Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence Reports) Bill

Baroness Nichols of Selby Excerpts

2nd reading
Wednesday 7th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Nichols of Selby (Lab) (Maiden Speech)]

My Lords, it is a profound honour to rise before noble Lords today and make my maiden speech in this esteemed Chamber. I am deeply grateful to my sponsors, my noble friends Lady Anderson and Lady Winterton, and to Black Rod and all the House staff, who have been so welcoming since my introduction—particularly the doorkeepers. I am grateful also to my noble friend the Leader, Lady Smith, and the Chief Whip, my noble friend Lord Kennedy, for their personal support since my peerage was announced. To be asked to join your Lordships’ House is a privilege I do not take lightly, and I intend to serve with the same dedication that has guided me throughout my life.

My journey to this moment has been shaped by my roots in Selby in North Yorkshire, a place that has defined who I am and the values I hold dear. It is a town built on industry, hard work and community, a place where people look out for one another and where solidarity is not just a word but a way of life. My connection to Selby runs deep. My father was born there, although his life was not always kind to him. His mother died from tuberculosis when he was six years old, and she was laid to rest in a pauper’s grave in Selby Cemetery —a stark reminder of the struggle so many families faced. My mother, one of 10 children from Spennymoor in County Durham, also knew hardship. Her father, a miner, lost his sight in a pit accident. Yet, even through adversity, my parents found strength, love and purpose. They met during the Second World War: my father was stationed at Burghfield Common and my mother was evacuated nearby. They married, settled in Selby and raised a family in a council house on one of the largest estates in the town. Their values, community resilience and public service shaped my path in life.

It was there that I attended Selby Abbey primary school, following in my family’s footsteps. I recently visited the year six group, who wanted to know about the House of Lords. My early years were filled with memories of the shipyard—yes, a shipyard—on the banks of the River Ouse, and the sight of workers leaving on bicycles as the buzzer sounded, a scene that spoke of industry and pride. But perhaps my most memorable early experience was the time when my mother, after a long walk into town, returned home only for my father to ask, “Where’s Wendy?” To her horror, she had left me outside Woolworths in my pram. Thankfully, I was still there, blissfully unaware that I had been momentarily misplaced.

My professional journey took me from catering college in Leeds and York. I became a school meals cook and then started work in the kitchens of a pit-top canteen at one of the five super-pits around Selby, and later moved into residential care for the elderly, following in my parents’ footsteps once more. It was at Carentan House, formerly a workhouse, where I truly found my calling. I saw at first hand the importance of dignity in care and the power of collective action to bring about change. It was there that I became active in the National Union of Public Employees, which later became UNISON. For over four decades, I have worked for North Yorkshire Council, during which I have fought for the rights of working people, serving as branch secretary in North Yorkshire and in 2015-16 serving as president of UNISON.

Public service has always been in my blood. Like my parents before me, I became a Labour councillor, though my route to office was far from conventional. In 1999, a miscounted vote led to an incorrect result being declared. It took a trip to the High Court and the oversight of a judge to correct the mistake. In a moment that I will never forget, he turned to me at the end and said, “I have always wanted to say these words: ‘I hereby declare Wendy Ruth Nichols duly elected’”. That experience taught me that democracy is precious, but it also requires vigilance.

Beyond local government, I had the privilege of serving on the national executive committee of the Labour Party for nearly 14 years, including some of our most challenging times in our party’s history. I am proud of that work, because I believe that politics should be about service, about building a fairer society and about ensuring that those who come after us inherit something better.

As I take my place in your Lordships’ House, I do so with immense gratitude but also a sense of personal loss. My husband Keith, a proud railwayman and a trade unionist, passed away in 2008. My parents, who shaped so much of who I am, died within a month of each other in 2009. I wish that they could be here to see this moment and share in this honour, but I know that they are with me in spirit, just as I know that my greatest legacy lies not in titles, robes or offices but in my children, Rachel and Shaun, my daughter-in-law Jenny and my six wonderful grandchildren: Brandan, Fiona, Libby, Ella, Michael and Aimee.

I now turn to the debate. This is, again, something of interest to me. Over the years, I have represented many of our members in the Probation Service and have seen the amount of work that they have to do. While PSRs themselves are not an indication of sentence, we know that there is evidence that they are an important element in sentencing. Receiving a PSR is more likely to discourage a judge from sending an offender to prison, and therefore will help to reduce pressure on prison numbers. We know that that there are inequalities and disparities in society and in our justice system, which must be addressed. But these guidelines amount to treating people differently before the law, according to their race or their religion, which breaks an ideal that our justice system is built on: equality for all before the law. One of our most closely held ideals is equality before the law and that we can never have two-tier justice because it completely undermines public confidence.

Clearly, the Sentencing Council is straying into matters of policy in trying to correct for racial disparities using differential treatment methods. Pre-sentence reports are very important to give the judge as much information about the offender as possible and can cut levels of reoffending when used properly. However, I hope that the Minister will agree with me that they should be available for all offenders and that access to a pre-sentence report should not be determined by an offender’s ethnicity, culture or faith.

Pre-sentence reports are important but, very often, probation is stretched so thin that officers do not have time to complete them. What will the Government do to ensure that, where a PSR is required and requested, the Probation Service will have the capacity to do that?

I note that the Bill removes the whole problematic section of the guidelines, but the Lord Chancellor has been clear that pregnant women or victims of domestic abuse would still very much be expected to have a pre-sentence report.

I look forward to working with all your Lordships in the months and years ahead. I bring with me the values of Selby: community, fairness and a belief that we all do better when we stand together. I thank noble Lords for their time and their welcome, and I look forward to playing my part in this great institution. The path from the pit-top canteen to the red Benches of this House has been eventful, and I have no doubt that the next chapter will be just as remarkable.