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17 Jun 2009 : Column 98WH—continued
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Alan Campbell):
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for South Swindon (Anne
Snelgrove) on securing this debate, which is on a most important topic. I know that she has raised the case of Julia and William Pemberton in the House before and that she has worked closely with Julia’s brother, Frank Mullane, on the question of domestic homicide. I know that tackling domestic abuse in all its forms is one of her priorities. I also acknowledge and welcome the interest shown by the hon. Members for Newbury (Mr. Benyon) and for Mid-Dorset and North Poole (Annette Brooke).
I assure hon. Members that the Government regard tackling domestic abuse as a priority. Certainly, we will not forget the review. I give my hon. Friend a commitment that we will consider the specific points that she has raised today, even if I cannot address each and every one of them now. The debate is timely—if such a debate can ever be timely—coming, as it does, shortly after the closure of the consultation on violence against women and girls. That consultation will help to inform policy and strategy on tackling domestic violence not only at the Home Office but across Government.
I shall speak generally about reviews before turning to the specific points of the present case. In 2005, the Government published the first national domestic violence delivery plan, setting out our commitment to address domestic violence. The plan identified the key outcomes that the Government and stakeholders should be working towards—from prevention through to victim care, and the response of the criminal justice system.
Reducing the number of domestic violence-related homicides is a key national objective. According to the British crime survey, 106 people were killed by their partners or ex-partners in 2007-08. Like Julia and William, many of those victims will have had contact with the police or other agencies. By reviewing the stages that lead to such tragedies, agencies can learn how to react better to situations and to make judgments that can avoid deaths and save lives. It was with that in mind that domestic homicide reviews were legislated for under section 9 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004. As my hon. Friend knows, the 2004 Act has not yet been implemented. I shall explain why that it so, and say how the points that she has raised can still inform the process as we move towards implementation.
Domestic homicide reviews are not meant to be inquiries into how a victim died or into who was to blame. Those are and should remain matters to be determined by the criminal justice system. However, reviews should seek to establish whether any or all of the agencies involved responded correctly and in accordance with their own procedures and guidelines. If it was found that agencies could have responded more effectively, it would be for the review body to determine whether an alternative course of action could have prevented the victim’s death. The result of the review should be to ensure that agencies can respond appropriately to victims of domestic violence by putting in place the appropriate support mechanisms to help avoid future tragedies.
A consultation on draft guidelines for homicide reviews was published in June 2006. Proposals from that consultation suggested that the review process could be based on the serious case review model. In 2006, a domestic homicide steering group was established to assist with the development of the review process. That group meets regularly, and its input has proved vital in
clarifying the detail of the process that a review would take, as well as addressing risks and concerns that have arisen throughout the consultation and development process.
The report, “Learning Lessons, Taking Action”, which was Ofsted’s evaluation of serious case reviews in 2008, raised serious concerns about this process, not least about the lack of engagement with the victims’ family during the conduct of the review. That was a feature of the legal proceedings prior to West Berkshire safer communities partnership starting the review into the deaths of Julia and William.
Concern was also expressed about the financial burden that domestic homicide reviews would place on local areas, and as a result discussions have taken place between the Home Office, the Local Government Association and the Department for Communities and Local Government to ensure that local authorities can meet their responsibilities. Proceeding with a new process, based on a system that is clearly not right, would be counter-productive. Any system has to command the confidence of all involved, especially victims’ representatives.
My hon. Friend might be interested to know that my officials are in regular contact with Mr. Mullane on this matter. Although we are still at the beginning of the process, this is an opportunity to develop a system that is meaningful and accountable—a word to which she kept returning in her speech—and that makes a real difference to how local areas respond to contact with future victims of domestic violence. We very much welcome, and place great value on, Mr. Mullane’s comments and contributions, and I assure her that we will take those points very seriously and, as far as possible, allow them to influence the process. The delay in implementation of the 2004 Act is regrettable, but the Government remain committed to implementation. However, it is crucial that we take the time to ensure that the process that we introduce is the right one.
