Clause 16
12:45 pm
Nadine Dorries (Mid Bedfordshire, Conservative)
Will the Minister clarify two things? First, if a prostitute is arrested and attends a magistrates court, the original offence for loitering will be withheld while the three meetings take place. If the meetings do not take place because the prostitute does not attend for whatever reason, or if she does not reside where she is supposed to, will she be prosecuted only for the original offence or for two offences—the original offence and the offence of not attending the meetings—and be further criminalised?
Clause 16 is probably the sloppiest part of the Bill. Is it not possible better to define the kind of services that will be administered during the three meetings so as to specify that health services will be administered and by whom? Rather than a person being identified as an appropriate person, can we not say that that person should have various health qualifications and be specialised in drug rehabilitation or in the diseases or illnesses that a prostitute contracts as part of her work? Can it not be somebody who has the ability and the appropriate qualifications to deal with the problems that occur?