Queen’s Speech

Lord Mackenzie of Framwellgate Excerpts

Wednesday 8th January 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Mackenzie of Framwellgate (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, the issues that I will touch on today, in the home affairs arena, are the increase in assaults on police officers and, also importantly, the social care of an increasing ageing population, as it is dealt with by the Home Office.

Statistics show a rise in assaults on the police of some 34% since 2013. As there has been a reduction of some 20,000 in officer numbers since 2010, those increased assaults are spread over a reduced number of targets. It is inevitable because more officers are now responding alone to incidents, and clearly offenders are prepared to take the risk of assaulting the officer to escape. According to the latest statistics, around 72 police officers are attacked every day in England and Wales; this translates as an attack every 20 minutes. Home Office data from all 43 police forces found that a total of 26,295 police constables were assaulted on duty between April 2017 and April 2018. No police officer will go through his service without being assaulted at some point.

I mention this because when I joined the police—back in the swinging 60s—I did not remotely believe that I would have to confront a knife, still less a gun. I am afraid that is not the case today, and recently there has been some mixed publicity on the increased use of tasers by police officers. I was serving in the 1990s when trials were held in the use of pepper spray by the police as non-fatal force against a violent assailant. The service has now developed the use of electric taser stun guns. These were deployed in 23,000 incidents in the 12 months to the end of March 2019, up by more than a third on the previous year and double the 2016 total. The important statistic, however, is that in the vast majority of cases, the taser was pointed at the suspect without being fired, and used on only 2,500 occasions.

Civil libertarians point out that tasers can be lethal, but so could my striking an attacker with my truncheon all those years ago. Your Lordships will agree that police officers, in running towards danger, uniquely put themselves in harm’s way to protect the public; and it is vital that we equip them with the powers, training and equipment they need to fight crime and stay safe on the job. The alternative, of course, is the routine carrying and use of lethal firearms—and we need only look across the Atlantic to see the consequences of that policy.

In my short contribution to the debate tonight, the second area that I wish to touch on is the restrictions on care workers travelling from EU countries following Brexit, which will have an impact on social care. I am aware of a case in the north-east of a 73 year-old pensioner, confined to a wheelchair and suffering from Parkinson’s disease, whose health was rapidly waning both in hospital and in care homes. She was rapidly losing weight and deteriorating. There is overwhelming evidence that elderly people cared for in their own homes are happier; they thrive and live longer in the environment of their own homes, which they are used to.

The family in this case realised that it was far more fruitful and economical to arrange for an English-speaking, carefully vetted carer from Europe to provide one-to-one care, 24/7, living free of charge in the pensioner’s home, rotating with a replacement every two months. The difference in results proved quite remarkable. The lady gained weight, is far more content in the environment that she knows and loves, and is visited by family and friends constantly.

The family explored a similar care plan through the local council care department, but it was simply not viable or affordable. The worry now, of course, is that the change in European travel rules may restrict European carers interchanging every two months. If that happens, it will inevitably result in the 73 year-old pensioner being catapulted back into the overburdened health service that failed her so badly in the past and would lead to additional costs to the nation, whereas the present arrangement costs the state nothing.

In developing a fair and sensible travel policy for EU workers, we must be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater and thereby cut off the supply of essential carers for our increasingly needy elderly population. Will the Minister give an assurance that, following Brexit, essential care workers such as those I described, will be permitted to travel to the UK for short periods of two or three months at a time to continue their vital work in providing 24/7, live-in care for our growing elderly population, thereby relieving the burden on the state? This would presumably be similar to work permissions being granted to essential seasonal fruit pickers in the agricultural sector.

I fully understand if the Minister is unable to give an answer this evening, but I am happy to receive a reply in writing. These are extremely important issues that demand urgent consideration as we move towards the Government’s self-imposed deadlines, and I look forward to a sympathetic response for the benefit of worried families throughout the country.