Clause 2
Serious Crime Bill [Lords]
4:30 pm
Vernon Coaker (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Home Office; Gedling, Labour)
I thank my hon. Friend for intervention. She has highlighted another example of when serious crime prevention orders could be used to prevent serious crime when someone is facilitating it. They might not know that the taxis were being used for that, but when told that they were, said, “My intention was not that they should be used for crime; I am just running my business.” That was the sort of example that I have cited in connection with lodging-houses.
As for the lodging-houses, an order that required the owner to provide law enforcement for a limited period with a list of those staying in the houses or where people’s stay was paid for by a third party would be a reasonable and proportionate response to prevent those houses from being used as stepping-stones on the way to people-trafficking.