Crime and Policing Bill

Debate between Sarah Jones and Joshua Reynolds

Consideration of Lords message
Monday 20th April 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Jones]

I hope we are on the home straight with this enormous piece of legislation. I start by welcoming the fact that the House of Lords has heeded many of the arguments and votes in this House last week—of the 19 issues that I went through in my speech last Tuesday, we are now down to just four. As for those four, we have again listened carefully to the points raised in the Lords and tabled further amendments in lieu.

Let me turn first to amendments 2D and 2E on fining for profit, tabled by Liberal Democrat Front Benchers. I again recognise the concerns expressed about enforcement agencies potentially issuing fixed penalty notices for antisocial behaviour offences where there may be a financial incentive to do so. We have listened to those concerns, and hon. Members will recall that last week we agreed amendments making clear that the statutory guidance issued under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 may, among other things, address the issue of the proportionate issuing of fixed penalty notices by authorised persons for breaches of community protection notices and public space protection orders. The Liberal Democrat Front-Bench spokesperson in the other place said that discretion to issue such guidance was not good enough, and that there should be a duty to do so. The amendment in lieu now provides for just such a duty. I hope this will persuade hon. Members that the Government are committed to addressing this issue.

Turning to the question of fly-tipping, the Government again recognise the strength of feeling on this issue. Our recent waste crime action plan has set out our zero-tolerance approach to prevent waste crime, pursue the criminals responsible and accelerate the clean-up effort. On the specific issue of vehicle seizure powers, I want to be clear that local authorities already have powers to seize vehicles if they have reason to believe the vehicle is being used, or is about to be used, to commit a fly-tipping offence. However, to further support local authorities, we have tabled an amendment in lieu that makes clear what the statutory guidance on fly-tipping should cover. For example, it must include advice on collecting strong evidence against the offender that can help to secure a successful conviction and advice on what action can be taken, including the seizure of vehicles.

Local authorities are the lead agency for tackling fly-tipping, and it is right that they lead on enforcement, so the power to seize and dispose of vehicles used in fly-tipping properly rests with them. The police already have general powers of seizure under section 19 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, where they have reasonable grounds to believe that the item is evidence in relation to an offence. That power can be used to seize vehicles involved in fly-tipping. Where the police seize a vehicle, they would be expected to liaise with the local authority, which would then take action to dispose of that vehicle. As such, Lords amendment 11 seeks to close a gap in the law that, in practice, just does not exist.

I turn next to youth diversion orders. We were disappointed by the Lords’ decision last week to reject the Government’s amendment in lieu, which was tabled in response to Baroness Doocey’s amendment 342. Baroness Doocey raised concerns regarding the lack of a requirement for police to consult organisations beyond criminal justice services, flagging that this missed an opportunity to legislate for consultation with other agencies such as health, education and social services.

We respectfully disagree with Baroness Doocey that her amendment would directly respond to the recommendations made by Sir Adrian Fulford in his recent report on the horrific Southport attack. Multi-agency engagement will be critical to the success of these orders, which is why the Bill already includes a duty on the police to consult youth justice services. In England and Wales, this will be through local youth offending teams, which are multi-agency in nature—they include representatives from health, education, social services and probation, as is underpinned in statute by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. They may also extend beyond those mandated agencies to include child and adolescent mental health services, education inclusion teams, voluntary and community organisations, and local early help services. We are therefore confident that youth diversion order applications will be made following consultation with a wide variety of agencies, and will benefit from the expertise of those agencies in working with young people.

Baroness Doocey also raised concerns regarding the police’s consideration of alternative interventions. The statutory guidance, which will be developed by the Home Office and laid before Parliament for scrutiny ahead of publication, will include guidance on alternative interventions that police may wish to consider instead of, or alongside, a youth diversion order.

