My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, and my noble friend Lady Hussein-Ece for tabling the amendment. The noble and learned Baroness made a point about forced marriages. As I said when we moved on to this part of the Bill, there is evidence to suggest that this is a
reality and we have to deal with it. I can assure her that the Government take this very seriously. The issue of unregistered marriages which take place abroad or even on home soil, and which do not provide the protections afforded by the rule of law, is one that must be looked at and the Government are looking at how this can be done. An example of good practice within Muslim communities is where the nikah—one aspect of Islamic marriages—is not performed by the imam until a registration certificate is provided. Many Muslim communities adhere to that principle and we should be encouraging that kind of practice across the board.
I turn to the amendments which concern the publication of guidance for front-line professionals working in this area. We know how important guidance is if the new legislation is to work effectively. I join other noble Lords in saying that this must not just be issued but, as the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Scotland, said, adhered to as well. I align myself with the comments of the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, on the Forced Marriage Unit and pay tribute to the work done in this field, over many years, by the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Scotland.
First, I will explain the existing statutory provisions in relation to guidance. These are contained in Section 63Q of the Family Law Act 1996, which was inserted into the 1996 Act by the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007. I join noble friends in paying tribute to my noble friend Lord Lester of Herne Hill whose Private Member’s Bill resulted in the 2007 Act and provided a widely used civil remedy for victims and potential victims of forced marriage. Subsection (1) of Section 63Q of the 1996 Act provides that the Secretary of State may, from time to time, prepare and publish guidance to such descriptions of persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate about, first, the effect of Part 4A of the Family Law Act 1996, and, secondly, about other matters relating to forced marriages.
Clause 107 amends Part 4A to make the breach of a forced marriage protection order a criminal offence, so the preparation of guidance about the new breach offence is already covered by the power to issue guidance provided for in Section 63Q. Clause 108 creates a new offence of forced marriage which is undoubtedly a matter relating to forced marriages, so the preparation of guidance about the offence in Clause 108 is also already covered by Section 63Q.
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I recognise that, unlike other amendments tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, the existing statutory provision does not place a duty on the Secretary of State to prepare and publish guidance. However, as the Minister explained when the same amendments were debated in Committee in the House of Commons, the fact remains that two editions of the multi-agency statutory guidance for those dealing with forced marriage have been published, in accordance with Section 63Q of the 1996 Act, since the provisions of Part 4A came into force in 2008. The guidance will be further revised to reflect the creation of the new offences before they come into force.
The noble and learned Baroness, Lady Scotland, has already spoken about the importance of adherence to guidance. Subsection (2) of Section 63Q provides that a person exercising public functions, to whom guidance is given under this section, must have regard to it in the exercise of those functions. Therefore, agencies are already under a statutory duty to have regard to the multi-agency when they exercise their functions and they could be subject to a legal challenge by way of judicial review, for breach of statutory duty, if they fail to do so.
I turn to a few of the issues raised during the debate. My noble friend Lady Hussein-Ece related, very eloquently, a poignant, factual story about a young girl who turned up at an airport and the desperation she felt. We have taken these issues on board and the Forced Marriage Unit has delivered awareness training to staff in airports across the country, including Heathrow, Stansted and Birmingham. I agree that this problem does exist and that we need to look at the practicalities within the family environment.
I come back to my central point about education within the community. This is not a one-off: it is not about passing legislation or criminalising a particular activity; it is about how it is applied in practice. This will require a community effort involving training, education, doctors’ surgeries and practitioners on the ground. It will mean going into the communities, into all places of worship and all community centres, to ensure that the routes are available to people. This is not about targeting one community or another. I am sure all noble Lords share that sentiment. It is about ensuring that no young girl or boy—boys are also forced into this—has to endure pressure or fear of social ostracism if they take a step to say no to forced marriage. The relevant support and guidance must be provided. The noble and learned Baroness, Lady Scotland, also raised the issue of guidelines. A review of guidelines was published in 2012 and we will be revising statutory guidelines, in the light of criminalisation, next year.
The noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, made a point about the Department for Education. I have also raised this matter with officials and asked them what currently happens in schools. Schools have a duty, as I am sure we are all aware, to safeguard and protect the welfare of all their pupils and teachers should be trusted to decide how best to discuss this issue. I am assured that if a school requires the Forced Marriage Unit to provide guidance it is always ready to do so. Forced marriage is totally unacceptable and schools should be part of the process by ensuring that intervention or support is provided where they feel it is necessary. In 2009, the previous Government provided multi-agency practice guidelines on handling cases of forced marriage. They include a chapter for schools in how to take appropriate—