This Government was elected on a clear manifesto commitment to make our country safer. This means backing our amazing police and preventing and cutting crime. It also means bringing offenders to justice swiftly through an efficient court system that maximises use of technology.
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill will do this by: equipping police officers with the powers and tools they need to keep themselves and all of us safe, putting the Police Covenant into law; doubling the maximum sentence for assaulting workers in emergency services; tackling unauthorised traveller encampments; requiring schools, police, councils and health authorities to work together through Violence Reduction Units to prevent serious crime; empowering the police by a new court order to target known knife carriers, making it easier for officers to stop and search those convicted of knife crime; enabling the trialling of secure schools; improving employment opportunities for ex-offenders; introducing tougher sentencing for the worst offenders and ending automatic halfway release from prison for serious crimes; and introducing tougher community sentences.
Protecting the Police and Emergency Workers
The police and other emergency workers do a unique and remarkable job in the face of enormous challenges and pressure. That is why the Government is introducing legislation to ensure the police and other emergency workers are fully supported, protected, valued, and equipped with the powers and tools they need to keep themselves and all of us safe.
The Bill will enshrine a Police Covenant in law to enhance support and protection for those working within, or retired from policing roles, whether paid or as a volunteer. The Police Covenant recognises the unique position the police hold in society and the fact they very often put their lives on the line. The Covenant will focus on protection, health and wellbeing, and support for families.
This Bill will also ensure special constables have access to the same support and representation as regular constables through enabling them to join the Police Federation.
Throughout the last year, there has been an alarming increase number of assaults against emergency workers. Such behaviour is utterly disgraceful, and it is vital that those offenders face the full force of the law. The Government will not tolerate these kinds of attacks, that is why we are legislating to double the maximum penalty for assaults on emergency workers from 12 months to two years’ imprisonment.
The Government also fully recognises the vital role that police drivers play, often driving in high-pressured situations to pursue suspects on the roads and respond urgently to incidents. It is vital that the law empowers officers and allows them to carry out their duties effectively, so the Bill introduces a new test to assess the standard of driving of a police officer.
Serious Violence Duty
The Serious Violence Duty will require local authorities, the police, criminal justice agencies, health authorities and fire and rescue services to work together, share data and intelligence, to formulate an evidence-based analysis of the problems associated with serious violence in a local area, and then produce and implement a strategy detailing how they will respond to those particular issues. Prisons and educational establishments will also need to work with these core partners where necessary.
Positions of Trust
Protecting children and young people in vulnerable positions from sexual abuse and exploitation is a top priority for this Government and we have been reviewing the law in this area very carefully to ensure that any changes we make are the right ones. The current “positions of trust” offences criminalise sexual activity with a child under the age of 18 by people who hold a defined “position of trust” in respect of that young person even if such activity is consensual, effectively raising the age of consent from 16 to 18 in those circumstances. The positions of trust offences build on the “general” child sex offences, which make it a crime for anyone to engage in sexual activity with someone under the age of 16. Non-consensual sexual activity, whatever the age of the victim, is illegal. Following thorough engagement with stakeholders, including representatives from faith groups and the sporting sector, we have concluded that there is a clear need to extend the scope of positions of trust legislation, which currently covers a number of statutory roles such as teachers and social workers, so as to also include those who carry out certain activities within religious and sports settings, for example, those whose roles involve them in being a faith leader or sports coach. By doing this we aim to stop such people who seek to abuse their positions of trust from manipulating or exploiting young people to engage in sexual activity.
This is an incredibly complex area and it is important to note that as protection is extended so the legal right of those over the age of 16 to consent to sexual activity is eroded. However, in terms of seeking to strike an appropriate balance between these competing considerations, we believe this initial step is an essential one in the right direction in order to properly protect children and vulnerable young people in fields of activity where the risk of abusive dependent relationships has been shown to be most prevalent. A delegated power has been provided to extend protection further to other fields of activity (by way of regulations) if, in due course, this is considered necessary.