I shall now turn to the tragic events in 2003. Following the intervention of my hon. Friend’s predecessor, Julia Drown, on behalf of the family of Mrs. Pemberton, West Berkshire safer communities partnership undertook a stand-alone review into the circumstances surrounding the murders of Julia and William. The Home Office shadowed the review in the hope that it would provide an insight into how a review might run. Despite the original intention for it to end in March 2006, the review did not conclude until November 2008, and although it made a number of recommendations that could be applied to homicide reviews in general, it concluded:
“The Pemberton case is complex both in terms of the individual circumstances of the incidents and in the context of the development of national policy on homicide reviews. We consider that this review should be viewed as an exception to the model set out in the Draft Guidance rather than a template for future Domestic Homicide Reviews.”
Since November 2003, Thames Valley police have made progress in how they deal with domestic abuse. The leadership for tackling domestic abuse in the force now sits with an assistant chief constable, who chairs a protecting vulnerable people steering group. To support the steering group, the force established a dedicated PVP strategy unit, whose domestic abuse and honour-based violence policies are regularly reviewed.
Each of Thames Valley’s basic command units has embedded domestic abuse units whose trained staff are on call to deal with victims in a sensitive and prompt
manner. Each BCU has an established risk assessment process that will be superseded by the new DASH risk assessment by the end of 2009. Thames Valley police have been working with multi-agency risk assessment conferences in all BCUs and specialist domestic violence courts in four out of five police areas, with the fifth due to be operational shortly.
Thames Valley police accepted the findings of the Pemberton review and conducted a detailed study of the report that drew out not only the specific recommendations, but—crucially—the observations and comments of the review panel. They will have heard, as I have done, the points made quite rightly by my hon. Friend about the need to take a holistic approach not only to address specific recommendations, but to view these matters as a whole. Individual agencies need to be held accountable to ensure that they deliver tangible outcomes from the review into these tragic events.
The study noted improvements in service delivery since 2003, which it applied to recommendations in the Pemberton review. That formed the basis for an action plan approved by the chief constable and presented to the police authority and the relatives of Julia and William. The Government believe that a successful, coherent system of review can lead to the goal that we all share of saving people’s lives. Like the case of Julia and William Pemberton, many local areas currently undertake ad hoc homicide reviews, which can help local forces and authorities to improve their responses and the support that they offer to chronic victims of domestic abuse.
We remain committed to putting in place a system and guidance that will make a real difference. I wish to make an offer to my hon. Friend and to others who have shown an interest, including family members: I am always willing to meet and discuss the specific points raised, so that, as well as having discussions with my officials in moving this forward, I can, wherever possible, help in that process. It is crucial that we learn lessons and get this right. People who have experienced such tragic events should not find themselves further frustrated, angered and upset by reviews that fail to address all the issues or—crucially—by the failure to learn lessons. We are all committed to tackling domestic violence as a whole. In the future, I hope that a Minister can stand here and say not only that we have made the necessary progress, but that we will not need future domestic homicide reviews.
11.26 am
St. Helena
2.30 pm
Ann Winterton (Congleton) (Con): It is a great pleasure to have secured this debate on the future of St. Helena. I have been trying to do so since the beginning of the year and had almost given up hope, when out it popped from the bag, so I am absolutely delighted. I must declare at the outset that my interest in St. Helena was first stimulated by my constituency. Colonel Sir Thomas Reade was a native of Congleton and served as Deputy Adjutant General of the troops in St. Helena during the captivity of Napoleon Bonaparte. That is an important part of the history of the island and, in the future, would be a great added tourist attraction.
When I was first elected in 1983, someone who was to marry one of my very best friends, Philip Dale, served as secretary to the Government of St. Helena, and both Philip and Sue have always been very interested in the welfare of the island. I know that they and other people in Congleton will be delighted that we are having this debate. Moreover, I think that it must be more than a happy coincidence that we have a St. Helenian as the Badge Messenger on the door this afternoon. That is very welcome, and we are all delighted by it.
