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Representation of the People (Combination of Polls) (England and Wales) Regulations 2004
Lord Rooker: My Lords, I beg to move.
Moved, That the draft regulations laid before the House on 5 February be approved [8th Report from the Joint Committee].—(Lord Rooker.)
On Question, Motion agreed to.
European Parliamentary Elections Regulations 2004
Lord Rooker: My Lords, I beg to move.
Moved, That the draft Regulations laid before the House on 5 February be approved [8th Report from the Joint Committee].—(Lord Rooker.)
On Question, Motion agreed to.
Local Authorities (Conduct of Referendums) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2004
Lord Rooker: My Lords, I beg to move.
Moved, That the draft regulations laid before the House on 5 February be approved [8th Report from the Joint Committee].—(Lord Rooker.)
On Question, Motion agreed to.
Local Authorities (Mayoral Elections) (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2004
Lord Rooker: My Lords, I beg to move.
Moved, That the draft regulations laid before the House on 5 February be approved [8th Report from the Joint Committee].—(Lord Rooker.)
On Question, Motion agreed to.
Lord Bassam of Brighton: My Lords, I beg to move that the House do now adjourn during pleasure until 4.30 p.m.
Moved accordingly, and, on Question, Motion agreed to.
[The Sitting was suspended from 4.14 to 4.30 p.m.]
Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill [HL]
4.30 p.m.
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: My Lords, I beg to move that this Report be now received.
Moved, That this Report be now received.—(Baroness Scotland of Asthal.)
Baroness Anelay of St Johns: My Lords, I have given notice that I would like briefly to raise a matter of concern to me with regard to the tabling of extensive government amendments that appeared in print yesterday and today. Yesterday, we received 17 pages of amendments on mental incapacity. They require an amendment to the Long Title. The Minister kindly gave me notice that the matter might be raised on Report when she wrote to me some 10 days ago. At that stage, quite naturally enough, I was not given sight of the projected amendments; indeed, I did not see them until yesterday morning, though when I returned to my desk after the debate in this House which was completed just an hour ago they had by then appeared on my desk.
When I arrived in the House today, I found a further seven pages of government amendments, including two more amendments to the Long Title of the Bill—on this occasion, so that the Government might amend Section 58 and Part 12 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. The Minister will anticipate that I will tease her slightly that a Bill that was wrestled from our grasp only as recently as last November is now the subject of a revision in this Bill through amendments to the Long Title.
Given that amendments that require changes to the Long Title must in themselves be significant, have the Government given consideration to recommitment proceedings on those matters? If they have not done so, will they undertake to consider that between now and next Tuesday when we are next on Report?
Lord McNally: My Lords, I associate myself with those remarks. We mentioned in Grand Committee that the Government do test the goodwill of the Opposition parties and the system of referral to Grand Committee if Bills are so substantially rewritten on the hoof as this one has been and proper opportunity for full scrutiny in Committee is not given. I warned in Grand Committee that if the Government continue to do this, it will jeopardise the experiment of Grand Committee coverage of Bills such as this one.
Baroness Scotland of Asthal: My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay, for giving me notice that she intended to raise the issue. I should also point out to the noble Lord that absolutely no discourtesy is intended. Indeed, I do not seek to test the goodwill of the Opposition parties in relation to Grand Committees. The Grand Committee procedure has worked very well. I accept that it is in accordance with best practice for government amendments to be tabled at least a week ahead of consideration.
The amendments that we are discussing will come before us next Tuesday as the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay, has mentioned. The mental health amendments were tabled last Tuesday, which is a week in advance of their consideration. However, I regret that further amendments had to be tabled yesterday—only six days in advance—and that one minor amendment was tabled today.
As the noble Baroness indicated, I wrote about the mental health amendments 10 days ago, which was 23 February, to all noble Lords who spoke at Second Reading. I stated the purpose of the amendments and invited noble Lords to contact me if they wished so to do. Nobody took advantage of that offer, so I assumed that noble Lords were content with the information that I had provided and did not deem the amendments contentious. I hoped that I had in that way shown due and proper courtesy to all noble Lords who had participated up to that point.
On the other amendments, relating to multiple offending and intermittent custody, I have sent similar letters today. None of the amendments will be reached today, so your Lordships will have until Tuesday to consider them. I hear what the noble Baroness said in relation to recommitment, and I hope that noble Lords will feel content that I have done all that I could to ensure that proper notice was given.
