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Mr. Robert Syms (Poole) (Con): I also welcome the Bill and the way in which the debate has been conducted, with dialogue across the Chamber. I am sometimes suspicious of that, because well-intentioned Bills can go wrong because of too much consensus; a little argument is sometimes necessary. However, I know that my hon. Friends the Members for Chesham and Amersham (Mrs. Gillan) and for Beaconsfield (Mr. Grieve), and indeed the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (Mr. Heath), all have an eye for detail. I am sure that the propositions in the Bill—many of them very technical—will be tested and we will get the legislation that the country deserves. The problems that we can all foresee will be sorted out so that we end up with a reasonable Bill.

Much of the challenge of addressing domestic violence lies in changing attitudes, and they have changed substantially in my lifetime. Attitudes have changed on what is considered acceptable and what people will report or tell their friends and relatives. We have taken a giant step forward. The point that the hon. Member for Romsey (Sandra Gidley) made about implementing the current law is right. Much of the present law is not used but could help in the fight against domestic violence. One of the greatest strides has been in police attitudes to the topic. As the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Mrs. Roche) said, people now know that the police deal much more sensitively with the issue, and that is very helpful.

Domestic violence is a major problem. Between 500,000 and 750,000 incidents occur each year, of which 62 per cent. lead to injury and 18 per cent. require hospital treatment. As we have heard, it can lead to people losing their jobs because they cannot turn up to work. People can suffer for years. Indeed, many people suffer many assaults over the years before they feel that they can come forward, and so we may still only see the tip of the iceberg.

I welcome many of the provisions in the Bill. The introduction of significant new police powers to deal with domestic violence, including making it an arrestable criminal offence to breach non-molestation orders, with a penalty of up to five years in prison, is very good. When people see the courts issue an order, they want to feel protected, and when such orders are breached those responsible must feel the full rigour of the law. In such cases, five years in prison is perfectly appropriate. I also welcome the provision to make common assault an arrestable offence and the amendment of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 to ensure that victims have a say if an application is made to change a restraining order that protects them from abuse or harassment. People do not always understand why orders have been changed, especially if they were happy with them, and that can lead to further pressure and harassment. I also welcome the strengthening of the civil law on domestic violence so that cohabiting and same-sex couples have the same protection as heterosexual couples. The Bill will also extend the availability of non-molestation orders to couples who have never lived together or been married, and that is important because problems can arise in such circumstances and need to be dealt with.
 
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Like some of my hon. Friends, I still have reservations. If a man is acquitted in a criminal trial, he could still be subject to a yellow card restraining order, and that raises civil liberties issues. I am sure that the Committee will consider that provision in great detail to see whether it would be appropriate.

We heard from the previous speaker of the tremendous importance of multi-agency working between the police, the probation service, local authorities and other statutory agencies. Many have domestic violence forums, but they are not necessarily funded; certainly in Dorset, where our police force is well at the bottom in funding terms, that adds to the burden on the agencies. If the sharing of information reduces problems in the long term, it may save money; as we have heard, visits—perhaps repeated visits—from the police cost an awful lot of money, so information sharing and multi-agency working could represent a saving.

I welcome the setting up of a register for civil orders. Victim Support certainly recognises the importance of that, because sometimes the police and the Crown Prosecution Service are hampered by not having full information.

In 2001, victims' personal statements were introduced and they have become a helpful sentencing tool for judges and magistrates. It is important for their recovery that victims of a crime are asked how it has affected them.

The Home Secretary slightly confused me when he was talking about victims' compensation; indeed, I am a little disappointed that the Government have not yet published their proposals, as it is rather late in the Bill's progress for their publication. There has been some speculation about the tariff system for fines to provide £25 million for the victims' compensation fund. In general, I welcome the principle that those who perpetrate a crime should pay towards compensating the victims, but I have some concerns.

