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House of Commons
Thursday 25 November 1993
The House met at half-past Two o'clock
PRAYERS
[Madam Speaker-- in the Chair ]
PRIVATE BUSINESS
British Waterways Bill
[Lords]
Motion made, and Question proposed,
That the Promoters of the British Waterways Bill [Lords] may, notwithstanding anything in the Standing Orders or practice of this House, proceed with the Bill in the present Session and the Petition for the Bill shall be deemed to have been deposited and all Standing Orders applicable thereto shall be deemed to have been complied with ;
That, if the Bill is brought from the Lords in the present Session, the Agent for the Bill shall deposit in the Private Bill Office a declaration signed by him, stating that the Bill is the same, in every respect, as the Bill which was brought from the Lords in the last Session ;
That as soon as a certificate by one of the Clerks in the Private Bill Office, that such a declaration has been so deposited, has been laid upon the Table of the House, the Bill shall be deemed to have been read for the first and second time and committed (and shall be recorded in the Journal of this House as having been so read and committed) ;
That all Petitions relating to the Bill presented in the last Session which stand referred to the Committee on the Bill, together with any minutes of evidence taken before the Committee on the Bill, shall stand referred to the Committee on the Bill in the present Session ;
That no Petitioners shall be heard before the Committee on the Bill, unless their Petition has been presented within the time limited within the last Session or deposited pursuant to paragraph (b) of Standing Order 126 relating to Private Business ;
That, in relation to the Bill, Standing Order 127 relating to Private Business shall have effect as if the words "under Standing Order 126 (Reference to committee of petitions against Bill)" were omitted ;
That no further Fees shall be charged in respect of any proceedings on the Bill in respect of which Fees have already been incurred during the last Session.-- [The Chairman of Ways and Means.]
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Oral Answers to Questions
HOME DEPARTMENT
Lenient Sentences
2. Sir George Gardiner : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress he has made in extending the Attorney General's right to appeal against lenient sentences.
The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Michael Howard) : I expect shortly to be in a position to lay an appropriate order before the House.
Sir George Gardiner : May I welcome my right hon. and learned Friend's initiative as part of the continuing war on violent crime? May I also welcome the extension of the scope to refer unduly lenient sentences for indecent assault and cruelty to children? Will my right hon. and learned Friend not close his mind to further extending the categories? Is he aware of the extreme public anger over unduly lenient sentences on youths who are found guilty, for example, of theft and car crime that in some cases involve penalties of a holiday in the sun?
Mr. Howard : I try to never close my mind. It is right that that power, which was first given to the Attorney-General in the Criminal Justice Act 1988 in the teeth of most fierce opposition from the Opposition parties, should be reserved for the most serious offences. I shall certainly take into account what my hon. Friend has said.
Mr. Allen : In view of that answer, will the Home Secretary tell the House and the public why crime has increased by 124 per cent. since his Government came to power in 1979?
Mr. Howard : Crime has increased by similiar amounts in almost every country in the western world. The Government have taken action to deal with crime by giving the police and the courts more powers and by giving the Attorney-General powers to refer lenient sentences to the Court of Appeal-- all taken in the teeth of opposition from the parties opposite.
Stolen Goods
3. Mr. French : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many arrests have been made as a result of stolen goods being sold at car boot sales.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Charles Wardle) : That information is not available. Records arnot held in a form that allows the identification of such offences.
Mr. French : Is my hon. Friend aware that there is growing evidence that car boot sales are used to convert goods stolen from homes, factories, shops and vehicles into hard cash? Such sales are being used to fulfil the original purpose of the fence. Will he redouble his efforts to ensure that that practice is stopped?
Mr. Wardle : There is no doubt that there are instances of car boot sales being used to dispose of stolen property, but there is certainly no evidence that most traders at car boot sales are other than law-abiding citizens. If my hon.
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Friend has such evidence, it is important that he gives it to the chief constable of Gloucestershire, as the police must make an operational judgment and decide what action to take at car boot sales. My hon. Friend will be aware that Gloucestershire trading standards officers are liaising with their counterparts in North Yorkshire to consider a registration scheme for such car boot sales and similar casual sales.Mr. Tony Banks : Will the Minister admit that car boot sales can make a valuable contribution to local economies and are a good way of recycling household products that the owners no longer require and wish to sell? The Minister would be well advised to study car boot sales because, when they have sold off the national assets to reduce the public sector borrowing requirement, the Government will have to come down to car boot sales.
