle at stake, and right that, irrespective of somebody’s means, they can challenge with the appropriate legal advice and assistance a decision that the state has taken.

Although I appreciate the Government’s plan to retain legal aid for such situations, I think that the principle has to apply across the board. Taking whole areas of social welfare law out of the scope of civil legal aid means that hundreds of thousands of people will not be able to secure the legal advice that they need on housing, education and benefits.

Many decisions challenged using legal aid are taken by the state. They include decisions not to award benefits or to provide housing, and some of that work requires a detailed understanding of the law, yet the Government seem to suggest that people will be able to go it alone. I honestly cannot see how that will work.

Every fortnight I hold my advice surgery, to which many people come with plastic bags full of paperwork, and I spend hours sifting through it with them to find the key document, and to understand what stage of the process they are at and whether they have a right to appeal against a decision. Those people are not the people for whom DIY justice, as my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull East (Karl Turner) described it, is an option.

A few months ago I visited Morrison Spowart, a small firm of legal aid solicitors in my constituency. Solicitors at the firm are paid generally between £25,000 and £30,000. They are not City lawyers earning £100,000, but they do change people’s lives, and they talked me through a case in which a legal aid fee of £174 enabled them to overturn a council decision not to house a family, thereby avoiding a whole number of knock-on costs to the public purse, not to mention the misery that the decision would have caused the parents and children.

Members will know that organisation after organisation has sent out briefings for this Second Reading debate, talking about the false economy of these cuts to legal aid. The list of organisations that make the argument is a long one: the Law Society, Liberty, Shelter, Citizens Advice, the Law Centres Federation and the Child Poverty Action Group. I ask the Minister: are they all wrong? The Government have not listened to the consultation’s respondents, and, as I have already said, the Bill is shameful given what it proposes to do to access to justice.

In the final minute and a half of my speech, I turn to the new provisions on knife crime and the new offence of possessing a knife in aggravated circumstances. I represent a constituency where lives have been devastated by knife crime, and the Government will have to do much better than this Bill.

Last year I researched on YouTube the videos that gangs put up. Young men—probably boys, to be honest—brandish knives on the internet and wave them around in front of the camera as if they are just cigarettes. Tens of thousands of people have viewed these videos and I wonder whether that would qualify as aggravating circumstances. The videos glorify knife crime and the intimidating and aggressive violence that accompanies it, so I ask the Minister to think about such incidents and whether any change can be made to the law to try to tackle the culture that exists around the use of knives—

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

Will the hon. Lady give way?

[Heidi Alexander]

I only have 30 seconds and many other hon. Members wish to speak—

[Robert Halfon]

I will not be able to speak.

[Heidi Alexander]

In that case, I will give way.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lindsay Hoyle)]

Order. The hon. Gentleman has only just come into the Chamber.

[Robert Halfon]

I beg your pardon, Mr Deputy Speaker.

Is the hon. Lady aware that knives are often sold on the internet priced with British pound signs and does she agree that action needs to be taken to combat that?

[Heidi Alexander]

Some of the things that we see on the internet are of huge concern. I tried to get YouTube to take those videos down, but I did not really have a hope in hell of it doing so. I tried to interest Home Office Ministers in the issue and failed. We have to look at what is out there in cyberspace in order to tackle these issues. If anything will entice someone to get involved in knife crime, it might be the idea that they will get their 30 seconds of glory on the internet with 16,000 people looking at their video. Can we think about other ways to tackle this issue?

I do not think that the provisions in the Bill on knife crime will get to the nub of the problem. I cannot see what will really change as a result of these proposals. While I am inclined to support a mandatory sentence for possession of a knife in aggravated circumstances, I question what will really change.

Sentencing Reform/Legal Aid

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Tuesday 21st June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Clarke]

The right hon. Gentleman will be surprised to learn that there are 1,000 fewer foreign national prisoners now than there were when the previous Government left office. I agree with him that this is very difficult to achieve, although we are pursuing transfer of prisoner agreements, and the new transfer arrangements with the EU are coming into effect. We are also working with the UK Border Agency to try to improve its effectiveness in moving people promptly. We are working at this, and so far, we are doing 1,000 better than he did.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

Harlow Welfare Rights and Advice and the citizens advice bureau are deeply concerned about the proposed centralised telephone service for all but emergency cases. Will my right hon. and learned Friend assure us that that will not add an unnecessary level of impersonal bureaucracy or prevent advice from reaching vulnerable people? Will he also look into the availability of legal aid in cases of criminal negligence, so that those who have been harmed can have access to justice?

