Clause 5 - The offence
Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill [Lords]
3:30 pm
Ms Meg Munn (PPS (Rt Hon Margaret Hodge, Minister of State), Department for Education and Skills; Sheffield, Heeley, Labour/Co-operative)
I want to raise the issue of vulnerable adults and to hear the Minister's view about it. As I said this morning, I chair the all-party Voice group, which raises issues relating to learning disabled adults. I have had considerable discussions with Voice UK and Values into Action—another organisation that promotes the rights of learning disabled adults—and they both agree that it would be useful to have an offence covering serious harm. They welcome the offence in the Bill as a way of tackling domestic violence against vulnerable adults, which they believe has not been properly dealt with—perhaps for the same reasons why all domestic violence is under-reported. It is important for us to consider therefore whether it would be possible also to have an offence of serious harm.
I have had some correspondence with Richard Crompton, from the police. Although he has responded in a personal capacity, he has been involved with the Association of Chief Police Officers in considering issues relating to vulnerable adults in the context of this Bill and the Mental Incapacity Bill, which the House will consider later. His personal view, from his vantage point in the police service, is that it would be beneficial to have an offence covering the ill-treatment and neglect of vulnerable adults. He believes that that would help the police to know how to respond to specific situations, particularly those in which vulnerable adults have been cared for either by those with a statutory responsibility or in a family setting. He believes that it would be appropriate to consider the issue in the context of this Bill because it is not purely about those who lack capacity. I look forward to the Minister's comments.