St. Helena has changed significantly for the worse in recent years. The close family unit on which the island prided itself is fast breaking down and the population now increasingly comprises the elderly and children. As a direct result, revenue and resources continue to decline and the inhabitants, who are loyal British citizens, are becoming increasingly distressed and disillusioned.
The average salary for local people is a mere £4,500 a year, but goods and food are more expensive than in the UK because of freight charges. For that reason and the fact that there are only limited opportunities in St. Helena for skilled workers and young people, many Saints are being forced to leave their families to seek work abroad. More than 150 children and young adults are now in informal foster care as a consequence, which cannot be right by anyone’s reckoning.
The Health Department has the painful and sensitive job of selecting which seriously ill patients qualify for further care and treatment in Cape Town or in the United Kingdom. With an ageing population, there is greater need for elderly care, but there is less of it with resources increasingly stretched. Education, too, is becoming more problematic as classes shrink but demands for a broad curriculum continue.
Finding teachers and nurses is increasingly difficult, as more Saints leave the island to find better paid positions elsewhere. The same problem exists with other jobs. Many people are initially interested in positions but are then put off by the difficulty of getting to and from the island. As a result, St. Helena has had to increase the number of expatriate staff to fill key posts in recent years, which is extremely expensive. Externally recruited staff are paid commercial rates, which are vastly more than the local norm. That leads to an ever-increasing disparity of wages on the island between expatriates and the indigenous population.
There is also the considerable burden on the United Kingdom taxpayer, which will only increase as more expatriates are needed. Many Saints in the UK have developed skills that St. Helena badly needs and are
keen to return home to work and set up businesses on the island, but, again, the issue is access and we cannot get away from that.
The potential for stimulating St. Helena’s economy to enable Saints overseas to find jobs on the island is currently extremely limited. Apart from a modest agricultural potential and fluctuating availability of fish in its coastal waters, the island has no known natural resources. The existing arrangements for access by sea effectively prevent the development of any method by which the island’s economy can grow. The modest passenger-carrying capacity of RMS St. Helena and any of its replacements limits the number of tourists that can visit the island. The cost of shipping goods to and from Africa and the United Kingdom, together with the time scales involved, make the development of any industry involving the physical movement of goods uncompetitive.
High communication costs do the same for possible activities such as call centres. The development of financial services has been ruled out by the British Government on policy grounds. The only possible method of economic development is tourism. It was as a result of that consideration that an airport was first suggested as the only practicable means of getting tourists to and from the island in sufficient numbers.
In January 2002, 71 per cent. of islanders, both at home and abroad, voted in favour of an airport being built. In April 2005, following the overwhelming vote of support, the British Government announced plans to construct an airport on St. Helena to bolster the island’s economy and reduce its isolation. Impregilo S.p.A. of Milan was selected as the preferred tender to design, build and operate the airport.
With the British Government’s promise to build the airport, the island’s population ceased to decline, and there has been substantial investment in developing the island’s tourism industry. In addition to the recent acquisition of the Consulate hotel by an overseas investor, the St. Helena Leisure Corporation is planning a sustainable development to include a six-star hotel, spa and leisure resort to be created in partnership with Oberoi Hotels. Such a development would form a key part of the Government’s tourism policies by providing the quality of accommodation required, and it would serve as a significant point of attraction to the island. Shelco also proposes to invest in a whole range of local businesses to provide visitors with restaurants, horse riding facilities, deep sea fishing and fresh food as part of a holistic solution to regenerate the whole of the island’s economy.
St. Helena has some stunning scenery, but I am ashamed to say that I have never seen it. I have been selected twice for a Commonwealth Parliamentary Association delegation. The first time, I was on the reserve list, and the second time, I was unable to go because RMS St. Helena broke down and the timing was changed. However, I have seen the most fantastic photographs of the scenery. The coastline of the island comprises high vertical cliffs cut by steep-sided v-shaped valleys, and a good network of roads makes much of the island accessible. However, the best of St. Helena is seen on foot, and there are some magnificent walks and hikes to be had on the island. St. Helena has other famous attractions such as Jacob’s Ladder, Plantation
house, High Knoll fort and Diana’s Peak national park. The island also has a large and rare seabird population and is a centre for yachting and fishing.
