Extract from Lords
statement on Hate Crime
(Lab
Co-op): My Lords, these disgusting letters have, quite
righty, caused revulsion in our communities and been condemned. I
pay tribute to community and faith leaders, charities and others
for what they have done. They and others will not let us be
divided. Domestic extremism needs to be dealt with. Can the noble
Lord reassure us that the Anderson review recommendations to the
Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre will start to produce the threat
assessments for domestic extremism? Can he reassure the House
that the police have the resources they need? He will of course
be aware that the police got less than half of what they asked
for to deal with terrorism.
(Con):
On the first question, of course we want to take those
recommendations forward, and perhaps I could write in more detail
to the noble Lord on that. On the question of police resources, I
am aware of the exchanges that took place in the other place
yesterday. After speaking to all forces in England and Wales, the
Government have provided a comprehensive funding settlement that
will increase total investment in the police system by around
£450 million in 2018-19. Overall public investment in policing
will grow from £11.9 billion in 2015-16 to around £13 billion in
2018-19. We believe that the settlement enables Police and Crime
Commissioners to increase their direct funding by up to £270
million. It is then up to chief constables to decide how best to
deploy officers in their force to effectively serve and engage
their communities and to build trust and confidence. The
Government have made it absolutely clear that this is one of the
priorities that police forces must engage in as they deploy those
resources.
To read all the exchanges, CLICK
HERE
Extracts from
Westminster Hall debate on Victims of Crime:
Rights
(Bromley and Chislehurst)
(Con):...I will briefly move on to restorative
justice and the victims’ law, which was referred to by the hon.
Member for Leeds North West. One of the proposals that the Select
Committee made was that any victims’ law should include a right
not just to information about restorative justice, as is the case
at the moment, but a right of access to it. Provision is
extremely patchy across the country. Some Police and Crime Commissioners—I am
delighted to see the hon. Member for Rochdale (Tony Lloyd) in his
place; he did a great deal as the police and crime commissioner
for Greater Manchester—engage in that, but others do not. It is
important that the Government perhaps do more to enforce a proper
minimum standard. There is always scope for local variation to
meet local needs, but a basic standard must be adhered to in all
cases. If we are going to have a right, it is important that we
have a means of enforcing it and some remedy if it is not
actually delivered. That was reported on at some length in our
Committee’s report of September 2016, which was debated in
Westminster Hall in January 2017. The Government indicated that
they were taking steps; we welcomed those, and urge them to do
more, as more needs to be done. I hope that the Minister can
confirm that work is continuing on this matter, and that the
Government remain committed to a victims’ law. Can he give us
some sense of when we are likely to see more proposals on
that?..
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for
Justice (Dr Phillip Lee):...More widely, we have
radically transformed the way support services are delivered to
victims to ensure that they reflect the needs of victims in local
areas. Following consultation, the Government
empowered Police and Crime Commissioners to
deliver services tailored to the needs of victims in their areas.
We are allocating about £68 million to Police and Crime Commissioners this
year to provide emotional and practical support services for
victims of crime...
To read the whole debate, CLICK
HERE
