Queen’s Speech

Baroness Hamwee Excerpts

Thursday 12th May 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hamwee (LD)]

My Lords, the noble Baroness reminds us how much we owe to those who have challenged the system.

A new legislative programme does not mean that the last programme is done and dusted. Even if secondary legislation is not required, guidance and codes of practice will be, because how things are done matters. The Nationality and Borders Act certainly requires them. The relevant sectors have experience in every part of policy-making, and the Government should take advantage of them and involve them. I got the very clear impression that the sector was not consulted appropriately on the part of that Act relating to modern slavery—which, sadly, represented a very retrograde step—but advances working with the sector can be made without legislation.

Earlier this year, the then anti-slavery commissioner published a report on slavery and trafficking risk orders and prevention orders. Importantly, these do not require the support of victims. We know that victims can find it impossible to give evidence in a prosecution because of their experiences, but who is checking that orders are complied with? Monitoring as well as evaluation is necessary if measures are to be used effectively; I mention that as one example of what could be many.

Of course, the Immigration Rules are, as you might say, a law unto themselves. Another bunch came into effect yesterday. We are told—I quote from the Minister’s letter, for which I thank her—that it is “necessary and proportionate” in connection with the UK-Rwanda partnership to ensure that they are applied. The letter says:

“Given the anticipated deterrent effect of the Partnership on people smuggling, this will help to quickly reduce the number of dangerous journeys and save lives.”


We on these Benches fear that the Government are actually creating more opportunities for people smuggling and trafficking. They are enlarging the smugglers’ business model by adding the new market of asylum seekers removed from the UK to Rwanda and desperate to get away from there.

The place of new technology in our lives will feature in this Session. I am lucky enough to chair our Justice and Home Affairs Select Committee, two of whose members are in the Chamber at the moment. It is a splendid committee. Our first report was published in March. Though we are yet to receive the Government’s response, the issues are so current and relevant that they are worth mentioning.

Our inquiry was on the use of new technologies in the justice system, particularly policing. Facial recognition is the best known but other technology is in use and development is fast. There are huge benefits, such as preventing crime, increasing efficiency and generating new insights that feed into the criminal justice system. However, there are a lot of “buts”. In the words of one witness,

“there has been so much excitement about the promise of big data that we have charged in and used tools just because we can.”

Another said that

“we should have a massive dose of humility about what the tools can tell us”.

Public and government awareness have not kept up in this Wild West. Each police force can commission and purchase tools from companies eager to get in on the market—some with dubious selling practices. There is no mandatory training in this sellers’ market and buyers know little about what they are buying because sellers insist on commercial confidentiality. Our committee calls for transparency through a mandatory register of algorithms used in relevant tools, as well as for a national regulatory body to set standards. We say yes to innovation with safeguards.

Localism in policing is really important but it is expecting too much for every force and police chief to be a well-informed and critical purchaser. Therefore, we say: certify, kitemark tools, and then forces can make reliable purchases. Clear principles with a legislative basis would allow regulation to support practice.

Criminal justice is high risk. Predictive policing sounds attractive but if the stats tell you that there is a lot of crime in a particular part of a city, you put extra police there and focus on it. You get more arrests. The stats go up so more resources are applied and so on. It takes only a moment to think of inequalities, bias, the rule of law and fair trials. How would it feel to be convicted and imprisoned on the basis of evidence that you did not understand and could not challenge?

We should use technology; we should not defer to it.