Mr. Wardle : I am sure that the hon. Gentleman would agree that, if he or any other member of the public has reason to believe that there are goods of doubtful origin at car boot sales, the principle of caveat emptor applies, and the principle of partnership with the police applies, so that the police are made aware of cases where they need to take action.
Mr. Spring : Is my hon. Friend aware of the anachronism whereby in a market such as Bermondsey, it is possible, between sunrise and sunset, to purchase an object and to obtain good title, even if the object has been stolen in the first place? Does my hon. Friend agree that such markets simply act as a conduit for stolen goods and should be abolished as soon as possible?
Mr. Wardle : If there is any such evidence, it is a matter for the Metropolitan police. I am sure that the House is aware that the disposal of stolen goods through car boot sales is covered by section 22 of the Theft Act 1968 and that the maximum penalty is 14 years imprisonment. That applies in other similar casual sales and markets.
Police Clear-up Rates
4. Mr. Ainger : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the six most successful police forces in England and Wales in terms of clear-up rate in 1992 ; and what is the establishment of each of those forces.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The highest clear-up rate in 1992 was in Dyfed- Powys with an authorised establishment of 969, followed by Gwent with 1,010, Merseyside with 4,706, Lincolnshire with 1,206, Suffolk with 1,233 and equal sixth Cumbria with 1,187, Lancashire with 3,229 and Wiltshire with 1,181.
Mr. Ainger : Is the Minister aware that the figures prove that small is beautiful in relation to police forces--not only beautiful, but efficient and effective? Will he now announce that Dyfed-Powys police force and Gwent police force in particular will not be subject to any amalgamation, because they are the two most efficient forces in the country?
Mr. Wardle : The hon. Gentleman is right to draw attention to the good performance by Dyfed-Powys police, who are to be congratulated on achieving the highest clear-up rate. The chief constable attributes his success to a combination of traditional community policing in
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partnership with the public, and the use of the latest police technology. Those are precisely the features of policing that are enhanced by my right hon. and learned Friend's reform proposals. More police officers will be released for front-line duties, and chief police officers will have the freedom to spend their money where they judge best, whether on computers, on new technology and equipment or on anything else.Sir Anthony Grant : Does my hon. Friend agree that the figures are largely meaningless unless one has regard to the number of police per head of the population in a county force? With that in mind, will he take note of the fact that Cambridgeshire, for example, has fewer police per head of the population than is the case for any other county?
Mr. Wardle : I hear my hon. Friend's eloquent bid on behalf of Cambridgeshire. It is true that the correlation between clear-up rates and establishment or strength figures depends, at least to some extent, on the type of area policed and on the type of crime that is prevalent. Some categories of crime have a far higher clear-up rate than others.
Mr. Michael : Will not the Minister acknowledge that six of the eight highest performers among police forces are among the 11 smallest, and that all are threatened by his amalgamation plans? Will the Home Secretary now abandon his bid to take powers in the forthcoming police Bill to dictate police force mergers?
As the Home Secretary has today claimed to support the police, will he also acknowledge that the latest figures for the police establishment, given in a parliamentary answer to me last night, show a drop of 224 police officers since the general election? Does not that make a mockery of the Conservative election promise to provide an extra 1,000 police officers this year?
Mr. Wardle : The hon. Gentleman knows that this Government have increased the number of uniformed officers by almost 17,000 and, by the process of civilianisation, by another 6,600. My right hon. and learned Friend's proposals will allow an increase of a further 5,300. The hon. Gentleman talks about the reform proposals. The White Paper set out the conditions under which the ground could be cleared for amalgamations ; no such amalgamations were suggested.
Mrs. Angela Knight : My hon. Friend will be aware that the Derbyshire police force has again been refused a certificate of efficiency, and that it is still under establishment. Will he confirm that the principal reason is the repeated lack of funds granted to the police force by the county council, including reducing the chief constable's budget proposals by £6 million this year?