[Mr Clarke]

I had better refer my hon. Friend to the consultation document. He has taken up this matter in the past, and we have readdressed the question after listening to his and other people’s recommendations. We have defined much more closely the use of the telephone advice system and concentrated on those areas in which we think that it is of value. When he looks at our response to the consultation in detail, I think he will find that we have gone in the direction that he would have wished.

Police

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Wednesday 9th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Nick Herbert]

I absolutely understand the hon. Gentleman’s observation that different forces raise different amounts from local taxpayers, and I shall deal with it shortly. I remain open-minded about the issue, given that the report relates to allocations for the next two years.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

Is my right hon. Friend aware that over the past few years Essex police have made efficiency savings of 25%? Helicopter, payroll and legal services are now being shared, but Harlow police station remains open 24 hours a day, and our front-line services have been protected.

[Nick Herbert]

I welcome my hon. Friend’s comments. There are examples throughout the country—and I intend to provide some—of police forces that are making significant efficiency savings, and working in a smarter way that improves the service to the public even when funds have been reduced. It is clearly possible to achieve that.

It has been said that the profile of the cuts is front-loaded so that forces must find the biggest savings at an early stage. The profile reflects the need to make early progress on reducing the deficit, and it is set, but we must view the grant reductions in context. The biggest cut does not fall in the first year. The average cash reduction in grant is 4% in the first year, 5% in the second, 2% in the third, and 1% in the fourth.

It is also important to remember that a 20% reduction in Government funding in real terms does not mean a 20% reduction in force spending power. Forces do not receive all their funding from central Government; on average they receive about a quarter of it from the council tax component of precept, which is determined locally. If police authorities and, thereafter, elected police and crime commissioners choose to increase precept at the level forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility, the settlement represents a 14% real-terms reduction in overall funding over four years. Of course I recognise that the local contribution to police spending varies considerably between forces, and I shall deal with that aspect shortly.

--- Later in debate ---

[Nick Herbert]

I agree with my hon. Friend that making these efficiencies and improvements in business processes is about not just saving money, but improving the quality of the service. Those two things are not incompatible, and it is time we stopped talking as though they were.

[Robert Halfon]

Will my right hon. Friend give way?

[Nick Herbert]

I want to make a little more progress, if my hon. Friend will forgive me.

The inspectorate’s report focuses on reducing police force costs to average levels, but why should forces not be able to go further by matching the performance of the best, rather than merely the average? If forces improve productivity and adjust to the level of spend typical of the more efficient forces, that could add another £350 million to the savings calculated in HMIC’s report.

Pay, too, was outside the scope of the report. It accounts for the bulk of total police spending—some £11 billion last year. Any organisation in which the majority of the cost is pay, and which is facing tough times, has to look at its pay bill. The Government have announced a policy for a two-year pay freeze across the public sector. Subject to any recommendations from the police negotiating board and agreement on staff pay, this might save some £350 million. We have asked Tom Winsor to review the remuneration and conditions of service of police officers and staff. The Government have asked the review to make recommendations that are fair to, and reasonable for, both the taxpayer and police officers and staff. I want to emphasise the importance of fairness to police officers, who cannot strike and who often do a difficult and dangerous job on the public’s behalf. Tom Winsor’s first report is due to be published in February, with the second part due in June. Taken together, we believe there are potential savings of some £2.2 billion a year by 2014-15, which is greater than the real reduction in central grant.

These changes require a fundamental redesign of policing, with far greater collaboration, shared services and the potential use of outsourcing. However, this does not mean a worse service to the public. Savings must be driven in the back and middle-offices of police forces—areas where functions are important, even if invisible to the public, but could be done more efficiently. These functions have grown disproportionately as the money rolled in and bureaucracy predominated. As Peter Fahy, chief constable of Greater Manchester police, told the Home Affairs Committee earlier this month,

“some of our headquarters operations had got too big.”

--- Later in debate ---

[Nick Herbert]

I simply do not accept the right hon. Lady’s contention that it is somehow not possible for services to work together because they are receiving less money; that is a strong incentive for them to work together and to save resources.

[Robert Halfon]

I thank my right hon. Friend for giving way to me for a second time. Given what I said earlier about Essex police collaborating successfully with police forces in the south-east, such as Kent, on payroll services and on procuring helicopters and other vehicles, and given what he said about passing regulation for those who do not collaborate, will he look favourably on forces that are collaborating in future funding formulas?