Earlier, the Home Secretary seemed to be setting out a complex and complicated formula whereby there could be a surcharge of £35 on fines of more than £1,000. He said that the system might be income related, but that would build in further complications. He then said that the surcharge probably would not be appropriate for a first offence and that fines of less than £1,000 might incur a £10 surcharge. He also referred to the Department for Transport's review of the points system.

We are getting into a complex system, albeit for laudable reasons, and the Committee will have to spend a lot of time ensuring that we have an understandable system that works and does not become a bureaucratic nightmare. I am glad that the Home Secretary seemed to be ruling out a £35 surcharge on parking tickets, but I remain slightly concerned that, as the Government seem to have many speed cameras in inappropriate places, some of my constituents could face an added charge—like an additional tax—to support the fund. Those proposals need sorting out; we need much more detail about the Government's thinking.

The importance of women's refuges has been mentioned. A refuge was set up in Poole only a couple of years ago. Councillor Elaine Atkinson, of Poole borough council, has been a great advocate and has worked very hard. She and her committee raise money
 
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for the refuge and do sterling work. A problem in Poole is that we have both some of the most expensive housing in the country and a housing shortage. Somewhere to live or to find refuge is extremely important for victims of domestic violence, and Poole is one of the areas where that is a major constraint on people moving out of their home to get away from domestic violence.

Every week, 40,000 people throughout the country are looking for refuge—a tremendous number. Refuges are important, but funding can be haphazard. We have already heard about the unsung heroes—people who have worked hard over many, many years to keep those important institutions going, but there are not enough of them.

My hon. Friend the Member for South-West Bedfordshire (Andrew Selous) made the interesting point that there were no refuges for men. The problem is probably much smaller, but I had not focused on it.

I have some reservations about a commissioner for victims; it seems a little like gesture politics. No doubt, however, the Committee will look into that matter to determine what the Government are doing. I can certainly think of better ways to spend money.

The measure is important. There is much consensus in the House. Through our work in our constituency surgeries, we all realise the importance of the issue. It does not matter whether we are from poor areas or rich ones; people in all income brackets suffer from domestic violence. It must be tackled, and if we get the legislation right it will make a material difference to many, many hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens.

8.15 pm

Ann Keen (Brentford and Isleworth) (Lab): The first women's refuge in Britain and, I believe, in the world was set up in Chiswick, in my constituency, by Erin Pizzey. I became familiar with the work of refuges in the early 1980s when I was a nursing tutor at West Middlesex university hospital in my constituency and met Sandra Horley, who is now the chief executive of Refuge. Ever since, we have continued to be friends and to work together. I also take this opportunity to pay tribute to the late Jo Richardson, who was the MP for Barking and did so much in this field when it was difficult to do so.

We are seeing unprecedented political activity on domestic violence. It is more than 30 years since the relevant legislation was given such a far-reaching overhaul—it certainly needed one. As a result, abused women and children will be better protected than ever before. It is amazing to think that throughout three decades they have struggled to make their voices heard, campaigning for changes in the law, public attitudes and society's response to domestic violence. At last, those changes are happening and no one working in the field would deny that it is a most exciting moment.

Many of the organisations that I listen to and work alongside ask whether the Bill and other recent legislation, in particular the Children Bill, go far enough. Can we now tell the woman who calls Refuge's national helpline to stop worrying because there are legal remedies for her and her children that will be
 
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implemented by understanding professionals? Can we reassure her that society will comprehend and support any decision she makes about her future?

Many workers in Women's Aid and Refuge would agree that we have made major legislative advances. It is also true that, as has been shown in the Chamber today, there is the political will—and the will of society—to end domestic violence. The voices are stronger than ever before.

At one time, it was acceptable to be a drink-driver, but that is no longer acceptable in our society. I believe that we have now reached the stage when our society is saying that domestic violence is no longer acceptable either.

There are other causes for concern, however. I have a particular interest in the denial of benefits to women with no recourse to public funds. I praise the work of the Hounslow Asian women's refuge in my constituency and of the Southall Black Sisters in the neighbouring constituency. They have done so much for so long, like the late Jo Richardson, at a time when it was not easy to talk about domestic violence in communities such as Southall. I hope that we can make representations and that the Minister will look further into the problems relating to benefits.

