My Lords, the Minister kindly came to today’s Cross-Bench meeting and talked us through the Bill from his point of view. He started by saying that we will have quite a problem defining a victim because, as evidenced by this group of amendments, there are an awful lot of groups of people who clearly identify as victims and for whom there is evidence that they are victims. Although I understand the Government’s wish to try to contain this to some extent, it is important that we have a proper discussion about all these different groups and work out whether there is an intelligent, sensible and pragmatic way for us to be cleverer about the definition than we are at the moment.
The noble Lord, Lord Blunkett, who put his name to my Amendment 4, apologises for being unable to be here to speak because of another appointment. Amendment 4 seeks to ensure that victims of persistent anti-social behaviour—we all love acronyms, and I will mostly refer to it as “ASB” from now on—are recognised as victims and provided with their own code rights. Persistent anti-social behaviour can be defined as behaviour that meets the level required to trigger an anti- social behaviour case review; this means three reported incidents of ASB over a six-month period.
Currently, many victims of ASB are not recognised under the code because the criminal threshold has not been met. The police may treat and regard some of these incidents simply as misdemeanours or disputes between neighbours. The police’s failure to recognise the reality of what these victims undergo can make it worse, so it is important that we and the police are able to look at the whole picture.
The cumulative impact of ASB can be, and is, devastating. It affects victims’ sleep, work, relationships, health and feeling of safety, even in their own home. Left unpoliced, the consequences can be absolutely devastating. In this instance, an example would be the deaths of Suzanne Dow, Fiona Pilkington, Bijan Ebrahimi, Matthew Boorman, Stephen and Jennifer Chapple, David Askew, Louise Lotz and—last but by no means least—Garry Newlove, the ex-husband of the former Victims’ Commissioner, the noble Baroness, Lady Newlove. In the case of David Askew, he collapsed and died on his own doorstep after years of torment.
Every day, victims of ASB in England and Wales are failed by the system and are unable to access the support they need and deserve. Every year, the charity ASB Help receives tens of thousands of pleas from victims trying to work out how they can find help. This is made worse because no single agency holds responsibility for tackling ASB, resulting in a not untypical diffusion of responsibility across the police, local authorities, housing associations and private landlords.
7.15 pm
Many victims of ASB are simply not recognised as victims of crime and, because police and crime commissioners’ funding for victim services is ring-fenced for victims of crime, such victims are often not eligible for locally commissioned victim services. Some PCCs provide limited support to ASB victims by using their discretionary funding, but others typically do not, so, I am afraid that it is a postcode lottery. By giving victims of persistent ASB the same rights as other
victims of crime, we could ensure that they at least get an adequate and consistent level of support. This amendment would ensure that victims who meet the ASB case review threshold are referred to victim support services and receive the help they need.
At the moment, these victims feel like second-class citizens. The longer the anti-social behaviour inflicted on them continues, the worse their mental state and that of those around them gets, and the harder they will be to help. I therefore strongly commend this amendment, which has the complete and utter backing of the noble Baroness, Lady Newlove. I appeal to the Minister and the Bill team to look into this carefully. I am sure that the noble Baroness, the former Victims’ Commissioner, will speak to this amendment in a minute. She of all people knows directly the devastating consequences of anti-social behaviour, not just to her but to her immediate and extended family.
I hope that the Government will look favourably on this amendment. In particular, I ask the Minister to meet some of us between now and Report in order to look at this issue in more detail and see whether we can find a way through.