Criminal Damage to Memorials
There is a widespread upset about the damage or desecration of war memorials and other statues and there is concern that the current law does not allow the court to deal effectively with the damage or desecration of war memorials and other statues. The issue re-emerged during summer 2020 when many statues and memorials were targeted causing great distress amongst the general public and we are grateful to Jonathan Gullis and James Sunderland for highlighting this issue through their Desecration of War Memorials Private Members’ Bill. Statues and memorials are a source of great national pride, commemorating individuals and events of historical or cultural significance. While incidences of damage to memorials are typically of low monetary value, they very often carry a high sentimental and emotional impact. Under the current law, cases of criminal damage with a value less than £5,000 must be tried summarily and carries a maximum penalty of three months’ imprisonment or a £2,500 fine. The Bill will toughen the law where criminal damage is caused to a memorial, by removing the consideration of monetary value which would otherwise determine venue and limit sentencing powers, effectively increasing the maximum sentence from three months to 10 years’ imprisonment for criminal damage to a memorial where the value involved in monetary terms is assessed to be less than £5,000. These changes will allow the court to consider all the impacts, not just financial, so that the sentence can reflect the full range of harm caused.
Public Order
We have seen the extensive disruption that some protests have caused in recent years, stopping people getting on with their daily lives, hampering the free press and blocking access to Parliament. We need to improve the police’s ability to safely manage such highly disruptive protests by giving them new powers to manage public assemblies and processions. In particular, the Bill will:
- Widen the range of conditions that the police can impose on static protests, to match existing police powers to impose conditions on marches;
- Broaden the range of circumstances in which police may impose conditions on the generation of noise at a protest, including single person protests;
- Amend the offence relating to the breaching of conditions so that someone commits an offence where they know or ought to have known of the conditions imposed by the police;
- Introduce a delegated power enabling the Home Secretary to clarify “serious disruption to the life of the community” and “serious disruption to the activities of an organisation which are carried out in the vicinity of the protest”; two of the thresholds at which relevant conditions can be placed on a protest should a senior police officer reasonably believe there to be a risk of the protest meeting these thresholds;
- Codify in statute the common law offence of public nuisance into in line with proposals put forward by the Law Commission; and
- Ensure vehicular entrances to the Parliament Estate remain unobstructed in line with a recommendation made by the Joint Committee on Human Rights’ report: Democracy, freedom of expression and freedom of association: Threats to MPs.
Unauthorised Encampments
While the vast majority of travellers are law-abiding citizens, illegal sites can cause distress and misery to those who live nearby. The Bill will introduce a new criminal offence where a person resides or intends to reside on any public or private land without permission and has caused, or is likely to cause, significant harm, obstruction, or harassment or distress. We have taken steps to ensure that those exercising their rights to enjoy the countryside are not inadvertently impacted by these measures. In addition, the Bill amends the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 to broaden the list of harms that can be considered by the police when directing people away from land; and increase the period in which persons directed away from land must not return from three months to 12 months. Amendments to the 1994 Act will in addition allow police to direct trespassers away from land that forms part of a highway.
Driving Offences
Whilst many deaths and injuries are the result of a tragic accident, too many of these incidents involve criminal behaviour. The Government is bringing forward changes to driving penalties to meet its longstanding commitment to ensure the courts have the powers they need to deal with those drivers who kill by dangerous driving or by careless driving when under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Our aim is to make sure that the penalties available to the courts for such offences are proportionate and reflect the seriousness of the offences committed. We will also create a new offence of causing serious injury by careless driving to close an existing gap in the law.
'A Smarter Approach to Sentencing’
Last year, the Government published ‘A Smarter Approach to Sentencing’, which set out our vision for a sentencing and release framework that keeps people safe, as well as one which the public understands and has confidence in. This legislation will deliver on these reforms delivering a justice system that is tougher on the worst offenders both for public protection and public confidence, but also more agile, supporting offenders on their road to rehabilitation.
Serious sexual and violent offenders must serve sentences that reflect the severity of their crimes – helping to protect the public and giving victims confidence that justice has been served. We will be delivering on our manifesto commitments to keep these offenders in prison for longer. As part of this we are ending the automatic halfway release point from prison for an additional cohort of serious sexual and violent offenders; making a Whole Life Order the starting point for the premeditated murder of a child and preventing the automatic early release of prisoners who become of significant public protection concern whilst in prison.
