Contributions
950 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDVictims and Prisoners Bill (Seventh sitting)I beg to move amendment 4, in clause 2, page 2, line 25, at end insert— “(3A) The victims’ code must— (a) require criminal justice bodies to take all reasonable steps to identify…29 Jun 2023HANSARDVictims and Prisoners Bill (Seventh sitting)I know that the Minister takes his brief incredibly seriously and recognises the severity of the consequences as things currently stand. I think he has also heard the degree of…29 Jun 2023HANSARDVictims and Prisoners Bill (Seventh sitting)I give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Yardley.29 Jun 2023HANSARDVictims and Prisoners Bill (Seventh sitting)The Minister can address sentences and conditions, but we absolutely need the Home Office on board.29 Jun 2023HANSARDVictims and Prisoners Bill (Seventh sitting)With the Minister’s nodded confirmation that that will happen, I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.29 Jun 2023HANSARDVictims and Prisoners Bill (Seventh sitting)I beg to move amendment 53, in clause 2, page 2, line 25, at end insert— “(3A) The victims’ code must make provision about pre-trial therapy for victims, including— (a) a…29 Jun 2023HANSARDVictims and Prisoners Bill (Seventh sitting)I very much hope that the Minister has heard that. This is an issue that, when we start looking for it, we start finding it. The hon. Member for Bolsover (Mark Fletcher) came to…29 Jun 2023HANSARDVictims and Prisoners Bill (Seventh sitting)I am a Back-Bench MP, yet I know just from my own digging that this is about tens of thousands of people. My hon. Friend is absolutely right: organisations that work with children…29 Jun 2023HANSARDVictims and Prisoners Bill (Seventh sitting)They are being deceived, and we are all being deceived. The confidence that a DBS check should give us is not there: it does not exist while this loophole exists.29 Jun 2023HANSARDVictims and Prisoners Bill (Seventh sitting)The hon. Lady makes a really good point. A number of people have come to me and said that the social security number is the way to go, because that number follows us through our…29 Jun 2023HANSARDVictims and Prisoners Bill (Seventh sitting)I believe that is the right word. Surely a Government’s duty is to safeguard citizens; to know the scale of this problem and that there is a solution but not to act is to be…29 Jun 2023HANSARDVictims and Prisoners Bill (Seventh sitting)Sadly, this is standard practice; systemic change is needed. Receiving counselling or mental health support should not be seen to make a victim an unreliable witness, which is…29 Jun 2023HANSARDVictims and Prisoners Bill (Seventh sitting)I want to explore the Minister’s phrase about victims giving their “best evidence” in court. I have tried to get to the bottom of what is going on in the minds of the police. I…29 Jun 2023HANSARDVictims and Prisoners Bill (Seventh sitting)Given those assurances, I will withdraw the amendment. I agree with the Minister that it is about the first or second community officer someone speaks to—that seems to be where…29 Jun 2023HANSARDVictims and Prisoners Bill (Seventh sitting)Does my hon. Friend agree that the nub of the problem is the total lack of transparency—I would go so far as to say the secrecy—around family courts? We are unable to do our job…29 Jun 2023HANSARDVictims and Prisoners Bill (Seventh sitting)My hon. Friend the Member for Chesterfield raised a case where social services had parental responsibility for a baby whose parents were horrifically abusing it. The judge in the…29 Jun 2023HANSARDVictims and Prisoners Bill (Eighth sitting)rose —29 Jun 2023HANSARDVictims and Prisoners Bill (Eighth sitting)What she said.29 Jun 2023HANSARDVictims and Prisoners Bill (Eighth sitting)I have tabled what I hope is a straightforward amendment that would place a stronger duty on criminal justice bodies to promote awareness of the victims code, rather than just…29 Jun 2023HANSARDVictims and Prisoners Bill (Eighth sitting)I am feeling the way the Minister is going with this. Might I make an on-the-hoof addition of the phrase “all reasonable steps”?29 Jun 2023