Will my hon. Friend further join me in congratulating the policemen and women in Derbyshire on the excellent job they do in difficult circumstances? Will he assure me that our right hon. and learned Friend's proposals to separate the police authority from the county council will result in the force being able to recruit more policemen and women, which my constituents in Erewash and the rest of us in Derbyshire want?
Mr. Wardle : My hon. Friend is absolutely right. She will be aware that the White Paper proposals will allow chief officers the leeway and freedom of judgment that she describes. I am sure that she agrees that for Derbyshire, or
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for any other police force, ultimately improvements in police performance and clear-up rates will depend crucially on locally focused policing and on working in partnership with the public to help to prevent and to detect crime, with more officers being away from desks and on the beat, and with modernised police management bringing offenders to the courts to be dealt with fairly, swiftly and decisively. All those circumstances are provided for in my right hon. and learned Friend's proposals.Crime Prevention
5. Mr. Burden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the expenditure of his Department on crime prevention measures in the west midlands in 1992-93.
Mr. Charles Wardle : During the year, three safer cities projects in the west midlands received nearly £1.1 million. The region has also benefited from the £284 million spent on the West Midlands police and, in some part, from the £200 million spent by Government Departments on crime prevention related measures across the country.
Mr. Burden : Will the Minister reflect on the case of one of my constituents, a pensioner who was mugged in her own home? That crime went undetected and unreported for two days, because she was afraid to go out and no one was around. She was finally discovered by the home help. Does not that indicate the need for a proper partnership between the local authorities, the police, the public and the agencies involved? When will the Government do something about it? Does the Minister think that cutting the safer cities programme will contribute to that partnership?
Mr. Wardle : The safer cities programme has not been cut. As the hon. Gentleman well knows, in Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton, there have been 20 local projects, delivering more than 3,000 crime prevention schemes. The hon. Gentleman is right to stress the need for partnerships, and I hope that he will support the Government's legislation when it is introduced later in the Session.
Nationally, in the west midlands, Solihull and Birmingham we have the activities of crime concern schemes, and city challenge in Birmingham, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton. We have some 23 safer car parks schemes receiving awards in the west midlands. As to the safer cities project, it was ever the plan that, after an initial period, it would move to other localities. The local partnerships to which the hon. Member has alluded can then carry on with crime prevention schemes, and people such as his constituent will feel safer, because everybody will then be involved in crime prevention.
Sir Ivan Lawrence : Is it not becoming daily more obvious that one of the major reasons for the increase in crime in our society, particularly by juvenile offenders, is the constant diet of violence and depravity with which they are fed by television and video and computer pornography? Is not one of the strongest actions that the Government can take to prevent crime to ban this constant diet of trash that is causing so much harm, particularly among the young?
Mr. Wardle : My hon. and learned Friend will appreciate that we have the toughest laws in the world on video recordings, and it is a subject which will continue to
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be kept under review. He will be aware that the British Board of Film Classification is even now reviewing the matter to which my hon. and learned Friend refers.Mr. Grocott : Many months ago, the West Mercia police authority took a decision to release 10 senior officer posts in order to request authority from the Minister's Department to appoint 26 constables for the same money. When the Minister looks at the level of policing in that police authority, will he urgently consider that request, because, many months later, it is still awaiting a decision from his Department? The money should be available for a further 26 constables, but only 10 have been allocated. If the Government are serious about cutting red tape, they could start by cutting it in the Home Office.
Mr. Wardle : The hon. Gentleman makes the most powerful endorsement of the Government's proposals which will be considered by the House. The whole purpose of the White Paper proposals is to get away from the idea of police chief officers having to bid for extra resources in terms of uniformed posts. Following the legislation, they will be free to make their own decisions about what ranks to appoint, how many police officers to have and how much of their resources to deploy on computers and other equipment.
Royal Commission on Criminal Justice
6. Mr. Riddick : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will have considered all the recommendations of the Royal Commission on criminal justice and made decisions on them.
Mr. Howard : I have already announced decisions on some 30 of the royal commission's recommendations. Other recommendations are still under consideration ; but I cannot yet say when conclusions will be reached.