[Nick Herbert]

Of course we will continue to look at all these issues, and I welcome the collaboration that has taken place in my hon. Friend’s force. HMIC was clear that collaboration has to proceed at a faster pace, and we will look at all the potential incentives to ensure that that is the case.

Don and Anita Horton

Robert Halfon Excerpts

Friday 4th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

New MPs see many cases of human suffering, and people daily write to and contact new MPs with all kinds of difficult stories, but of all the cases I have come across since being elected last year, this is the one in which I see the most injustice.

I am hugely grateful to the Speaker for allowing this debate, as I have cared about and campaigned on the issue for many months. Today, I want to recount a story of two utterly decent, salt-of-the-earth individuals, who do the right thing, obey the law, have worked hard, saved hard all their lives and suffered unnecessarily—pointlessly—because of the actions of state agencies. Don and Anita Horton have not just suffered; they have experienced an enormous injustice, which has caused misery to themselves and to their immediate family and neighbours. Worst of all, their suffering has been completely in vain.

Anita Horton was employed by the Benefits Agency from February 1994 until her retirement in May 1999, aged 61. She returned to work for Jobcentre Plus in April 2001 until April 2003, when she was 65. She was a dedicated public servant with an honourable record of helping people to return to work. During her employment, she became aware that an individual was claiming disability benefits, and there was strong evidence to suggest that the individual’s claim was fraudulent, so she reported it to the fraud team. She was told that, “due to staff problems”, an investigation would not be possible.

The individual was witnessed on several occasions carrying heavy objects, such as bed bases and bags of cement. He was often seen climbing nimbly up ladders to trim tall trees, and he reportedly worked as a cash-in-hand labourer and gardener. The Hortons felt that this threw some doubt on his disability benefit claims, so as citizens they felt obliged to report this to the Jobcentre Plus fraud team.

On 14 March 2006, Don and Anita Horton and many neighbours gave witness statements to Paul Carlisle, who then spent several days making video recordings and interviewing the individual concerned. As a consequence, however, personal details on the statements by Don and Anita were passed without their permission to the suspect individual. Those statements were made in good faith, and Don and Anita had thought that they would be protected by the Data Protection Act 1998.

During the period when the individual was in receipt of benefits—it is believed that he continues to receive some—there are anecdotal reports of him purchasing a four-bedroom house and two new cars, of significant refurbishment work on his house, such as new central heating, and of him boasting that his bank balance was £148,000. Evidence of this is held by Essex police. After this, the individual began to walk occasionally with a stick. However, he has been regularly seen in the town centre carrying several heavy shopping bags without a stick, climbing across ditches in the local park, and, of course, continuing to work in a manual job.

For the past four years—that is, 48 months—Don and Anita, and their neighbours, have been continually harassed, intimidated and, in some cases, physically assaulted by the said individual. Their cars have been damaged. They have been constantly verbally abused, and many attempts have been made to break their windows or damage their property. Don and Anita were provided with personal alarms by the police following regular threats of violence, and even death threats, by the individual.

It took three years of this ordeal before a court date was set—29 June 2009. The individual was due to appear at Harlow magistrates court, but the witness care office informed Don and Anita that the individual was too ill to attend. A new hearing was set for 19 October 2009, but this in turn was subsequently postponed. On the same day that the individual was “too ill” to attend the magistrates court—29 June 2009—it transpired that he was in Harlow county court with his wife issuing a summons against Mr Horton for the sum of £5,000, citing “loss of benefit”, “using the police as harassment” and a range of other claims that did not hold water. As a result, Don and Anita, who are an elderly couple, had to employ a solicitor and a barrister to defend themselves. This has cost them a considerable amount of money—nearly £8,000 to date, which is a significant portion of their life savings.

But it gets worse. On 5 October 2009, Don and Anita were in Harlow town centre and saw the individual coming towards them. He appeared physically very fit, was walking without a stick or crutches, and was carrying many heavy bags of shopping. Paul Carlisle, the fraud investigator, had previously suggested that photographic evidence would be crucial in court. However, when Don tried to take a photo, both the individual and his wife attacked him and pushed him to the ground. They pushed his face into the concrete and dug their knees into Mr Horton’s back to try to keep him crushed into the ground. There were many witnesses, and the individual was subsequently arrested.

