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Crime and Justice
Crime, Justice, Citizenship and Equalities
Policy Commission work programme 2006
Draft - this document does not represent Labour Party or government policy.
1. Introduction
The Crime, Justice, Citizenship and Equalities Policy Commission have overseen policy development and current Issues from election turnout, parliamentary reform and equality issues to asylum, immigration, migrant workers and anti-social behaviour. We have also covered nationality issues, crime, policing, ID cards, domestic violence and criminal justice. We will continue to monitor, encourage debate on, and accept submissions on these and any other issues that arise throughout the year.
The commission recently looked at the issue of Lords reform in depth over two full meetings to try and develop a consensus on some aspects of reform. This included discussions with senior Labour peers. The commission produced a discussion paper that was presented to the July 2005 National Policy Forum. We will continue to monitor progress in this area.
Our work is bound together by issues around making our society a safer, fairer and better place to live. The commission acknowledges too that equalities and human rights are integrated across much of the work we do.
2. Work programme
Renewing respect in our communities
The respect agenda was one of the key third term challenges identified by the Prime Minister after the 2005 election. Labour believes that anti-social behaviour is a more extreme form of a lack of respect that people pay to each other. At the root of this is not just a set of individual acts of violence or anti-social behaviour: it is disrespect for other people; for their rights, for the community which can only work by rules of civil conduct, and by mutual respect. While it affects all communities, it is those living in our most deprived areas that suffer the most. The Home Office launched an action plan in January 2006 that set out the framework for renewing and rebuilding respect as well as consulting on how government could further support local communities in doing this.
From petty vandalism and binge-drinking through to serious drug and gun crime, there are aspects of life today in Britain that are completely unacceptable. Anti-social behaviour and in particular violent crime remain at the top of the public's concerns. We are, of course, not alone in facing these problems, and their roots sometimes go very deep.
Yet we need to go further than the anti-social behaviour powers that the government has already given to communities by proposing to tackle some of the fundamental forces behind the decline in the way some people treat others such as through parenting support or rebuilding a public presence in our communities through neighbourhood policing. This includes how communities can hold the police and local authorities to account where those powers are needed but are not being used. The wider issue of accountability must take into account how the police can work with local government to their mutual benefit. The abuse of alcohol can play a significant role in undermining respect in communities that leads to antisocial behaviour and disorder.
It is not just how we change the law but also the culture of our country to put the law-abiding majority back in charge of their local communities.
Labour wants to give the support that both parents and families need to help them as we have done through Sure Start, for example; and give support to schools too who are key in helping build respect among young people. As part of Labour's plans for young people, we have allocated money to young people giving them more control over facilities and amenities. A wider sense of ownership of common space in every community can help in building respect and self-respect in a whole community - leading to less vandalism, for example. As part of this the Commission will look to work closely with the Creating Sustainable Communities policy commission to consider the impact of housing tenure on local neighbourhoods.
Workplace violence, particularly which involves frontline jobs helping the public, is in part borne from a lack of respect. Labour's 2004 Conference agreed that "We expect new guidelines from the Sentencing Guidelines Council to refer explicitly to the fact that if any victim was working with the public at the time of the offence it should be treated as an aggravating factor resulting in a tougher sentence. We will encourage the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure the courts are aware of the full impact on the victim's circumstances relating to the aggravating factor" . We look forward to seeing this in action.
Real issues around how we can renew respect remain. Labour needs to play a key part in every community in helping to define what we mean by renewing respect and get people in our communities talking about these issues. We need to stimulate and lead a debate with local people, businesses, schools, voluntary groups etc about how we can help lead our society forward. We need to ask how we can work with parents in bringing up their children, especially those with problem children. This will require working with other policy commissions.
If we cannot legislate to renew respect in our communities at its most basic level, how do we encourage it? What role can local Labour parties have in renewing respect?
Protecting our community against terrorism
The rise of extremists and the increasing use of suicide bombings with no regard for human life have changed the nature of the terrorist threat worldwide. The London bombings of 7 July 2005 and the attempted bombings two weeks later showed how vulnerable Britain is to such terrorism. They also showed the British people at their best - a measured response rather than an overreaction - and the skill and commitment of the transport and emergency services in particular. However, the police and security services say there is an ongoing threat against Britain. We need to consider the role of co-operation at a European level, such as data retention, recently passed by the EU and at international level.