Mr. Riddick : The right to silence, which the commission examined, has been the criminal's friend for many years now. Is my right hon. and learned Friend aware that his decision to end it has been widely welcomed by police and public alike? Does he agree that, for the change to be effective, we need to end the right to silence not just in court but in police cells? Will he seek clarification from the hon. Member for Sedgefield (Mr. Blair), who is mysteriously absent today, and who was wriggling all over the place during Tuesday's debate?
Mr. Howard : I agree with my hon. Friend. The hon. Member for Sedgefield has informed me of the understandable reasons for his absence today ; but the substance of my hon. Friend's point is absolutely right. For some time now, I have sought to elicit the Opposition's stance on the matter. The hon. Member for Sheffield, Brightside (Mr. Blunkett) has made his position clear : he appears to agree with me that the innocent have nothing to worry about. I wish that the hon. Member for Sedgefield and others on the Opposition Front Bench would agree with the hon. Member for Brightside.
Mr. Ashton : Is the Home Secretary aware that the trial of the murderers of James Bulger, which ended yesterday, might not have taken place? There were strong submissions from defence counsel that an impartial trial was impossible because of media speculation, hype and
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investigation before the trial started. The judge had to give serious consideration to their plea, which he eventually refused. Is it not the case that, sooner or later, a trial will be refused because the media have carried out their own investigations? Will the Home Secretary ensure that, in introducing the Criminal Justice Bill, he takes another long look at what the media are now doing? Offenders can often get off, because the media have queered the pitch.Mr. Howard : The case to which the hon. Gentleman refers has caused us all to reach deep into the recesses of our hearts, and to ask ourselves whether anything could have been done to prevent it--and whether anything could be done to prevent any recurrence in future. I do not propose to rush into any snap judgments. I shall study very carefully what the judge said, and what has been said by others closely connected with the case, including the police superintendent who led the investigation. I shall take all those matters into account, including the point raised by the hon. Gentleman. If there are any lessons to be learnt from this unspeakable crime, we must certainly learn them.
Mr. Heald : Does my right hon. and learned Friend accept that many lawyers welcome the abolition of the right to silence, believing that it will lead not to any loss of civil liberties, but to a better criminal justice system--a system focused far more on the pursuit of the truth, and far less on the adversarial cat-and-mouse games that are so bad for our courts today?
Mr. Howard : I entirely agree. This proposal should not give rise to any concern. The innocent have nothing to fear from answering questions ; they have nothing to hide. It will be for the prosecution and the judge to invite the jury to draw whatever inference they think fit from answers, or failures to answer. Those inferences will, of course, vary from case to case ; but this is a sensible proposal to improve the efficiency of our system of criminal justice, and to make it much more likely that the guilty will be convicted and the innocent acquitted.
Victim Support Schemes
7. Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what extra resources he will be giving to Victim Support schemes.
The Minister of State, Home Office (Mr. David Maclean) : We have increased our grant to Victim Support this year by £1.1 million--from £7.3 million to £8.4 million. I cannot give details of future funding for Victim Support in advance of the Budget statement on 30 November.
Mrs. Mahon : The Home Secretary will be aware that Victim Support considers that far too little. Nearly 1 million people were referred to the organisation last year--a 19 per cent. increase on the previous year. In my constituency, three part-timers and four volunteers try to cope with the ever-rising numbers ; sometimes they have to close the door and turn people away. Is it not time that serious consideration was given to funding this valuable service properly, rather than on a piecemeal basis?
Mr. Maclean : It is not funded on a piecemeal basis. The hon. Lady speaks of a 19 per cent. increase. In the past two years, Victim Support has received a 48 per cent.
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increase in funds, and it has received an increase of more than 60 per cent. over the past three years. That is a phenomenal increase for any agency funded by the Home Office, or any other Government Department.Two years ago, we told Victim Support well in advance that we would be increasing its funding from £5.5 million to £7.2 million to £8.3 million. We told it that there would be generous increases, and gave it time to plan accordingly how to use all that extra money.
Mrs. Peacock : What other measures will my hon. Friend be introducing to help victims?
Mr. Maclean : The measures announced by my right hon. and learned Friend at Blackpool were not simply about reforming the criminal law but about accepting the recommendations of the royal commission on helping victims of crime. We intend to put them into effect as soon as possible. In addition to funding Victim Support, there is much that we can do to help victims have confidence in the criminal justice system, as well as having the most generous compensation system for victims of crime of any country in the world.
