Schedule 17
Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill
7:35 pm
David Burrowes (Shadow Minister, Justice; Enfield, Southgate, Conservative)
I welcome the amendments to clarify what happens when closure orders have unintended consequences that affect the most vulnerable people. I am referring to family members or other residents of the premises who are not in any way associated with the behaviour that is the basis for the closure order. I also wish to take the opportunity to assert our support for the principle of closure orders and to acknowledge the success of similar orders in the past.
The points made by the hon. Members for Somerton and Frome and for Leyton and Wanstead on the two amendments were very well made. It is interesting to consider closure orders in Scotland. There, unlike in England and Wales, the sheriff must have regard to these two factors when determining whether to make a closure order: first, the ability of any person who habitually resides in a premises to find alternative accommodation and, secondly, any vulnerability of any such person who has not been engaged in antisocial behaviour that has occurred in the premises.
Those two additional requirements would not water down the purposes of closure orders, but they would deal with hon. Gentlemen’s concerns. They would explicitly make clear what would happen to vulnerable people who are not engaged in antisocial behaviour. Will the Minister say why a measure that is in place and explicit in Scotland is not proposed for England and Wales? The Home Office lauds the success with which the Scottish powers have been used, so perhaps the guidance that is available there should also be available in England.
Another practical point relates to homelessness—those who are unintentionally made homeless by closure orders. It is accepted that there should be no statutory duty to house those who have brought homelessness upon themselves through antisocial behaviour, but if local authorities increasingly implement closure orders, they will have to deal with the practical matter of housing vulnerable individuals who are left without a home because of the orders. I want the Minister to clarify that question and to provide some reassurance on guidance. Will additional or amended guidance be provided to local authorities for when they make decisions on housing people who, through no fault of their own, are as much the victims as the rest of the community are of behaviour that takes place in houses that become subject to orders.