[Mr Joshua Reynolds (Maidenhead) (LD)]

The Minister is using words such as “may”. What she has outlined is incredibly important, but Lords amendment 342 obviously goes further than “may”—it insists that diversion orders will involve those necessary consultations. Will the Minister commit today to making sure that the police will have all these statutory duties, not just that they may have them, and that the consultation will be required?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sarah Jones and Joshua Reynolds

Monday 17th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Jones]

The hon. Lady is aware of these issues, and she is aware of the complexities of policing what are sometimes very disruptive and upsetting protests. We must get the balance right, and that is what we are trying to do, but I am happy to engage in more conversations with her about this.

[Mr Joshua Reynolds (Maidenhead) (LD)]

Shopkeepers in Maidenhead town centre tell me how pleased they are to see neighbourhood police officers doing their regular patrols, but those outside the town centre do not see those patrols as regularly and struggle more with shoplifting as a result. What is the Minister doing to tackle that, so that we have more neighbourhood police in communities, and not just in town centres?

[Sarah Jones]

The hon. Gentleman has referred to a challenge that the police to do with their resources. Through the White Paper and the reform programme, we are trying to ensure that our police officers can spend all their time doing the things that we want them to do—not dealing with bureaucracy, doing police staff jobs or sitting behind a counter, but fighting crime in our communities.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sarah Jones and Joshua Reynolds

Monday 15th September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Jones]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. It is encouraging to see the work going on in his constituency. It is our intention to ensure that the police have the resources they need to do the jobs we need them to do, whether in hotspot policing, neighbourhood policing or tackling anti-social behaviour. We will change legislation here in Parliament to ensure they have the powers as well as the resources they need to act locally in the interests of our constituents.

[Mr Joshua Reynolds (Maidenhead) (LD)]

Local youth provision goes hand in hand with a decrease in antisocial behaviour committed by young people, with even something as simple as a ping-pong table in a closed shop able to make a difference in a community. Will the Minister outline what work she is doing with the Department for Education and the Treasury to ensure that we solve this problem once and for all and we do not just move it on and move people around the place?

[Sarah Jones]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right: if we want to ensure that people are not getting into crime, we need to ensure they have activities and things to do. We are working closely with both the Department for Education and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to ensure we have a programme of activities for our young people that gives them things to do and a purpose in life, including mentoring and support so that they can take the right path.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sarah Jones and Joshua Reynolds

Tuesday 18th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Jones]

I thank my hon. Friend for his concern for his constituents. As I said, I am very receptive to calls from BCSSS trustees. I wrote to the Chancellor, who sent back a positive response, and we are now taking the next steps in this process. I will be reconvening trustees to meet and talk about it again.

[Mr Joshua Reynolds (Maidenhead) (LD)]

T2. Martin, a disabled resident, lives in his park home in Maidenhead. After his boiler broke down two months ago, he has faced significant challenges. He is unable to apply for the boiler upgrade scheme, as park homes do not get energy performance certificates, and the National Energy Foundation, which visited him three weeks ago, has still not provided him with a response. Will the Secretary of State outline what support he can give Martin and other elderly residents without heat or hot water?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sarah Jones and Joshua Reynolds

Thursday 30th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Jones]

I met Anglo American to talk about Woodsmith just a couple of weeks ago when I was in Saudi Arabia, and it is an important site. I promised to go and see it, so perhaps I can go with my hon. Friend. It is important that the critical minerals strategy we are developing marks a step change from the previous Government’s strategy, which just looked at a moment in time and said, “We need to do a bit more of this, that and the other.” We will have targets, will be driving forward, and will look at our future demand. We are going to look at the eight sectors that we want to grow, consider what critical minerals we need, and think about how to ensure that we have the supply chains to get it right.

[Mr Joshua Reynolds (Maidenhead) (LD)]

T2. The outgoing chair of the Competition and Markets Authority warned of the authority being vulnerable to “expediency or vested interests”. Does the Minister believe that appointing a former Amazon executive produces that risk?