My Lords, this is where I again declare my interest as a state secondary school teacher in east London. I will speak to Amendments 21, 34, 61, 118 and 119 in my name in this group. I thank the Office of the Children’s Commissioner for help with these amendments, as well as the noble Lord, Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede, and my noble friend Lord Russell of Liverpool for adding their names to them.
At Second Reading, at the Cross-Bench meeting with the Minister and on the first day in Committee, the Minister stuck to his message that the Bill covers all victims, including children. I will try to continue to persuade him otherwise. As the noble Lord, Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede, said on the first day, we should put children at the top of the hierarchy of victims. I slightly disagree with my noble friend Lord Russell, who said that there should not be a hierarchy of victims. There is
a hierarchy of victims, and children should be at the top of it. I am also aware that everything needs to be accessible, accountable and affordable.
We cannot lump all victims together. As the Children’s Commissioner said last week, children do not disclose like adults. It is important that children are treated differently as victims, and that is reflected in the amendments we have proposed. This will bear fruit not only in getting justice and restorative justice but, even more importantly, in repairing the damage done to those young victims and allowing them to become healthy adults. Would it not be lovely if a government department were to make decisions that could save money for other departments in future, and maybe future Governments? Could that be the Minister’s lasting legacy? The amount of work that the Children’s Commissioner, the Victims’ Commissioner, the children’s coalition and many other organisations are putting into this Bill, plus the number of noble Lords speaking to amendments, shows that we have a once-in-a-generation chance to put children first and really invest in our future.
Amendment 21 would make a different provision for children, ensuring that distinct needs and rights of children and vulnerable and intimidated victims were reflected in the victims’ code. They have different needs, and this needs to be reflected in the Bill to make it accessible.
Amendment 34 would insert “including children”. This is a vital amendment, which we talked about on the first day. It would mean that the victims’ code had to be promoted to children specifically, as well as to victims in general, as we need to make children aware—and they are not, at the moment—that if they are victims, they have rights. There should be a statutory obligation to advertise this in schools and possibly online—wherever—as a way of spreading this information so that it becomes widely understood. It would have little or no cost attached to it; it is affordable.
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Amendment 61 is to ensure visible consistency within the police force areas—to, hopefully, drive up quality—but also brings the provisions into line with the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999. This is not about adding children as victims but rather driving up the “quality and consistency” of reporting. Anything that drives up quality and consistency must be a good thing. This gives us accountability and transparency.
Amendments 118 and 119 deal with independent advocacy services for children and not just victims, as does Amendment 108 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Polak, and other noble Lords, and my Amendment 53 in a later group. We have talked already, in Committee and on the first day, about the “child house” model such as The Lighthouse in Camden, which we were lucky enough to visit last week. It is a multi-agency way of embedding child advocates in the system that gives us the perfect opportunity to put something in place that has a profound effect on child victims. Advocates can guide children through the justice system, reducing the trauma and aiding the healing process, which will save money across the board and have a demonstrable uptake in prosecutions. As we were told
at The Lighthouse, children only tell their story once—so that needs to be in a space where they are supported and feel comfortable, but also where evidence can be gathered that could be used to obtain justice. Why would you not bring this in?
To give an example of why we need advocacy for child victims from the start, we had a recent case where, following a run of significant altercations with their mother, a child considered signing themselves into care, under the guidance of a social worker. While this was being considered, a further incident happened. The police were then involved and the child was removed from the home for their own safety. They would usually stay with a maternal uncle, but because the child was making allegations about the conduct of their mother, the uncle refused to house them. Three days after this incident, the child turned 18 and was therefore no longer eligible for care or input from children’s social services. Despite being a full-time pupil and having no means or experience in looking after themselves, they were effectively homeless and classed as an adult in the eyes of the supporting agencies. This was the day before the Christmas holidays, so no professional was going to see this person for two weeks or know if they were safe and had somewhere to live.
Young people are expected to be in education or training until they are, in most cases, past the age of 18, but the services around them have not shifted to recognise this. The school is then left with a young person to support, solely through the use of charities. With an advocate they would have someone to advise and help them—this is affordable if you consider the expense of the alternative.
The Government are still treating victims as a homogenous mass in the Bill as it stands. These amendments give more definition to allow children to be treated differently, to reflect their very different needs, to try to minimise trauma, to promote healing and to gain justice for them. It is sad that in government, any Government, there seems to be no appetite to spend money now to save money in the future. I am interested to hear the Minister’s response. With that, I beg to move.