Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

I welcome the proposal to remove these clauses from the Bill in the circumstances, but I agree that it is a pity that we have had to do this. I should like to say a few words to remind the Minister why these measures are important. In its December 2004 report on deaths in custody, the Joint Committee on Human Rights noted that the evidence that it had received showed widespread concern that the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman was not on a statutory footing and that this failure would undermine the independence and perception of independence of his inquiries into deaths in custody. Evidence from the Minister to the committee at that time confirmed that the Government accepted the need for the post to be on a statutory basis and agreed that that should be accomplished as soon as possible. That was pre-December 2004. The Joint Committee on Human Rights recommended in paragraph 332 of its December 2004 report: "““As a matter of priority parliamentary time should be set aside to bring in legislation giving a statutory basis to the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, and providing him with investigatory powers equivalent to those of the Independent Police Complaints Commission. Until such a statutory basis is provided, investigations by the Ombudsman are unlikely to meet the obligation to investigate under Article 2 ECHR””." In the debate on the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill and the matter of deaths in custody, the noble Baroness, Lady Ashton, made a commitment, and agreed that the offence of corporate manslaughter, "““ought to be capable of applying to custody””," and before that was to be done the Government would find an opportunity to put the ombudsman on a statutory footing, which would, "““strengthen the investigation of deaths in custody in three ways. First, there will be a formal duty on the ombudsman to examine all deaths within his remit””.—[Official Report, 22/5/07; col. 575.]" She said that he would be empowered to decide the scope of investigations and procedures, and that investigations and recommendations would be expected to cover management and wider policies where he deemed it appropriate. Secondly, the noble Baroness promised that there would be new High Court powers to obtain evidence as well as a clear foundation for working with other ombudsmen where appropriate. Thirdly, she indicated that the statutory basis would strengthen the ombudsman’s independence from government. The noble Baroness went on to say that the Government’s intention was to, "““find a suitable Bill in this Session or, if necessary, the next””.—[Official Report, 22/5/07; col. 576.]" Since we are now in the next, I hope that the Minister can assure us that he has a real sense of urgency about this proposal.