Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill

My Lords, I am pleased to speak to the amendments in my name, even at this late hour. In Committee on 9 February we debated Amendments 155 and 156, which deal with Clare's law. I spoke in detail about the tragic case of Clare Wood, a young woman who was murdered in 2007 by her ex-partner, George Appleton. Six days after he murdered Clare, he committed suicide. It was then discovered that he had a long background of violence against women. Clare had no way of knowing; if she had, perhaps it could have saved her life. I pay tribute to Michael and Adam Brown, Clare's father and brother, for their campaign to change the law. I also thank my right honourable friend Hazel Blears MP, who is Michael's Member of Parliament and has campaigned with him to bring in Clare's law. The national domestic violence disclosure scheme represents an important addition to the measures successive Governments have taken in dealing with domestic violence. Until the intervention of your Lordships' House, this Bill might have done so much damage to the rights of victims of domestic abuse because of the legal aid cuts, but finally there is something that bolsters the rights of women—and men—to live in freedom from violence. The Home Secretary was concerned that a national disclosure scheme might be used for fishing or spying, so she has instigated a 12-month pilot scheme in four police force areas—Manchester, Gwent, Nottinghamshire and Wiltshire—to test both a ““right to ask”” scheme and a ““right to know”” scheme. We and many campaigners are concerned that there must be follow-through. It is not much use having pilot schemes and then not measuring their success and moving forward decisively if the evidence base supports such implementations. Amendment 156ZA states: "““The Home Secretary must commission an independent review to assess and report on the impact of the National Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme pilots””." It is the job of that report to provide a yes/no recommendation, "““as to whether the disclosure scheme should be expanded nationally””," which must specify, "““the evidence supporting such a recommendation; and … whether complementary arrangements are required to help reduce domestic violence””." Finally, it states: "““The Lord Chancellor must lay a copy of the final report … with the Government's response, before both Houses of Parliament 18 months after the commencement of the pilots””." That will ensure that the Home Secretary, who has said much that is to be welcomed on domestic violence, cannot ignore the results of the pilots. Instead, it will ensure that the results are presented with an independent voice, in simple language, with simple recommendations on how to proceed. We believe it is right that this should be put into primary legislation, as otherwise it could simply get lost within the daily workload of the department, and that the report be made to Parliament and the merits of the scheme debated. I thank the Minister and his right honourable friend the Home Secretary for listening to the voices of Clare's family and Hazel Blears. I believe we are in broad agreement on this matter. While we welcome the idea of the pilots, I hope the Minister can understand and agree on the need for a report to Parliament. I beg to move.