The following day, however, the police came and arrested Mr Don Horton instead. The individual had alleged while in custody that Mr Horton had been harassing him. Don’s health had been seriously deteriorating all this time, and his daughter had to accompany him to the police station. They then spent several hours waiting in a cold police cell. A duty solicitor attended and a recorded interview was made. Don’s daughter had to stay by his side for many hours before the official wheels turned and the case was dismissed as nonsense.

Of course, no further action was taken, but the incident was symptomatic of this case: the public justice system was malfunctioning and failing to protect the most vulnerable and the good people who do the right thing. In the meantime, the stress and strain had a severe impact on Don’s health from which he is still recovering. I ask you, Mr Deputy Speaker, what kind of country we are living in when the criminal justice system can be abused in such a way. The state exists, at its most basic level, to fight crime, to protect vulnerable and good people, and to uphold the rule of law; that is why we pay our taxes. What is so deeply depressing about this case is that time and again, whether from long delays, incompetence, or sheer calculating indifference, the state has failed to do its most basic job.

Today, Mr and Mrs Horton have withdrawn as witnesses out of despair that the court case will never happen. The individual is still free and is reportedly still claiming disability benefit. Mr and Mrs Horton are still living in fear.

Since I was elected as MP for Harlow and the surrounding villages, I have tried unsuccessfully to raise this matter with the authorities. On the crucial point of data protection, I wrote to the Information Commissioner’s Office setting out the years of torment, fear and suffering that have afflicted Mr and Mrs Horton. On 13 August 2010, the ICO’s head of complaints resolution, Mr Laing, replied. He was kind enough to inform me in detail about the

“eight principles of good information handling”.

He wrote that under

“section 42 of the Data Protection Act, an individual can ask the Commissioner to conduct an assessment as to whether it is likely or unlikely that an organisation has complied with the Data Protection Act.

If we consider it is unlikely that an organisation has complied with the Data Protection Act, our aim is to ensure that the organisation understands its obligations and takes any steps necessary to help ensure compliance, either in that particular case, or in the future”.

He went on to state:

“Whilst it appears that the Data Protection Act may have been breached in this case, we do not have enough information to make a formal assessment of this matter.

If your constituents would like us to assess it, they should complete and return the complaints form at the back of the enclosed leaflet”.

That is more PC Plod than Batman and Robin. After more than four years of hitting a brick wall, what confidence should Mr and Mrs Horton have that completing and returning a complaints form on the back of a leaflet will lead to anything other than more bureaucracy and delay?

I feel a sense of frustration in this case in particular because when I have tried to deal with it by writing to the agencies concerned, all I have received is the inhuman and cold response of Sir Humphrey at his most dull, lethargic and indifferent. Soon after receiving the letter, I spoke to the Information Commissioner himself, Mr Christopher Graham, in my office and raised the case with him, but nothing has happened. Quite simply, what is the point of having an Information Commissioner’s Office to police the Data Protection Act if the response is worthy of the Circumlocution Office in Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens? To quote from that book:

“The Circumlocution Office was (as everybody knows without being told) the most important Department under Government… If another Gunpowder Plot had been discovered half an hour before the lighting of the match, nobody would have been justified in saving the parliament until there had been half a score of boards, half a bushel of minutes, several sacks of official memoranda, and a family-vault full of ungrammatical correspondence, on the part of the Circumlocution Office… Whatever was required to be done, the Circumlocution Office was beforehand with all the public departments in the art of perceiving—HOW NOT TO DO IT.”

Under different circumstances, the sloth of public agencies might be cause for a wry joke or mere annoyance, but in this case the state stood idly by for four years while an elderly couple were systematically persecuted. Don and Anita have been forced to spend a substantial chunk of their life savings to defend themselves against baseless legal claims from the individual in question. What is the result? Nothing.

There are three problems in this case. First, Don and Anita’s identities were released by Jobcentre Plus. Secondly, the judicial system has not brought the individual to justice. There are multi-agency difficulties in due process, but we must have a justice system that is concerned with justice—victims should be protected and criminals prosecuted. Thirdly, had Don and Anita gone to trial, their identities would have been released anyway because of our rules on witness anonymity.

