Schedule 4 - Investigations by Parliamentary Commissioner
Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill [Lords]
5:15 pm
Mr Paul Goggins (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Home Office; Wythenshawe and Sale East, Labour)
The amendments provide a right for the victims of sexual or violent offences to be consulted and to make representations about the conditions of release of offenders. That right was introduced for the victims of offences when the offender received a prison sentence under the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000, but there was no equivalent provision when the offender was detained under the Mental Health Act 1983. Victims of offences committed by mentally disordered offenders were left in ignorance of arrangements for the return to the community of those offenders.
The proposals remedy that deficiency. They have been the subject of wide consultation in the context of the draft Mental Health Bill when they attracted general support. They are strongly supported by groups representing the victims of offences committed by mentally disordered offenders. I stress that that does not mean that confidential medical information about offenders will be revealed. The provisions enable the victims of offences committed by mentally disordered people to be advised about arrangements for discharge and to make representations about the safeguards that they wish to see in place for their own safety and peace of mind.
The provisions will enable victims of mentally disordered offenders to know that the system has not abandoned them and that their legitimate concerns can be heard by those taking decisions about returning offenders to the community. Victims will feel secure that they will not one day find themselves confronting the person who caused them such harm, without having known that the person was, in fact, back in the community.