These are fast-moving issues where the party needs to be have to reflect on what The Commission has a key role in this including considering vital questions, such as how far can we take security measures without compromising our freedoms and ease of movement?
For many, the bombings also raised questions about community relations in Britain, as the terrorists were born and brought up in Britain, and abused a religion to justify their ends. The bombings asked questions about what more the communities who are directly affected or involved can do, as well as what more government can do, and what more can the whole of our society do to break down the barriers and tackle the extremism that can be fostered in such environments. We also acknowledge the concern of Muslim communities and others about attacks on Islam and on Muslims. Labour believes that a long term and strategic programme of engagement is an important priority for central and local government, the police and all in a community, in particular working with ethnic minority communities to break down barriers and establish more cohesive communities. We need to ensure far right organisations are not actively dividing our communities and get community organisations and trade unions to work together to tackle any divide. This issue links closely with Labour's respect agenda.
Our challenge is to protect the safety and security of people and our society, while upholding human rights and principles of justice. To this end, we must look at what kind of policing we want and have that debate within our communities. The new Serious and Organised Crime Agency will begin its work in 2006, and Neighbourhood Policing Teams are being created across England and Wales. In addition there are major proposals on a wider re-organisation of the current police forces that could mean the police are better able to tackle the most serious crimes, but that must also do more to engage at the most local level. How can a police service that is unarmed, local, visible, accessible, familiar, accountable, and friendly, also be one that has the necessary power and will to deal with the worst elements of our communities - not just terrorism but violent crime too?
Democratic Renewal
Despite a slight rise in turnout at the 2005 general election turnout remains at a long term low level in the UK. This is a matter of concern for those interested in the democratic process. Of particular concern are the disparities in registration and turnout both geographically and across social and ethnic groups. Labour is keen to narrow this gap to maximise involvement in elections.
Through the work the National Policy Forum in the last Parliament Labour has recognised that political parties, and the democratic process in general, need to do more to foster popular support. There is an urgent need for political parties to reform to help them engage more closely with local communities.
As both a party with representatives at every level of governance, and as the party of government we must now lead a debate on the renewal of democracy and the role of political parties. We need to consider what parties should do for themselves and what support they will need from government. Government should consider what it could do within its responsibilities to improve democracy and participation.
The Policy Commission intends to examine ways of enabling all parties to reach out to their own members and to voters making them more effective at listening and engaging with public opinion on future policy. This includes looking at additional specific funding to enable parties to engage with the public much more widely in developing policy, while protecting Labour's historic funding and affiliation structure that forms the foundation of our party.
As we examine this issue we should ensure that it is done in accordance with the Warwick Agreement, honouring the wording that was voted on at Conference 2004 in full.
Another area for concern is that recent reports have shown an increasing number of people, especially in cities, who are no longer registered to vote. Not only are they being disenfranchised, but also this can have knock-on effects for funding in an area.
The general election saw a number of allegations from people who had applied for a postal vote, but had not received it, and then found it then difficult to vote. Concerns have been raised over the role of political parties in elections over the use of all-postal ballots in elections and over electoral fraud though, in reality, voting fraud remains very rare.
The Electoral Administration Bill has been recently published, following recommendations from the Electoral Commission. Some have argued that recent proposals to change the electoral registration process will cut out more people from the process. There needs to be a balance struck between the security of the ballot and maximising the number of people who are able to vote at an election ensuring maximum participation and legitimacy. Where best can we strike this balance? How can we best ensure trust in political parties and the election process is not damaged? Is there anything we can learn from abroad? And do we need to look to more radical measures to ensure the increases turnout that are vital if we are to breathe new life into our democracy?
Reducing re-offending
Labour in government believes that imprisonment should be reserved for those who are the most dangerous or are serious repeat offenders, because keeping family and job links are vital to reduce re-offending. In addition, both overall crime and imprisonable crimes have fallen since 1997. Despite this, the prison population has continued to rise and many prisons report they are virtually at their capacity. However, government, cannot, nor should not, get involved in sentencing decisions.
The bringing together of the prison and probation services as the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) in 2006 will present significant future challenges, including the use of contestability in service provision. Prisoner education and skills training is also rising up the agenda as this is one of the most effective ways of cutting re-offending. We need to look at ways in which drug and alcohol abuse by those entering and leaving the criminal justice system can be cut, as well as ways of more joined up agency and government work can help cut re-offending.
