New clause 17 - Register of Orders
Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill [Lords]
4:00 pm
Mr David Heath (Shadow Minister (Home Affairs), Home Affairs; Somerton and Frome, Liberal Democrat)
I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
If we are going to vote on the previous new clauses, I had better be brief in introducing this one, which returns us rather neatly at the end of our proceedings
to clause 1 and our discussions about the breach of non-molestation orders. If the procedure is to be effective, the police must have a mechanism by which they can know what orders are in place and therefore when an offence is committed. Otherwise, they could not possibly effect an arrest or thereby set in motion criminal proceedings. From my interpretation of what was said in another place, the Government have already conceded that point, but I hope that the Minister will tell us exactly what is proposed.
My noble Friend Lord Thomas of Gresford tabled a similar amendment in another place requiring that a register be drawn up for each police force. Baroness Scotland of Asthal rightly replied that that would not necessarily be the most helpful process. Anyone who has examined the Bichard inquiry would conclude that national rather than local databases are more likely to be effective. If people move between police authority areas, their previous history will be completely unknown in the area to which they have moved. I have tried to table a new clause that requires the creation and maintenance of a national register of orders, to which each court would be required to send a certified copy when an order is made so that it can be complete and readily accessible to police constables.
During the previous debate, in which I did not participate, one of the arguments advanced by the Under-Secretary was that it would take an inordinate amount of time to discover whether there were circumstances that would inhibit the making of a contact order. The register would help in that regard. If we had the register, there would be no reason for an inordinate delay; it would be extremely helpful for everybody concerned. He has therefore provided me with an additional argument in favour of my proposal.
I am sure that the Minister will not accept my new clause—that is the way of the world—but I hope that he will say that it is the Government's intention to create a national register. Indeed, that was the implication when Baroness Scotland suggested in another place that the Government intended to create a single database of orders. She also suggested that the creation of a register does not need to be a matter for primary legislation and therefore need not be included in the Bill. I accept that, but I argue that it would be better done through primary legislation. The Government have taken that view on other occasions. Indeed, I recall that section 98 of the Courts Act 2003 requires a
''Register of judgments and orders etc.''
to be created and maintained.
If it is right to have a national register of judgments and orders to try to ensure that fines or administration orders are maintained, it is more important to have the register that I propose, which is for the protection of vulnerable people. I hope that the Government will, first, confirm that they will produce such a database; secondly, tell us who will do it and how it will be arranged; thirdly, indicate the time scale in which it will be provided; and, fourthly, tell me why it is not helpful for the Bill to refer to it, as it seems entirely pertinent to its intentions and would make it work that much better.