But delivering public protection and confidence across the system is not just about better use of custody. In many cases – particularly for low-level offending – effective community supervision keeps the public safer by providing interventions early to deflect offenders away from future offending. This legislation will ensure that community sentencing is more effective, offering an appropriate level of punishment whilst addressing the underlying drivers of offending. As part of this we are simplifying the Out of Court Disposals framework, making provision to pilot Problem-Solving Courts, and increasingly the curfew options available to sentencers.
In addition, we will aid offender rehabilitation by reducing the time periods after which some criminal sentences become spent, so they do not have to be disclosed to employers for non-sensitive jobs or activities.
Youth Sentencing
We recognise that the approach to youth sentencing must be distinct from that for adults and focus on the statutory aim of preventing offending by children and on the welfare of the child. The Bill includes measures intended to increase courts’ and the public’s confidence in community sentences as a robust alternative to custody by providing courts with the tools they need to deliver stronger community sentences that support the welfare of the child. Where custody is required, as a last resort, we are ensuring the sentence reflects the severity of the offence and that sentences work fairly.
The Bill also seeks to ensure custodial remand is a last resort for children when courts refuse bail and will amend the tests to be met by the courts to remand a child into custody where remand into the community is not appropriate.
Secure Schools
The Bill contains measures to assist the Government in delivering our commitment to establish Secure Schools – creating a new type of custodial setting for young people with education, health and purposeful activity at its heart. By ensuring that Secure Schools providers can operate as charities, we will encourage the very best innovative providers to implement the Government’s vision of a therapeutic environment within a secure setting.
Serious Violence Reduction Orders
Serious Violence Reduction Orders (SVROs) will give the police additional stop and search powers to target those convicted of knife and offensive weapons offences. SVROs will target those who pose the greatest risk of harm, will discourage offenders from carrying weapons again as there is a greater likelihood of being caught and brought to justice, and will help protect exploited individuals. SVRO will save lives and make communities safer. To ensure that SVRO operate as effectively as possible we will pilot the new orders before they are rolled out nationally.
Courts
Finally, the Bill will contain measures to help improve the efficiency of the court and tribunals system by modernising existing court processes to provide better services for all court users. We will be legislating to enable Prisoner Escort and Custody Service officers to manage Video Remand Hearings in police stations, offering a resourcing solution for Video Remand Hearings at police stations and reducing the burdens on courts. We will also replace current emergency provisions in the Coronavirus Act 2020, which extend the use of video and audio hearings and enable more participants to attend criminal hearings remotely. While these measures will allow those who want to attend hearings remotely to do so, we will ensure a full hearing in court will always be available when needed in the interests of justice.
Further measures will enable and facilitate the remote observation of proceedings across the courts and tribunals using video and audio links, so that the principal of open justice may continue to be upheld in all cases. These measures will enable criminal, family and civil courts, coroners, the unified tribunals, employment tribunals and the Competition Appeal Tribunal to provide transmissions of proceedings either to designated premises or to members of the public or media who have specifically requested access. To allow for their prudent implementation, these powers will be enabled for different types of hearings in future secondary legislation. In each case, the decision to direct these transmissions will be taken at the discretion of the judge, magistrate or panel, who will determine how best to uphold the interests of justice on a case-by-case basis. This legislation will also provide safeguards which prohibit observers or participants from making unauthorised recordings or transmissions of proceedings which involve live links or transmissions. These measures will build more flexibility and resilience into our court system for years to come.
In addition, as part of our goal of improving inclusion within the criminal justice system, we are implementing changes which will enable profoundly deaf individuals, who require the services of a British Sign Language interpreter in the jury deliberation room, to serve as jurors.
We are confident that this comprehensive set of measures strengthens our hand in each of these areas and represents our determination to do everything in our power to protect the public. Subject to some exceptions (including the provisions in respect of driving offences referenced above which also apply to Scotland), the measures in the Bill generally apply to England and Wales only.
We look forward to working with you throughout the passage of this Bill.
The Rt Hon Robert Buckland QC MP, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Rt Hon Priti Patel MP, Home Secretary