We need to integrate policies and services for adult victims with those for their children. From my knowledge of such work, and from the explanations of Refuge, it is clear that domestic violence affects women and children in overlapping ways. It affects them together through the experiences they share; it affects them separately through the experiences they do not share and, perhaps most significantly, it affects them in relation to each other. We must not forget that about 50 per cent. of children are also abused by their mothers' partners.

Absolutely staggering figures have come out from the Department of Health and recently from the Royal College of Midwives. Domestic violence is the biggest single killer of the unborn child. Women at risk from domestic violence are four times more likely to miscarry and four more times more likely to have a low birth-weight baby. Foetal morbidity from violence is more prevalent than from diabetes or pre-eclampsia.

As a nurse in the 1980s, when I was learning the profession, I knew the myths that surround domestic violence. I understood how difficult it was for women to be believed and to leave. However, I was somehow part of that, too. When I worked in an accident and emergency unit, I would care clinically for the woman whom I was asked to look after. The police would come into the unit and ask where the domestic was, and I would reply, "I will take you to her." I would care for her clinically and I hope that I cared for her emotionally, but I also made mistakes. I would say, "Why did you let him do this to you? I wouldn't let this happen to me. Why can't you leave?" As a health professional, I was reinforcing the view that perhaps it was the woman's fault.

I remember, in particular, the husband of a woman with a ruptured spleen. He brought me and all the nurses chocolates and wanted to know which ward his wife was on so that he could visit her after she had been taken from the accident and emergency department. We felt that we did not know quite how to deal with this and we
 
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did not know where to take the problem. We did not want the husband to visit her on the ward, but we knew that that would happen because the police were not involved and no one was dealing with the fact that he had ruptured her spleen. That was the position in the 1980s, but I am pleased to say that today it is a very different story. We all know how to react.

Other Members have raised issues that I was going to mention. It is important that we consider the perspective of health professionals, but we are still not asking women how the abuse happened to them. They are visiting GPs, hospitals and other health professionals, because they might be abusing alcohol or even have suffered the trauma of an overdose. The health professionals may be dealing with other substance misuse, but nobody ever asks about domestic violence. There may be rare cases in which enlightened trusts, hospitals and primary care teams look at ways of dealing with the problem, but that it is still not good enough. When someone says that they have bumped into a door or fallen down the stairs, other questions could be asked about the bruising.

The bruising may also be psychological, especially to the children involved. I am very concerned about their contact with violent fathers. Only the other week, Refuge told me about the case of a child who had witnessed his father shoot his mother in the stomach. On the father's release from prison, he was granted contact with the child and used to whisper in her ear, "I'm going to get you and I'm going to get your mum." We should involve teachers and social workers and everyone in this wonderful multidisciplinary team that we have today. It is much more enlightened and, without question, it will be able to deal with the support system in the Bill and the work of the Metropolitan police. I praise it for the massive change in attitude and training that has taken place.

We cannot be complacent. Teachers must ask themselves why a child is disturbed. Could it be the result of domestic violence? Why is a child truanting? What is going behind the closed doors in the home? Many health workers are privy to what has gone on behind closed doors and, with that responsibility, they must ask the right questions. Health professionals still ask refuge workers and workers in the domestic violence field why the women do not leave, but that is still the nub of the problem. If the professionals are still asking that question, their training means that knowledge and information has not got through.

We need proper funding, so that we can ensure that every refuge and all those in the profession working with women and children do not ever have to turn anybody away because of lack of funds. That requires co-ordination and the implementation of a proper strategy throughout the whole multidisciplinary team. Otherwise, this brilliant Bill will not be implemented. That is my biggest fear.

I commend the Government and every agency that has worked on this issue, but, in particular, I commend the brave women who have come forward, told of their cases and lived through them to go on to a much happier life.
 
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8.25 pm

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