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Kerb Crawling
11. Ms Jenny Jones (Wolverhampton, South-West): What plans he has to review the law on kerb crawling. [74587]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Mr. Paul Boateng): We intend to make kerb crawling an arrestable offence when a suitable legislative opportunity arises. In addition, we set up in January a review to consider the present law on sex offences and to recommend clear and coherent offences that will protect the individual, particularly children and the more vulnerable, from abuse and exploitation. This will include offences of abuse and exploitation associated with prostitution. While kerb crawling will not be central to this exercise, the review will certainly have to take that offence, and views expressed about it, into account.
Ms Jones: I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. Does he believe that the power of arrest for kerb crawling should be extended to the police? Does he propose to introduce legislation and, if so, is it likely to be in the lifetime of this Parliament?
Mr. Boateng: I am absolutely committed--as are the whole of the Government--to ensuring that kerb crawling becomes an arrestable offence, and we seek to utilise the first suitable legislative opportunity to achieve that objective. I have met officers from Nottingham and from Wolverhampton to discuss the outcome of the piloting of the Association of Chief Police Officers guidelines on child prostitution in my hon. Friend's constituency. That scheme is teaching us some very important lessons about how best to deal with this menace, and particularly how to get at the pimps who continue to ply this evil trade.
Mr. Desmond Swayne (New Forest, West): How many of the prostitutes who provide services are under the age
of consent? To what extent is the Minister implementing measures to ensure that the lessons learned in Wolverhampton and the west midlands are extended to the rest of the country?
Mr. Boateng: We are taking all possible steps, with the Association of Chief Police Officers and the various child protection societies, to ensure that the lessons learned in Wolverhampton and Nottingham are recognised throughout the country. Those pilot projects show that a high proportion of young people who come to the attention of the police and social services are below the age of consent--some children as young as 11 are put on to the streets by their pimps and subjected to appalling sexual abuse by kerb crawlers. That is what it is: sexual abuse. It is not just another form of prostitution, but the sexual abuse of children. We will look to the review of sexual offences to ensure that the punishment fits the crime in this instance--which it does not always do.
Ms Diane Abbott (Hackney, North and Stoke Newington): Is the Minister aware of the great concern about this matter in my constituency, expressed by, among others, the Amhurst Park action group--a long-standing activist organisation that has campaigned on this issue and met with the Home Secretary to discuss it? Those bodies will be pleased to hear that the Government intend to introduce legislation in this area. Does the Minister appreciate my concern that the legislation, which is supported by not just community groups but the Metropolitan police, should not be long in coming?
Mr. Boateng: My hon. Friend has been in the forefront of the campaign on this issue. Indeed, if my memory serves me well, it was the first issue that she discussed with me soon after my appointment as Minister of State. I have not forgotten that discussion--one seldom does in the case of my hon. Friend--and my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has met the Amhurst Park residents association to make progress on that matter.
Vulnerable Witnesses
12. Dr. George Turner (North-West Norfolk): What measures he plans to introduce to protect vulnerable witnesses. [74588]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Mr. Paul Boateng): The Government are committed to improving the treatment of vulnerable witnesses in the criminal justice system. Last June, my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary published the report of the interdepartmental working group on vulnerable or intimidated witnesses. That made more than 70 recommendations, and those that require legislation are included in the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Bill, which will shortly be making its way to the House.
Dr. Turner: This is a problem that still figures large in my constituency, where many vulnerable witnesses remain frightened because of the criminals who live among them and the threats that they and their families make if witnesses inform on them. Does my hon. Friend agree that the measures must be followed by the spreading of good practice and that we must ensure that the police
and magistrates know how to help? Does he further agree that there must be an element of bravery in our communities if we are to rid our estates of the criminals who live among the residents?