I suggest that we leave these matters to the usual channels. If your Lordships are content, I invite them now to consider the amendments on Report.
On Question, Motion agreed to.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns moved Amendment No. 1:
- Before Clause 1, insert the following new clause—
The noble Baroness said: My Lords, we made it clear that we support in general the Government's objectives in all three parts of the Bill, but we have some objections to the way in which the Government propose to translate those objectives into offences. When I prepared my speaking notes last Sunday, I was going to go on to say that the Bill was relatively short, but wide-ranging and important in its effect. It is still
I agree with the Minister that those matters should be referred to the usual channels. She will note that my objection was not quite so much with the late tabling as that the Government are making a significant change to the long title of the Bill. I always try to speak on behalf of Back-Benchers, although they are more than able to speak for themselves—and, I am pleased to say, do so. It is always put to me by my colleagues that it is particularly difficult for Back-Benchers to come fresh to Report matters because the rules of Report do not enable them to have the same to-and-fro discussion and cross-examination of the Government's objectives as in Grand Committee. However, that will be dealt with as another matter next week.
The Bill is known colloquially as the "domestic violence Bill"; indeed, that is the name used widely by the Government in their press releases. However, its impact goes far wider than that very vital issue. It also covers the replacement of some jury trials by judge-alone trials and covers the extension of restraining orders to those who have been acquitted of any criminal offence.
So why have I returned to this issue on Report, having had a little bit of discussion on it in Committee? Because I was not satisfied with the answers given by the Government at that stage. I have tabled it again to draw attention to two major problems that flow from the Government's drafting of the Bill. First, the House has been prevented from scrutinising in full the proposals for the compensation of victims that the Government may ultimately propose as their new policy after the consultation that was launched when the Bill received its Second Reading in this House. The consultation is on compensation and support for victims of crime. Secondly, the issues of resources and the need for training will be considerable as a result of the wide changes introduced by the Bill.
I have inserted the amendment at the beginning of the Bill so that we may debate our amendments subsequently against the background of those two concerns. I do not thereby intend in any way to pre-empt the ability of the House to amend the Bill and introduce new provisions; indeed, I do not believe that it can have that effect, because I believe that if that had been the case when the amendment was called, that would have had to be made clear as pre-emption. Any requirements for funding or training that might be necessary as a result of any such amendments would be covered by the provisions of my amendment.
This House is in the process of scrutinising, in Grand Committee, now in Report and subsequently at Third Reading, proposals that will be only a part of the picture. After Second Reading, the Government published their consultation document on significant and potentially controversial proposals to revamp the way in which compensation for victims is funded. The Government have said that they hope to legislate in
Secondly, I turn to the issue of resources. At the moment, we can only consider the impact of the extant part of the Bill. We shall need to return to the matter when we see what the Government insert into the Bill in another place. There will be a significant call upon resources by the implementation of the provisions of the Bill. The police, the Prison Service and the probation service are all currently overstretched and the Bill will bring extra burdens. It will also have a significant impact on voluntary agencies and statutory agencies that must implement the victim's code. No doubt, they will take on that work with good will but it will require adequate resources and, especially, adequate training to make the systems work effectively.
It is clear that, in some cases, training is not sufficiently effective for the proper application of the current law. One of the reasons why I retabled this amendment is because it has come to my notice since Grand Committee that two reports have pointed this out with clarity. A joint study by police and CPS inspectors was published last week. It found that a big leap forward in police attitudes and much work by the CPS to raise awareness of domestic abuse had not filtered down to the grassroots. The report found that frontline officers and lawyers who dealt with domestic violence were often highly dedicated. But it found that more in-depth training is required, as well as systems to examine why arrests were not made in some cases. Harriet Harman, who commissioned the report, said:
What reassurance can the Minister give that the Government are putting the funding, the legal aid and the systems into place to ensure that everybody puts the current policies into practice and that they are able to put the new policies into practice once the Bill is enacted and, indeed, once we find out what the Government intend those policies to be? I beg to move.
"CERTIFICATION OF RESOURCES
No provision of this Act shall come into force until the Lord Chancellor has laid before Parliament a certificate that all necessary resources will be made available—
(a) to implement the provisions of this Act, and
(b) to provide any training necessary as a consequence of any provisions of this Act."
"The police and CPS now have the right policies, but not everyone is putting them into practice".
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