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No. 167, page 307, line 21, at end insert—
No. 168, page 307, line 42, at end insert—
‘Section 305(4)(e). | |
Schedules 16 and 17.’. |
No. 160, page 309, line 3, at end insert—
‘Children and Young Persons Act 1969 (c. 54) | Section 23AA(4)(a). |
Bail Act 1976 (c. 63) | Section 3AA(6) to (10) and (12).’.— [Steve McCabe.] |
‘(1) In Schedule 3 to the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 (c. 13) (matters not subject to investigation) after paragraph 13 (as inserted by paragraph 1(3) of Schedule 10 to this Act) insert—
“14 Any matter which falls within the complaints or deaths remit of the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Prison Complaints (within the meaning of Part 5 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008).”
(2) Subsection (1) has no effect in relation to any matter which the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration has started to investigate before the commencement of that subsection.
(3) In section 31(4) of the Data Protection Act 1998 (c. 29) (exceptions to data protection requirements for ombudsmen), after paragraph (a)(vi) (but before the “or” immediately following it) insert—
“(via) the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Prison Complaints;”.
(4) In section 76(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (c. 36) (disclosure of information between Information Commissioner and ombudsmen) in the Table at the appropriate place insert—
“The Northern Ireland Commissioner for Prison Complaints. | Part 5 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008.” |
(5) In Part 7 of Schedule 1 to that Act (public authorities) at the appropriate place insert “The Northern Ireland Commissioner for Prison Complaints”.’.— [Maria Eagle.]
Brought up, and read the First time.
5.30 pm
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Maria Eagle): I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Sylvia Heal): With this it will be convenient to discuss Government amendments Nos. 18 to 40, 87 to 89, 42 to 54, 218, 55, 141, 142, 56 to 64, 108, 65 to 70, 70A, 71 to 75, 109, 110 and 143.
Maria Eagle: I hope not to have to detain the House too long with this group of amendments and the new clause, given that all make minor technical and drafting amendments to the Bill. I am conscious that there are quite a number of them, and am happy to deal with any points that Members wish to make. I am also conscious, however, that later groups of amendments raise other issues on which many Members wish to speak. I hope that it will be understood that I am not showing any disrespect to the House by not going through the detail of every amendment, which I would be happy to do if Members encouraged me to. I assure Members on both sides of the House, however, that the amendments are minor, drafting, technical and consequential changes. I therefore hope that Members on both sides of the House will be pleased to see me sit down as swiftly as I stood up.
Mr. Garnier: It is always a pleasure—indeed, a delight—to hear the hon. Lady speak in the Chamber. The disrespect to the House was done in the course of the timetable motion. She is wholly acquitted, and can leave this Chamber whenever she likes without a stain on her procedural character. What other problems she and her fellow Ministers suffer from I must leave for discussion with the Chief Whip, but it looks as if he is no longer in his place.
The Under-Secretary of State for Justice, the hon. Member for Liverpool, Garston (Maria Eagle) is, like the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, the right hon. Member for Delyn (Mr. Hanson), obliging and disarming as always. The sub-heading “Miscellaneous, minor and drafting” hides a multitude of sins. New clause 3 is not controversial, but I do not think that it can be described as a minor drafting amendment. Neither, if one goes through the several tens of Government provisions in the group, can any one of them be brushed under the carpet as though they were of no account, no importance and unworthy of adequate scrutiny.
Having said that, I know that Governments make mistakes from time to time—and they sometimes even admit that they make them from time to time. The greatest mistake that the Government have made is to create this jumble of a Bill, which has forced them to come forward with these alleged “Miscellaneous, minor and drafting” provisions. It is not difficult to poke fun at the Government, as they are worthily the subject of ridicule— [Interruption.] I recognise that the Minister is intending to be helpful.
