Stalking Protection Bill

Victoria Atkins Excerpts

2nd reading: House of Commons
Friday 19th January 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Victoria Atkins)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Totnes (Dr Wollaston) for bringing this most important issue to the House. It has been an absolute pleasure working with her and her staff on this Bill. Her commitment to the issue is shown not just by the quality of the Bill but the support for it across the House.

I also thank Members across the House for the very moving and, sadly, chilling experiences of stalking that they have presented on behalf of their constituents. I note in particular the speeches of my hon. Friends the Members for Cheltenham (Alex Chalk) and for Harborough (Neil O’Brien), who both mentioned Hollie Gazzard and Alice Ruggles. I have had the privilege of meeting the parents of Hollie and of Alice, who, along with the parents of Clare Bernal and of Rana Faruqui, have somehow found the wherewithal to grapple with the grief of losing their children through this awful offence, and then to set up charities to campaign on the issue. I want to express my admiration for all such parents who can find the strength to do that.

I am also very grateful to my hon. Friends the Members for Banbury (Victoria Prentis) and for Eddisbury (Antoinette Sandbach) for their legal insights. As always, they have used their legal experience to great effect in the Chamber.

Stalking is an issue of great importance to the Government. The Bill will provide the police with a vital additional tool to protect the victims of stalking and to deter perpetrators at the earliest opportunity. The onus will be on the police, not the victims, to bring in the orders. That is so important. I know that the hon. Members for Rotherham (Sarah Champion) and for Batley and Spen (Tracy Brabin) are concerned about this. Importantly, the orders will have the flexibility to impose both positive and negative requirements on stalkers. I hope that will address the concerns of my hon. Friends the Members for Torbay (Kevin Foster) and for Cheltenham in that, where appropriate, the court will be able to require the stalker to have a psychiatric assessment. There is also the vital criminal penalty if the stalker dares to breach the court order, which I hope will provide the safety and comfort that I know victims so desperately need.

We know that there is so much more to do and that the Bill is not a single silver bullet. I have noted with concern the thoughts of colleagues on the report by Her Majesty’s inspectorate of constabulary and the CPS. The report, which makes for sobering reading, sets out the scale of the improvements that need to be made. The Home Office is working closely with the CPS and the police to improve their reaction to these offences. What is more, we are going to introduce statutory guidance, alongside the Bill, to help to improve the police and the CPS’s understanding of stalking. In addition, the College of Policing will shortly publish refreshed guidance for the police on investigating stalking and harassment offences. This will all be overseen by a national oversight group chaired by the Home Secretary, whose commitment to tackling this is absolute.

I note the observation made by my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley South (Mike Wood). Interestingly, he brought to light the research by the West Midlands constabulary showing that there are an average of 70 to 100 incidents before victims report their suffering to the police. I will take that away and consider with officials how we can address it.

Once the police have these powers, they must use them. Through the police transformation fund, we have provided £4.1 million to the police, in partnership with the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, for a multi-agency stalking interventions programme to share best practice and learning on the development of effective interventions for stalking. Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting officers from Hampshire and Gloucestershire who are doing great work on this. Again, I hope that that will address the concerns of my hon. Friend the Member for Torbay about early intervention. The proposed stalking protection orders will form part of the bigger picture of tackling stalking as a vital additional tool at the disposal of our police forces.

We must not just look at stalking in isolation. As the Minister for Crime, Safeguarding and Vulnerability, I have responsibility for protecting women and girls—and, indeed, men and boys—from all forms of violence, including stalking. The strategy to end violence against women and girls, published in 2016, sets out our ambition that no victim of abuse is turned away from the support they need. We have committed to increasing funding to £100 million to support this work. There is a great deal of overlap, sadly, between the different crime types tackled in the VAWG strategy, and we must make sure that the police, the CPS, social care professionals, health professionals and others work together to get the results needed for victims. There are key principles that must be shared, promoted and implemented when dealing with these cases. We must show empathy to victims, and an understanding and a recognition of the patterns of behaviour. We must have effective multi-agency working, we must prioritise early intervention and prevention, and we must ensure that there is appropriate victim care and support.

In conclusion, the Government are committed to drawing on the expertise and experience of victims, survivors, academics, the voluntary sector, communities and professionals to do all we can to improve the response to stalking and to VAWG generally. I must finish by thanking my hon. Friend the Member for Totnes for all her hard work on the Bill, and by thanking Members on both sides of the House for their support. I hope that our collective efforts will enable us to make positive progress with this vital Bill, and to provide victims of stalking with the support and the help they need.

Question put and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time; to stand committed to a Public Bill Committee (Standing Order No. 63).