Mr. Gerrard : Will the Minister give serious consideration to filling a gap which exists at the moment, either directly through Victim Support or through other schemes, to give some professional long-term support and bereavement counselling to those who have had family members murdered?
Mr. Maclean : The hon. Gentleman raises a very good point. My officials at the Home Office have talked to families for bereaved who came to see them specifically. I have studied what they had to say and I am sympathetic to the point that families who have lost relatives through murder or other circumstances are a special category with special needs. Victim Support does some very good work with them. However, I have an open mind on how we can best help that special category of people who have lost relatives through murder or manslaughter.
Sunday Shopping Day
8. Mr. Simon Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what account he has taken of the level of support shown by the public on Sunday shopping day ; and if he will make a statement.
The Minister of State, Home Office (Mr. Peter Lloyd) : The Government introduced the Sunday Trading Bill on 19 November. It contains three options for reforming the law on Sunday trading. Hon. Members will take into account the popularity of Sunday shopping as well as many other matters when they come to choose among them.
Mr. Coombs : Does my hon. Friend accept that the message from Sunday shopping day was that the overwhelming majority of people in Britain want the issue of Sunday shopping resolved in this Session of Parliament by the House and the other place? Does he further agree that the proposals in the Bill under the general aegis of the Keep Sunday Special campaign are too close to the present regime of the law to work, and that what the population said they wanted on Sunday shopping day was a thoroughgoing dose of deregulation to get this sorted out?
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Mr. Lloyd : I am sure that the overwhelming number of hon. Members and those outside want Sunday sorted out, but which way is of course a matter for debate on the Bill. I am quite certain that my hon. Friend will argue his last point vigorously during those debates.
Mr. Cryer : Until the legal position is resolved, is it not true that, by opening on Sunday, the large stores are actually breaking the law and encouraging others to do likewise? As most of the questions to the Government today have been about breaking the law and catching criminals, is it not disgraceful that they have not asked local authorities to prosecute those stores that are continuing to break the law and flout the criminal justice system in quite a disgraceful way? Is it not an inducement to commit crime? Is there any connection between the Government's inertia and the provision by firms likeB and Q of generous contributions to the Tory party?
Mr. Lloyd : Two things are perfectly clear about the present law. First, it is the local authorities' job to enforce it ; secondly, it has been widely breached. It was breached by many small shops long before it began to be breached by large ones.
Dame Elaine Kellett-Bowman : Will my hon. Friend bear in mind the tens of millions of people who showed that they want Sunday to remain special by not turning out on Sunday shopping day?
Mr. Lloyd : Everyone, whatever their point of view, can respect those who do not want to shop on Sundays for staying at home. Nor is there any question but that, from all points of view, Sunday is a special day. The questions are : what sort of special day and how far should the law prescribe it?
Crime, North-West
9. Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the recent crime figures for the north-west.
Mr. Howard : Notifiable offences recorded by the police in the north -west region rose by 2.6 per cent. in the 12 months ending June 1993, compared with an increase of 3.8 per cent. for England and Wales as a whole.
Mr. Parry : Is the Secretary of State aware of the increasing number of drug offences in the north-west? In particular, is he aware of the number of drug seizures and arrests by the police, and the number of guns and other arms found by the police? Is the Secretary of State satisfied with law and order in the north-west, particularly Government funding on Merseyside and in Manchester?
Mr. Howard : I am certainly not satisfied with law and order in the north-west and that is why I have announced a series of far-reaching measures to improve law enforcement and enhance confidence in our system of criminal justice in the north-west and in other parts of the country. We have seen an enormous increase in spending on law enforcement, on the police and in other ways, since the Government took office. We must ensure that the police become the most effective police force that it is possible to make them. That is the object of my reforms.
Mr. Hawkins : Does my right hon. and learned Friend agree that what people in the north-west really want,
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including those in my constituency in Blackpool, is to see implemented all the measures that he announced recently, also in Blackpool? In particular, they want to see those who are convicted, especially of violent crime, serious crimes of dishonesty and drug-related crime, locked up because they know that custodial sentences are effective, not least because they ensure that offenders are kept in custody and stopped from preying on the victims?Mr. Howard : My hon. Friend has captured comprehensively the mood of the people of the north-west, and I took particular pleasure in the fact that it was possible for me to make my speech of 6 October in the north- west in Blackpool.