I hope that the Government are satisfied with the shambolic way in which they created the Bill. If they had thought about it in a sensible, premeditated and planned way, as opposed to engaging in some sort of legislative doodle, we would not have needed the “Miscellaneous, minor and drafting” amendments and we could have had an organised progression towards Royal Assent. As it is, we have not been able to do that. Instead, we have 79 provisions to be dealt with under this procedure. It is a pity that any time has been taken up, but it is legitimate to comment that so chaotic are the Government that they have been forced to spend some time advancing these amending provisions. We will not oppose them, but we do not accept that they are unworthy of proper scrutiny at any stage. Clearly, however, arrangements this afternoon do not permit us the time to do anything more than signal our displeasure at the way in which the Bill has been constructed.
Mr. Heath: The hon. and learned Member for Harborough (Mr. Garnier) is absolutely right. I counted 64 provisions, but he counted more, so we differ in our arithmetic; I am sure that he is right and I am wrong. Nevertheless, such a large group of drafting amendments bespeaks the fact that Governments nowadays are quite incapable of drafting Bills properly. They rush them through Committee and they rush them through Report, resulting in mistakes. We end up with criminal justice Bills being brought back time and again to be corrected, either through statutory instrument or by new primary legislation, yet they are presented to us as the acme of excellence, which they are most certainly not. I think that it is a poor way of running the country.
Maria Eagle: I shall resist the provocation to deal with Opposition Members’ points by going through the details of every amendment, which would defeat the whole object of my attempting to deal quickly with this group. However, I want to take up the point of the hon. and learned Member for Harborough (Mr. Garnier) about new clause 3 and the substantive changes that it makes. I shall explain that alone, as the others are indeed minor technical and drafting amendments. Despite the annoyance expressed, I will not be provoked into going into all the details on this occasion.
New clause 3 and Government amendments Nos. 18 to 40 and 61 to 64 contain minor drafting, technical and consequential changes to parts 4 and 5, which establish the offices of the commissioner for offender management and prisons and the Northern Ireland commissioner for prison complaints. They contain within them a few amendments that reflect a change of policy in respect of Scotland. Let me make it clear that these have been agreed with the Scottish Executive.
In particular, the amendments extend the commissioner’s remit for investigating deaths to immigration detention premises and immigration custody in Scotland, while safeguarding the roles of the Lord Advocate and procurator fiscal in relation to criminal investigations and the investigation of deaths. Given that the arrangements have been agreed with the Scottish Executive, we are not trying to do anything that would not be approved of in Scotland. The amendments will improve the coherence of the deaths remit—that awful phrase—that the new commissioner will have.
That is the only substantive change made by any of the amendments in the group. I hope that, following my short explanation, Members will accept the amendments so that we can get on with discussing some of the other matters covered by amendments in other groups.
Clause read a Second time, and added to the Bill.
‘(1) Part 3 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 (c. 6) (mandatory and discretionary referral of young offenders) is amended as follows.
“Referrals back to court in the interests of justice
27A Revocation of referral order where offender making good progress etc.
(1) This section applies where, having regard to circumstances which have arisen since a youth offender contract took effect under section 23 above, it appears to the youth offender panel to be in the interests of justice for the referral order (or each of the referral orders) to be revoked.
(2) The panel may refer the offender back to the appropriate court requesting it—
(a) to exercise only the power conferred by sub-paragraph (2) of paragraph 5 of Schedule 1 to this Act to revoke the order (or each of the orders); or
(i) the power conferred by that sub-paragraph to revoke the order (or each of the orders); and
(ii) the power conferred by sub-paragraph (4) of that paragraph to deal with the offender for the offence in respect of which the revoked order was made.
(3) The circumstances in which the panel may make a referral under subsection (2) above include the offender’s making good progress under the contract.
(a) the panel makes a referral under subsection (2) above in relation to any offender and any youth offender contract, and
(b) the appropriate court decides not to exercise the power conferred by paragraph 5(2) of Schedule 1 to this Act in consequence of that referral,
the panel may not make a further referral under that subsection in relation to that offender and contract during the relevant period except with the consent of the appropriate court.
(5) In subsection (4) above “the relevant period” means the period of 3 months beginning with the date on which the appropriate court made the decision mentioned in paragraph (b) of that subsection.”