New non-custodial sentences are being developed to make the best use of the doubling of probation officers. However public confidence in non-custodial sentences remain low, with a recent Home Office survey showing that 38 per cent of people thinking prison was very effective at reducing crime, while only four per cent thought Community Service Orders were very effective. However, Home Office statistics show that this is not reflected in reality. The two-year re-conviction rates in 2002 for ex-prisoners was 67 per cent, but for those given community sentences they were 53 per cent. We need to ask how we can best reduce re-offending as well as retaining public confidence in sentencing - including the use of non-custodial sentences. We need to look at the evidence around restorative justice schemes as some have said they are both effective for victims and perpetrators and may be a good alternative to imprisonment.
Questions remain over whether those with mental health problems and who are in the criminal justice system or in prison are best dealt with through those processes. This can be taken forward in joint discussion with the Health Policy Commission.
Widening access to justice
Labour is proud of Britain's legal aid system. It was designed to help give access to justice to those who least could afford it and were most vulnerable. However, in recent years while the amount of money available to help people has risen, an increasing proportion has been taken by criminal legal aid. This has meant help for those with civil legal aid problems, such as housing problems, benefit problems, consumer issues, and others have been increasingly squeezed out. Fewer people every year are getting access to their rights. Charlie Falconer, the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, has recently launched a package of measures, on which he is consulting, to tackle this. He has also proposed reforms to legal services in a white paper entitled "The Future of Legal Services Putting Consumers First".
It is clear that we cannot compromise the ability of people to have the access to legal advice and support they need in a criminal case. The Government has proposed reforms to legal aid to rebalance the budget, recognising the importance of providing legal aid to criminal defendants, but arguing that the costs of that must be proportionate, especially for so-called high cost criminal cases.
It is vital that we are able to get the balance right and that Labour plays its part in helping to shape this debate. How best can we maintain the principles of justice for all, especially those who are most vulnerable, while not compromising the quality of support and help for those in criminal cases? How can we ensure that access to justice is as wide as possible?
Equalities and human rights
Only Labour has a proud record of delivering on equalities in Britain and a system of equalities that could be a good model to promote with other EU countries and internationally. The bringing together of all the current equalities commissions together with new equalities strands into one organisation is the latest one. It will present real and significant challenges. The legislation to create the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) is currently going through Parliament. This is intended to take a further step towards Labour's goals of a more equal society.
The 2004 white paper, which set out the case for a single equalities body, said "The Government believes that fairness for all is the basis for a healthy democracy, economic prosperity and the effective delivery of our public services. Equality and human rights therefore matter to all of us, not just those who experience discrimination and unfair treatment." It goes on to say "A single organisation will be a strong and authoritative champion for equality and human rights."
It is clear however that some of the existing three equalities commissions have real fears about important equalities work on specific areas such as women's, race and disability equality, being subsumed or lost in the new much larger organisation, while the white paper says that the new CEHR will be better able to take discrimination on multiple grounds.
While many accept that the combined approach will substantially help to deal with multiple discrimination, questions remain over how justice can be done to individual areas. There are also questions around how devolved the CEHR will be and how it will work with the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly.
In the area of human rights, how will the new CEHR help to promote the Human Rights Act in particular and ensure that it is well understood?
This is an ideal time to discuss many of the issues around the new equalities and human rights body and how best Labour in government can find the best ways of making the new body have real impact on the ground. This includes how best we can take equality beyond just changes to the law, towards a genuine change of culture too.
The commission will also look into the issues that are covered by the Discrimination Law Review and the Equalities Review, chaired by Trevor Phillips, which is investigating the social, economic, cultural and other factors that limit or deny people the opportunity to make the best of their abilities, as well as current legislation, including the development of the Single Equality Act.
3. Next steps
Annual Conference 2005 agreed new proposals Improving Partnership in Power. The Improvements give policy commissions a crucial leadership role in ensuring the success of the next PiP cycle by, for example, providing better engagement on topical Issues, building an ongoing relationship with party stakeholders who have made policy submissions, as well as looking at innovative ways policy commissions can work to help with their thinking on future policy development.
This work plan outlines the policy challenges and the topical issues facing the Crime, Justice, Citizenship and Equalities Policy Commission in the year ahead. They provide a focus for the commission's work and help party members understand the current work of the National Policy Forum.
The policy commission will consider how to manage the engagement on these issues with party stakeholders, which will include prioritising the policy areas, putting forward a timeframe and proposing the best method of engagement depending on the policy issue under consideration.