Mr. Boateng: My hon. Friend makes an important point. There is only a limited amount that we can do within the courts. All that we can do, we must do. For example, it will be important to make sure that screens are used and that the courts exercise their new power to clear the courtroom when some witnesses are giving evidence. All those proposals will be implemented. We need to ensure also that there is proper multidisciplinary liaison between the local authority, the police and the Crown Prosecution Service so that people are given the protection that will enable them to give their best evidence.
It is a question of getting matters right in the courts and giving judges and magistrates the power to regulate their courts in a way that will protect vulnerable witnesses while ensuring that, outside the courts, we focus attention on the needs of victims and witnesses.
Mr. Gerald Howarth (Aldershot):
Does the Minister agree that some of the most vulnerable witnesses are those who risk losing their job if they fail to do as their employer asks? Should not the toughest action possible be taken against such employers? Given that close employees have been responsible for giving some of the most damaging witness accounts in a serious case of alleged political corruption in this country, surely the employer concerned should not be granted a British passport, and Mohammed Fayed should be deported?
Mr. Boateng:
The hon. Gentleman demeans a serious debate by seeking to raise this issue in such a way. On reflection, bearing in mind his distinguished service on the Select Committee on Home Affairs, he might wish that he had used this opportunity to make serious points about encouraging employers to ensure that they support their staff when they are called on to give witness in the courts. Significantly, we should ensure also that we support whistleblowers who identify wrongdoing, when they come under pressure from their employer. The hon. Gentleman would have done much better to have devoted the time that he spent on his question to that issue.
Mr. Jeremy Corbyn (Islington, North):
Does the Minister agree that one of the great problems in finding the perpetrators of racist attacks and other violent crimes on housing estates is witnesses' fear of coming forward? Will he therefore reconsider the need to expand the professional witness service, whereby people can be neutral observers of anti-social activity on estates and help to catch the perpetrators of racial violence? I am sure that he is aware that such cases that collapse in the court because of a lack of witnesses are seen as appalling victories for racist violence on our estates and make the situation considerably worse.
Mr. Boateng:
My hon. Friend makes an important point based, I know, on first-hand experience of tackling this sort of racist and anti-social behaviour in his constituency and elsewhere. We certainly need to take on board support for tenancy relations officers, estate officers and others and, yes, the role of the sort of witnesses that
Sir Norman Fowler (Sutton Coldfield):
With reference to the protection of vulnerable witnesses, I refer to the Macpherson report. Surely all that was required was for the Home Office to contact the inquiry team and question whether the publication of the names and addresses of witnesses put those witnesses at risk. It had nine days to do that. Will the Minister, even now, concede that that was the proper and sensible course to take?
Mr. Boateng:
No. We had a duty to publish the report in the way that it was presented to us, and we carried out that duty.
13. Ms Sally Keeble (Northampton, North):
What steps he is taking to reduce crime in shopping centres. [74589]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Mike O'Brien):
Crime and the fear of crime are major factors in the success, or otherwise, of town centres. Our new crime and disorder partnerships invite the business sector to participate in the development of strategy. In addition, the retail crime reduction action team, which was set up under the aegis of the Home Office, has recently published a guide called "Community Crime Reduction Partnerships: the Retail Contribution". This provides advice to the crime and disorder partnerships on how further to involve the retail industry in their audit and strategy development work, paying particular attention to town centres.
Ms Keeble:
I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. However, does he agree that there is a problem with the displacement of crime from the larger shopping centres, which have security guards or which can afford closed circuit television, to some of the smaller suburban centres, which are highly prized by the local community? Would it be possible for some of the £170 million set aside in the Budget for law and order to go towards improving security in smaller centres through CCTV and other schemes to make people feel safer as they go about their ordinary business?
Mr. O'Brien:
My hon. Friend is right to say that there is concern at some shopping centres. In his Budget, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor announced that an additional £170 million would be made available over the next three years for crime prevention where crime is highest. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary will make a further announcement to the House in the light of the Chancellor's statement. The money will be split between the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions and the Home Office and will commence in 1999-2000. Bids will be invited through a challenge fund from local crime reduction partnerships.
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