(3) In paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 1 (youth offender panels: further court proceedings), for “or 27(4)” substitute “, 27(4) or 27A(2)”.’.— [Mr. Hanson.]
Brought up, and read the First time.
Mr. Hanson: I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
Madam Deputy Speaker: With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:
Government new clause 5— Referral orders: extension of period for which young offender contract has effect.
New clause 10— Extension of a referral order—
‘(1) Schedule 1 to the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 is amended as follows.
(2) In paragraph 5(1) for “power” substitute “powers”.
(3) For paragraph 5(2) substitute—
“(2) Those powers are the powers to revoke the referral order (or each of the referral orders) or extend it by up to 3 months.”.
(4) In paragraph 5(5) for “so dealing with the offender” substitute “revoking an order for an offence specified in sub-paragraph (4).”.
(5) In paragraph 5(6) after “The appropriate court may not exercise the” insert “revocation”.’.
New clause 18— Anti-social behaviour orders (persons under 18)—
‘(1) Section 1 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (c. 37) (anti-social behaviour orders) is amended as follows.
(2) After subsection (5) insert—
“(5A) The court may not make an anti-social behaviour order in respect of any person under the age of 18 years unless that person’s anti-social acts were committed jointly with an adult.”.’.
New clause 40— Power of court to make a detention and training order—
‘In the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000, after section 100(2)(b), insert—
“(c) in relation to an offence committed after the commencement of paragraph 3 of Schedule 1 to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, unless he has previously received a youth rehabilitation order with intensive supervision and surveillance under that paragraph.”.’.
New clause 42— Restrictions on custodial sentences for offenders aged under 18—
‘(1) This section applies where a person under the age of 18 years is convicted of an offence punishable with a custodial sentence other than one—
(b) falling to be imposed under section 51A(2) of the Firearms Act 1968 or under sections 226 to 228 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.
(2) In the title of section 152 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (c. 44) (general restrictions on imposing discretionary custodial sentences), after “general restrictions on imposing discretionary custodial sentences” insert “on offenders aged 18 or above”.
(3) In section 152(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, after “where a person”, insert “aged 18 or above”.
(4) After section 152 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, insert—
“152A Restrictions on custodial sentences for offenders aged under 18
(1) A court shall only pass a sentence of custody on a person under the age of 18 as a measure of last resort and where—
(a) the offence committed caused or could reasonably have been expected to cause serious physical or psychological harm to another or others, and
(b) a custodial sentence is necessary to protect the public from the demonstrable and imminent risk of serious physical or psychological harm.
(2) The court shall state in open session its reasons for passing any sentence of custody under this section.”’.
Government amendments Nos. 82 and 83.
Amendment No. 173, page 8, line 34, clause 12, after ‘below’, insert
‘if the offender is over the age of 18 years’.
Amendment No. 129, page 17, line 10, clause 21 leave out from ‘occasion’ to end of line 11 and insert ‘; or
(iii) has previously been referred to a youth offender panel under section 16 above and a further referral has been recommended by—
(a) a member of a youth offending team,(b) an officer of a local probation team, or(c) a social worker of a local authority.’.Amendment No. 176, page 54, line 36, clause 81, leave out ‘offenders aged 16 and 17’ and insert
‘children or young persons aged under 18 years’.
Amendment No. 196, page 131, line 35, schedule 1, leave out ‘local authority residence requirement or fostering requirement’ and insert ‘order under Part 1’.
Amendment No. 197, page 131, line 36, leave out from ‘not’ to second ‘in’ in line 37 and insert ‘make an order under Part 1’.
Amendment No. 198, page 131, leave out line 40 and insert—
‘(b) the offender has waived his right to legal representation, having been advised that this may have a strongly negative impact upon the outcome of his case.’.
Amendment No. 199, page 131, line 41, leave out sub-paragraph (2).
Amendment No. 200, page 132, line 4, leave out sub-paragraph (3).
Government amendments Nos. 105 to 107.
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