Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

I see that it is confined to England because NHS premises are defined as ““relevant English NHS”” premises. It is an interesting problem. It supports my campaign for powers to create criminal offences to be devolved to the Welsh Assembly, and I am very grateful to see that the Minister would support that. The real issue here is that the rationale of the Minister, as I understand it, is that they do not have security services in doctors’ premises or in hospices and that is the reason for denying that protection. I do not think I am wrong but in my youth the thought that anyone would attack a nurse or a doctor was just unthinkable; it would never have occurred to anyone that that would happen. Are people now asserting their rights for free medical care at the point of delivery to the extent that they demand it aggressively and with threats? It is a sad reflection on the way in which our society has developed. If that is the case, we have to address the problem; we have to put in place statutory offences to deal with the change in societal behaviour. That is why I applaud the Government’s approach to making it a specific offence within hospital premises. Even if no bouncer is employed in a GP’s surgery, surely a notice on the wall relating to a person who causes a nuisance or disturbance and refuses to leave when asked would be a significant contribution to the safety of those premises. The staff could point to such a notice saying, ““You are committing a criminal offence””, but people cannot necessarily commit a criminal offence without a provision such as this. If there is an assault and a criminal offence is committed—threatening behaviour might be a criminal offence—one could argue about whether it was in a public place under the Public Order Act. Here is a specific protection for conduct which is not necessarily covered by any other criminal law. I believe all Members of the Committee would agree that it would be desirable to replace what in the old days was an absolutely accepted convention with protection for staff, no matter whether they were working in a hospital or anywhere else. With those thoughts, I ask the Minister to reconsider his position and to address particularly the criminal offence in Wales. I am sure we shall return to this on Report. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. [Amendments Nos. 164 and 165 not moved.] Clause 170 agreed to. Clauses 171 and 172 agreed to. [Amendment No. 166 not moved.] Clauses 173 and 174 agreed to. Schedule 31 agreed to. Clause 175 [Individual support orders]: On Question, Whether Clause 175 shall stand part of the Bill?