Police and Justice Bill
9:00 am
Hazel Blears (Minister of State (Policing, Security and Community Safety), Home Office; Salford, Labour)
I beg to move,
That—
(1) during proceedings on the Police and Justice Bill, the Standing Committee shall (in addition to its first meeting at 9.00 a.m. on Thursday 16th March) meet—
(a)at 1.00 p.m. on Thursday 16th March;
(b)at 10.30 a.m. and 4.00 p.m. on Tuesday 21st March;
(c)at 9.00 a.m. and 1.00 p.m. on Thursday 23rd March;
(d)at 10.30 a.m. and 4.00 p.m. on Tuesday 28th March;
(2) the proceedings shall be taken in the order shown in the first column of the following Table and shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion at the time specified in the second column of the Table.
| Proceedings | Time for conclusion of proceedings |
| Clause 1; Schedule 1; Clause 2; Schedule 2; Clauses 3 to 6; Schedule 3; new Clauses relating to Part 1; new Schedules relating to Part 1 | 5.00 p.m. on Tuesday 21st March |
| Proceedings | Time for conclusion of proceedings |
| Clause 7; Schedule 4; Clauses 8 to 10; Schedule 5; Clauses 11 to 13; new Clauses relating to Part 2; new Schedules relating to Part 2; Clause 14; Schedule 6; Clauses 15 to 20; Schedule 7; new Clauses relating to Part 3; new Schedules relating to Part 3; Clauses 21 to 28; Schedule 8; Clauses 29 and 30; Schedule 9; Clause 31; Schedule 10; Clause 32; new Clauses relating to Part 4; new Schedules relating to Part 4; Clauses 33 to 37; Schedule 11; Clauses 38 and 39; Schedule 12; new Clauses relating to Part 5; new Schedules relating to Part 5; Clauses 40 to 43; Schedules 13 and 14; Clauses 44 to 46; remaining new Clauses; remaining new Schedules; remaining proceedings on the Bill | 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday 28th March |
I am delighted to have the opportunity to serve under your chairmanship, Mr. Conway, and that of your esteemed co-Chair, Mr. Pope. I am sure that we shall have extremely constructive discussions about the Bill and I look forward to them. I welcome the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs (Nick Herbert) and look forward to debating with him. I also welcome the hon. Member for Sheffield, Hallam (Mr. Clegg)—[Hon. Members: “Cheltenham.”] I am sorry. I welcome the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Martin Horwood) to his position as Liberal Democrat spokesperson.
The motion gives us enough time to enable proper scrutiny of this important Bill, which takes forward key strands of our police reform programme and includes significant provisions to implement parts of the respect action plan. At its heart, the Bill is about building safer communities. Indeed, had matters been left to me, it might have been entitled the Safer Communities Bill. That was not to be, however, so we now have the Police and Justice Bill.
Judging from the contributions on Second Reading, we can anticipate lively discussions about the membership and functions of police authorities and the changes to the Home Secretary’s existing reserve powers to intervene in poorly performing police forces and police authorities, and hon. Members will no doubt consider those provisions against the backdrop of police restructuring. Clearly, the Bill is not primarily about police restructuring, but I anticipate that hon. Members will want to raise related issues. I hope that the Committee will be able to do justice to other provisions, particularly those that widen the number of agencies that can issue parenting contracts and those that strengthen the conditional caution scheme, which will help us to build respect.
I welcome the broad support expressed on Second Reading for the new justice, community safety and custody inspectorate, but hon. Members will want to satisfy themselves about the details of that body. The same will apply to provisions relating to the collection of passenger data, which the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Lynne Featherstone) mentioned on Second Reading.
Finally, although this issue is not touched on directly in schedule 12, which amends the Extradition Act 2003, I look forward to the opportunity to bring greater clarity to the often misinformed debate about United Kingdom and American extradition arrangements.