Fighting Crime (Public Engagement)

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for those comments; I know that his Committee is looking further into the matter. If cameras are to be placed, they must be there for a purpose, and that purpose should not be to raise money, but to prevent accidents. The accidents that take place at traffic lights are commonly known as ““unprotected accidents””, when someone is not at all ready for the impact that is going to happen. It is a serious matter and we have only to set foot outside this place and into Parliament square to see traffic lights regularly being jumped. It is not just one particular sort of driver who does it; it is an almost accepted occurrence nowadays. We have to prevent that. I also want to speak briefly about the Criminal Records Bureau, and I hope that the Minister will give me some of his time in future to discuss how it operates. I have constituents who have not been convicted of any offence, but malicious allegations have been made against them. When looked into, these people are found to be completely innocent, yet when an advanced check is done, it is found that the accusation sits on their record. It cannot be right in a democracy that completely innocent people against whom no accusations have been proved, no charges brought and no criminal prosecution has taken place, should have their lives blighted through a mechanism that is supposed to be there to protect them. I understand why it is there, but it is being abused. I believe that the abuse comes from chief constables, who have the power to remove these sorts of record, but do not do so. Perhaps they do not remove them because an element of doubt remains—I guess it is obvious that Huntley provides a good example of what people are so frightened about. I will not mention my constituent's name, but a malicious accusation was made against him, as I said. He moved to another part of the country, found a job in a bus company, but was later told that he would lose his job because of a CRB check that showed he had been accused of an offence. That cannot be right. I met the chief executive of the Criminal Records Bureau, who told me that he did not have the power to remove items from the checklist. Apparently, the Information Commissioner is the only authority to which people can appeal. That seems ludicrous, when this is happening as a result of legislation brought in by the Home Office to protect people. We MPs have no way of protecting our constituents from it. I understand that the Home Office is currently conducting a review, but I wanted to raise the matter this afternoon as a very important issue that is affecting people's lives. The legislation was designed to protect, but it is actually hindering some people who are entirely innocent.