Clause 22
5:45 pm
Alan Campbell (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Home Office; Tynemouth, Labour)
I can answer the hon. Gentleman’s point directly: foreign travel orders were granted between 2005-05 and 2007-08 in six cases. That may not appear to be a huge number, but those cases, in themselves and in the message that they send out, are nevertheless important. They must be seen in terms of orders in general. If we take sexual offences prevention orders and notification orders together with foreign travel orders, we are talking about 975 in 2005-06 and more than 1,500 in 2007-08. If the hon. Gentleman says that there is still a great deal of work to be done on the matter, I agree, but I also pay tribute to those who work tirelessly not just to bring these offenders to justice and to disrupt their activities, but to ensure that we have the legislation in place, because, as he knows, it is a vile business and some people find the most vile ways of going about that business. Almost as we change legislation, they look for ways to get around it, so I take his point, which he made very well, but the clause is an important step in the right direction, not least because it comes with the support of the police and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre.
As the hon. Gentleman said, the provision ensures that the maximum age of a child who must be at risk in order for a foreign travel order to be made will rise from 16 to 18. It alters the criteria for determining which offenders can qualify for such an order to include those who have committed specified sexual offences against children under 18, not just under 16. It is supported by ACPO and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre and will further strengthen our already robust system. It sends out a strong message that, no matter where people go in the world, we must protect children and enable them to enjoy their childhoods without fear of sexual violence.