Mr. Kilfoyle : I was happy to hear the Home Secretary say earlier that he will not be making any snap judgments about the James Bulger case, but will he join me in condemning those who have already made snap judgments, particularly those in the media who sought to sensationalise the most sordid parts of that case? Will he also join me in extending the deepest and most profound respects of the House to the Bulger family who have shown such forbearance in their terrible tragedy in the past nine months?
Mr. Howard : I certainly join the hon. Gentleman in extending our deepest sympathy and consideration for his constituents, the Bulger family. The whole country has mourned with them in the terrible plighton of doing so, but it is entirely understandable that people should wish to explore the possible reasons, if they can be identified, for this dreadful crime.
Mr. Nicholas Winterton : As my right hon. and learned Friend is aware, Macclesfield lies within the north-west. Will he accept that there is growing concern in my constituency and other areas of the north-west about the increased incidence of burglary, theft and car-related offences? I welcome the provisions in the Queen's Speech that will be part of the criminal justice Bill, but will my right hon. and learned Friend accept that the best way to deter would-be offenders in those categories is for them to realise that if they are caught they will be severely punished, and that he must therefore give the courts, particularly in dealing with young juvenile offenders, the appropriate punishment to fit the crime?
Mr. Howard : I agree with my hon. Friend. The objective that I seek to achieve with the measures is to make criminals much more afraid of the prospect of being caught, convicted and punished than they are at the moment. That is the object of the measures that I shall be bringing before the House shortly.
Mr. Alton : Is the Home Secretary aware that many people throughout the region will join him in his remarks to the family of James Bulger?
Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman also accept that many are concerned that the video that was mentioned in connection with the tragedy- -the video "Child's Play 3"--was scheduled to be broadcast on Sky TV tomorrow evening? Does not that demonstrate that the levels of violence that are transmitted via video and televison have
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reached unsurpassed levels, and that that does not square with the claim that was made earlier today from the Dispatch Box that we have the toughest laws in the world?Does not the Home Secretary accept that many will be looking to the Government, through the new criminal justice Bill, to find ways of dealing with gratuitous violence? Does he agree that programmes that revel in violence and harrowing scenes undoubtedly must have an impact on the young people who watch them, and that those programmes should be removed from our television screens?
Mr. Howard : I have great sympathy with the point raised by the hon. Gentleman. He will recall that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister expressed similar sympathy when the hon. Gentleman raised the point earlier this week.
It is important that we should not rush into snap judgments on those matters. My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary was right a few minutes ago when he referred to the exceptional stringency of the regime that we have in place. I will reflect on what the trial judge said in the Bulger case and on what others have said, including the police officer who was in charge of the case. The hon. Gentleman may be aware that the British Board of Film Classification is conducting research into that matter, and I shall want to take account of all the available material before I reach any conclusions.
Bail Offenders
10. Mr. Kynoch : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his plans to deal with those who repeatedly offend while on bail.
Mr. Maclean : Offending on bail is a serious problem. We intend to use the criminal justice Bill, which will be introduced shortly, to remove the presumption in favour of bail in all cases where a person who is already on bail is charged with an offence triable on indictment.
Mr. Kynoch : I am sure that the country will welcome the proposals, bearing in mind the cases that one hears of throughout the country of offences being carried out by people on bail. Is my hon. Friend aware that the bail measures are different in Scotland from those south of the border? Will he liaise closely with the Secretary of State for Scotland on the issues to try to ensure that the benefits are learned north of the border also? Will my hon. Friend give an indication of the impact on the crime rate that he expects from the measures?
Mr. Maclean : I assure my hon. Friend that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland is liaising closely with us on the matters. My hon. Friend will be aware that Scottish law is different and that it would require a different criminal justice Bill to take the measures into Scottish law, should the Secretary of State wish to do so in the near future.
We expect the measures to make a significant impact. I am alarmed by research that suggests that as many as 50,000 offences may be committed by people who have been charged with an offence, been granted bail, and have then committed more offences. The whole House will agree that that is unacceptable--and because I think that the whole House will agree, I look forward to the official Opposition supporting our proposals.
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