We must protect decent people who do the right thing. That applies not just to Mr and Mrs Horton, but to others in the future. There is no compensation in sight for the Hortons. However, the issue is not with what they are technically entitled to if they had the strength and finance to fight tooth and nail through every court in Europe; it is that nobody seems interested or is bothered to help. What is the point of coming to Parliament and making laws if when people do the right thing they suffer? What is the point of laws at all if the good and decent suffer because of incompetence and bureaucracy? We should know that the character of the state is revealed not in its ambitions but in its actions, not in its policy but in its implementation. The characters of Jobcentre Plus and the courts system have been woeful.

I know that Mr and Mrs Horton are in the House today and will want to hear the Minister’s reply. Before I sit down, I should add that I have been very grateful for the Minister’s concern in this matter, particularly in my discussions with him. I also very much appreciate the fact that he is going to meet Mr and Mrs Horton after the debate.

--- Later in debate ---

[Robert Halfon]

I thank my hon. Friend for his remarks so far. However, will he confirm on the record that he agrees that it was wrong that the details of my constituents, who had reported what was going on, were subsequently handed to the accused?

[Mr Blunt]

That is a probing intervention, so let me deal with issues that are related to that. The Department for Work and Pensions operates a scheme whereby members of the public can report benefit fraud anonymously. That can be done online or by telephoning the national benefit fraud hotline.

The Department for Work and Pensions does not disclose the details of people who report fraud but make it clear that they wish to remain anonymous. They are treated as informants and their identities will be revealed only if the court orders disclosure. I appreciate my hon. Friend’s concern for his constituents. They feel that they have suffered as a consequence of their willingness to perform a public duty. I am very sorry if they feel that they have experienced profound difficulties and understand their concerns about the way in which they believe that the Department for Work and Pensions has dealt with their case. Of course, this disappointment will be redoubled by the fact that Mrs Horton was a former employee.

If anyone is not satisfied with how Jobcentre Plus has dealt with their case, it is open to them to contact the independent case examiner for a review of the case. The independent case examiner acts as an independent referee for people who feel that a number of Government agencies or businesses have not treated them fairly or dealt with complaints in a satisfactory manner. These agencies or businesses include Jobcentre Plus. If the independent case examiner accepts the complaint for action, and if it cannot be addressed without full examination, an investigation undertakes a review of the paper evidence provided by the agency or the business concerned. The officer then considers whether the complaint can be settled through mediation. If mediation is not appropriate, a report is submitted to the independent case examiner, who will consider whether there is any evidence of maladministration. If there is evidence of maladministration and the agency or business concerned did not offer redress before the referral to the examiner, the complaint will be upheld.

Complainants must approach the independent case examiner within six months of receiving a final reply to their complaint from the agency or business they consider to be unsatisfactory. In the case of my hon. Friend’s constituents, I understand that the final letter was sent by the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus on 31 August last year. This letter explained that the independent case examiner offers a free, impartial resolution service and gave details of how it may be contacted. Therefore, his constituents have until the end of the month to initiate the complaints procedure, should they wish to do so. If a complaint is made, and should the examiner find that there was maladministration by Jobcentre Plus that caused them hardship or suffering, I understand that the agency can consider making an ex gratia payment.

My hon. Friend also complained about how the Information Commissioner’s Office responded to allegations of breaches of data protection legislation and about how information about his constituents was handled by Jobcentre Plus. The Government take the protection of personal data and the effectiveness of public bodies, such as the ICO, very seriously. However, the ICO is an independent public body set up to uphold information rights in the public interest. Because of its independence, it would be inappropriate for me, on behalf of the Government, to comment on the ICO’s handling of any particular case.

If having exhausted the ICO case review and his own service complaints procedure, however, a member of the public remains dissatisfied with the ICO’s handling of a case, the parliamentary and health service ombudsman has responsibility for undertaking independent investigations into complaints about Government Departments and a range of public bodies that include the ICO. It is open to my hon. Friend and his constituents, therefore, to pursue his concerns about the ICO with the ombudsman. Complaints procedures may appear formal, but they provide a way for members of the public to have their complaints against the actions of public organisations and agencies reviewed by public bodies.

I hope that my hon. Friend’s constituents will feel that they are still able to pursue their complaints through those routes, and that those opportunities will be of some comfort and use to them. I understand from the difficulties that his constituents have faced; the heart of anyone hearing those stories will obviously go out to them. However, they are fortunate enough to enjoy the good advice of my hon. Friend, and I am quite sure that, whatever course of action he and they deem appropriate, he will pursue the matter with his customary vigour and skill.

Question put and agreed to.