Police and Justice Bill

That is a sound recommendation, which I am happy to accept, Mr. Deputy Speaker. May I turn to clause 15, which deals with the role of local authorities? The Government claim that local authorities will have more responsibility as a result of the extended role of community partnerships, so will the Minister give due consideration, as the hon. Member for Bridgend (Mrs. Moon) suggested, to the role of youth services? If local authorities are asked to do more and if they are to be made more accountable, particularly for crime reduction, I hope that the Home Office will urge the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to provide adequate funding from existing resources for youth services. Time and again, my constituents say that young people are not all involved in antisocial activity—it would clearly be wrong to suggest that they are—but a small minority are often involved in such activity because they are bored. I therefore hope that local authorities will be encouraged to provide more youth services. The Government have encouraged the setting-up of one-stop shops, enabling young people to attend a youth centre where they can receive drugs counselling and advice on schooling. Those one-stop shops are not always accessible to everyone in a given geographical area. Labour-led Telford and Wrekin borough council has suggested that a super-youth centre should be established in Stafford park, which is miles from many of the young people in my constituency. They cannot reach it on public transport but, even if they wanted to do so, why cannot they have a youth centre within three or four miles of their home, not seven, eight or even 10 miles away? I therefore hope that the key role of youth services in the Bill will be expanded in Committee. Clause 12 deals with conditional cautions, but I am concerned that it will bypass the courts and allow prosecutors to levy lenient fines and light community sentences. My constituents and, indeed, the constituents of many hon. Members will be alarmed by the detail of the Bill and its implications for individuals who commit serious crimes such as actual bodily harm, affray, criminal damage and the possession of class A drugs such as cocaine and heroin. The Bill provides a soft option for those offenders, with a maximum penalty of £500 or 20 hours of community work. Communities in my constituency are blighted by criminal damage and affray, yet the Government have sent out a signal in the Bill that people are likely to receive only 20 hours of community work or a fine of £500, which may never be paid. Clause 9 deals with the duty of ship and aircraft owners to provide passenger and crew information. I support the measure, but the Government are in danger of putting resources and energy into gathering data rather than gathering smart data, which is more likely to be of value to our intelligence agencies and police forces. If they genuinely wish to make provision for port security, what are they are doing to monitor and assess threats from cargo ships? Despite all the rhetoric and talk about homeland security they have still not created a post of homeland security Minister. It is time that they made their intentions clear. I am sorry that the right hon. Member for Southampton, Itchen (Mr. Denham) is not in the Chamber, but I suspect that he would be in the running for such a job. I hope that that does not offend the Minister—I believe that she, too, would be in the running, and I wish her well in that endeavour. It is time that the Government appointed a homeland security Minister and sent out a clear signal to people who would harm this country and undermine our national security that they take terrorism and national security seriously. I pay tribute to the excellent work of my right hon. Friend the Member for Haltemprice and Howden (David Davis) who, together with my hon. Friend the Member for Newark (Patrick Mercer), has been tireless in reminding the Government of the issue. I hope that when the Government eventually declare that they have set up a department of homeland security or created a new ministerial post in the Home Office they will give credit where it is due and acknowledge my colleagues’ role. Clauses 33 to 35 deal with cyber crime—a subject that has already been raised today. I refer Members to my interest in the Register of Members’ Interests, and I wish to declare that I am parliamentary vice-chairman of the Conservative technology forum. Its annual general meeting is under way as I speak, so I shall be late.