Speeches by Vickers.

“Thank you, Mr Pritchard. I beg to move amendment 30, in clause 1, page 2, line 30, leave out from “behaviour” to the end of line 31 and insert “has the same meaning as under section 2 of this Act.” This amendment would give “anti-social behaviour” in clause 1 the same definition as in section 2 of the Anti-social Behav…”

“Amendment 32 sets out proposed penalties for repeated breaches of a respect order, with a prison sentence of up to five years. It would strengthen the enforcement of respect orders by introducing clear and proportionate penalties.”

“We need to give the justice system and agencies all the powers that they can have, because at the end of the day, it is their discretion that will determine which of these things are applied. If someone breaches an order more than once, and they are subject to several respect orders, which is what the amendment relates…”

“As my right hon. Friend the Member for Hertsmere (Sir Oliver Dowden) has outlined, this weekend we heard the shocking reports that the parents of a nine-year-old girl were arrested by six Hertfordshire police officers and placed in a cell for 11 hours because they complained about their daughter’s primary school on Wha…”

“I realise that my hon. Friend the Member for West Suffolk (Nick Timothy) was unable to get a meaningful answer, but with Islamist extremism behind three quarters of MI5’s caseload, it is essential to shield our democracy from its pressure. The Minister has repeatedly reiterated the Government’s non-engagement policy wi…”

“Q I have one last question on that. As we have mentioned, there are several powers in several pieces of legislation that allow police to do it, sometimes with notice and sometimes without, often based on whether or not they have insurance and where the bikes can be seized from. Am I right in thinking that there are no …”

“Q Last but not least, you might know that off-road bikes are a real hobby horse of mine. They are an absolute nightmare in my part of the world, as they are in many others—they are an epidemic. They are largely non-road-legal bikes that are being used by youngsters to commit antisocial behaviour or to enable crime. We …”

“Q We know that dispersal orders and public spaces protection orders are of huge value, and that they can have a big impact in controlling antisocial behaviour and so on. The Criminal Justice Bill liberalised the use of such orders—it made them more accessible to police officers and local authorities. Why would we want …”

“Q The Bill makes a change to the Police Reform Act 2002, but my understanding is that there are no nationally compiled figures showing which powers are being used to seize bikes, and that the Road Traffic Act 1988 is actually allowing many people to seize bikes without the notice set out here, and probably more quickly…”

“Q I realise that different areas are affected very differently by the antisocial use of off-road bikes and e-bikes. My area is absolutely battered by the issue. The Bill makes changes to the Police Reform Act 2002, introducing the ability to seize a bike without notice, and there are obviously other powers, but what mo…”

“Q On retail crime, I was delighted to see the assault on retail workers offence in the Bill. Previously, the Criminal Justice Bill included a mandatory requirement for a ban, tag or curfew after three incidents of shoplifting or assaults on retail workers. What is the rationale behind ditching that? We have all heard a…”

“Q We have heard lots of comments about fly-tipping, and we know it comes at huge cost to the taxpayer and local authorities. The measures in the Bill talk about guidance. The last Government increased fines and penalties for these offences. If the guidance can maximise the impact that local authorities can have and the…”

“Q The challenge for the Government is that a huge amount of money is spent managing protests in this country. In London, we spent around £53 million managing pro-Palestinian protests. Some of the measures are designed to aid the police in managing protests and protecting the public from people who would do them harm. H…”

“Q Having read the Bill, is there anything that concerns you that could be improved? Are there any measures you would like to see in it that are not currently in it? Venita Yeung: I would like to draw the Committee’s attention to a grave risk posed by the public order clauses, particularly those that would criminalise t…”

“Q On resource, there is a small number of people who commit a huge volume of crime —often low-level stuff. Could we do anything more to tackle the problem of those hyper-prolific offenders? Emily Spurrell: A big part of it for me is understanding what is driving their offending. We see the greatest success when you inv…”

“Q Having read the Bill, does anything concern you? Could anything be improved? Are there any measures that you would like to see in it that do not currently feature in it? Emily Spurrell: I suppose the first thing to say is that there is a lot in it that we welcome. There is a lot in it that, as PCCs, we have been call…”

“Q There are measures in the Bill around the seizure of vehicles that are used antisocially. Do you have any views on that, or is there anything else you think should be done in that space? Sam Durham: Again, that works as a good deterrent in some rural criminality, so we would support those kinds of issues. We do look …”

“Q The financial penalties for fly-tipping have gone up, and changes to guidance are now coming in. Is there anything else you think we could be doing in that space? Previously, it was suggested that those responsible for fly-tipping should incur points on their driving licences. Is there anything else you think we can …”

“Q Having read the Bill, is there anything that concerns you or anything you would seek for us to improve? Are there any measures that you would like to see in the Bill that are not currently in it? Sam Durham: I lead on rural crime for the National Farmers Union, and we are quite keen that the Bill is rural-proofed so …”

“Q Do you have any views on the approach to hyper-prolific offenders and how to ensure they are properly sanctioned? Dr Newport: I think there should be provision in the Bill to ensure that, particularly for career criminals—people with 15 previous offences to their name—the more offences they commit, the longer they sp…”