(Lab): My Lords, I am going to
speak to my Amendment 65. I am delighted that the noble Baroness
who has just spoken supports it. It was supported also by the
noble Lord, , who cannot be in his place
today. I remind the Committee that I was a police and crime
commissioner for five years and had some responsibility for
victims’ services at the time. This amendment springs from a view
of the Association of
Police and Crime Commissioners and I am very
grateful for its help.
Noble Lords will have seen that the duty in relation to victim
support services to collaborate and the strategic guidance under
Clauses 12, 13 and 14 refers to police areas in England alone.
The purpose of the amendment is to try to persuade the Government
that the duty to collaborate should apply to elected policing
bodies across England and Wales while, of course, respecting
Welsh devolved powers.
The Association of
Police and Crime Commissioners which of course
represents all police and crime commissioners across England and
Wales, is enthusiastic and welcomes the Bill—I should say that to
start with. However, it thinks that there is a problem in that,
as the clause is drafted now, it could make a real difference to
the effectiveness of Welsh police and crime commissioners, and
more particularly to how they are perceived in both Wales and
England. I want to make it clear that I am advised that the four
Welsh police and crime commissioners who would be most directly
affected by the amendment are all strongly in favour of it. I
emphasise to the Committee that they are not all from one
political party; politics does not come into this particular
issue.
(CB):... I
understand the virtues of police and crime commissioners and, in
principle, would agree with the Minister that micromanagement can
be a very bad thing. However, if I were a victim, I would be in
favour of slightly more micromanagement to make sure that,
wherever I lived in England and Wales, the type of service I got
was more uniform, consistent and joined up. In evidence, I cite a
glossy 2022 document from the Association of
Police and Crime Commissioners celebrating
“10 years of PCCs Making a Difference”.
It lays out no fewer than 39 different schemes across England and
Wales that different PCCs have put in place for
“advocating for victims; developing innovative services for
victims; and using multi-year funding to fund quality
services”...
For context, OPEN HERE