A sustainable high-value, low-volume tourism industry would inject cash into the community, while minimising negative impacts. St. Helena needs that to survive. On 13 May, Lord Davies of Oldham accurately stated that
“the airport is about the development of that society, and the only prospect of development is tourism. The airport is therefore about how you get tourists in sufficient numbers to make an impact on the economy.”—[Official Report, House of Lords, 13 May 2009; Vol. 710, c. 1094.]
St. Helena currently receives around £18 million a year in subsidies from the UK taxpayer. That figure is already predicted to rise to £25 million for the next fiscal year. Without an airport, such support will have to increase yet further. Continued reliance on access by sea means continued reliance on subsidies to maintain essential services at acceptable standards. It also means the continued stagnation of the economy and, in all likelihood, a resumption of the emigration of economically active residents. The result of that will be an increase in subsidies from the British taxpayer and the deterioration and ultimate destruction of St. Helena and its unique and irreplaceable culture.
Without an airport, we are simply talking about managing decline, and without an airport, St. Helena has no future. The Atkins feasibility study, commissioned by the UK Government in 2005, estimated annual revenues of between £1 million and £33 million from tourism up to a period of 20 years after the opening of an airport. That was confirmed by the Minister in the House on 9 March. The figure is almost twice the value of the current subsidy by the UK taxpayer.
A new consultation on access to the island was published on 9 April this year, the Thursday before Easter. As with the announcement of a pause in the airport project in the run-up to Christmas last, the timing seems to have been designed to attract as little interest and attention as possible. The document lists three options: option A is to build the airport now; option B is to decide now not to build the airport and commission a new ship to replace RMS St. Helena; and option C is to defer a decision on the airport for another five years and either extend the life of the ship or charter a replacement vessel in future.
Why are other practical aspects of the Department for International Development’s support to St. Helena on pause or being held back pending the outcome of the consultation? At a time when St. Helena most needs assistance in planning and coping with the uncertainty of the future, there appears to be a ban on DFID representatives visiting the island. It would be helpful if the Minister answered that question.
The consultation is unnecessary, and it is an expensive diversion. It will cost upwards of £40,000, for which UK taxpayers will foot the bill. Saints have already voted overwhelmingly in favour of building an airport, and the Government promised in 2005 that an airport would be built by 2011-12. The 2002 referendum produced a vote in favour of an airport, and a decision to proceed was announced by DFID in March 2005.
In any case, the consultation process is not intended to be used so late in the decision-making sequence. As the DFID code of practice for consultation clearly states:
“The consultation exercise should be scheduled as early as possible in the project plan”.
The 2002 referendum took place exactly in keeping with that advice, and the result should be heeded and acted upon now by the Government. Protracted delays since the decision to go ahead was made in 2005 have led many Saints in the UK and elsewhere to lose faith in the sincerity of the promise given by Her Majesty’s Government.
Saints see the consultation as a poorly disguised way of killing the airport project, without using so many words, particularly given that it ends before the Reading sports day on August 30, which is the largest annual gathering of Saints in the UK—some 2,000 or 3,000 Saints could have been asked for their views at the event. I hope that the St. Helena Government informally gauge the level of support for the airport project at the sports day, so that we can report back to the House. Most, if not all, will be in support. The Reading sports day was known about and ignored by DFID. Consequently, Saints feel embittered and badly let down, and I would be grateful if the Minister commented on that aspect of the timing of the consultation.
The consultation document provides inadequate information on a number of areas: the impact assessment mandated by criterion 3.5 of the code of practice is sparse, to say the least; information on the influence of the recession, which is apparently a key consideration, is sketchy to say the least; and there is a total absence of any meaningful assessment of the impact on St. Helena of the preferred option of a five-year delay in making a decision. That is unacceptable.
Furthermore, the funding argument for a delay or cheaper alternative is based on the assertion that DFID has to decide between the competing claims of overseas territories, such as St. Helena, and aid projects that are needed in other countries. However, there is an obvious contradiction, because page 2 of the executive summary states:
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