Speeches by Paul.

“Would the Leader of the House join me in congratulating Jenny Rayner MBE? She has managed to raise an amazing £2 million for a new wellbeing centre locally to support young people with mental health issues and get them the support they need before a crisis is reached. We in Reigate, Redhill, Banstead and our villages a…”

“I would be grateful if the Minister could confirm exactly what conversion practices she plans to ban.”

“It is wonderful to hear the Minister’s enthusiasm for the changes, but if she is so confident that they will deliver that benefit, why was she not willing to start with a pilot, or even agree to a sunset clause?”

“New clause 22 would require a strategy for the use of remote proceedings to reduce the backlog while preserving open justice. Again, we need to be careful with that. Remote proceedings are not a silver bullet, and can create their own problems of communication, seriousness, access and public scrutiny. Some hearings are…”

“New clause 13 would require a report on the Bill’s effect on public trust and participation in the criminal justice system, including witness participation, public confidence, and black, Asian and minority ethnic engagement with and trust in the system. That is to be seriously considered, especially in the light of the…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir John. I speak in support of amendments 59, 35 and 36 tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Bexhill and Battle, and the new clauses tabled by the hon. Member for Chichester. Those new clauses are constructive, and the Government should engage with them seriously. …”

“Taken together, these new clauses appear useful and constructive. They are aligned with the Opposition’s stance that we need practical reform, greater capacity, better monitoring and a more honest assessment of what is actually driving delay. That is the sort of work that the Government should have done before they leg…”

“There is also a question of timing. The Family Services Foundation draws our attention to the Pathfinder pilot, which uses a more investigative and problem-solving model to identify risk early and to improve safety for children and parents who experience domestic abuse. It says that early stages appear to be showing po…”

“I do not make that point to turn the debate away from victims of abuse, but we need to be mindful of the whole picture. As with most things, it is about trying to get the balance right. It will never be perfect, but we have to make sure that it does not go too far one way or the other. We should think about not only th…”

“As the Minister is aware, Both Parents Matter and other groups not only object to repeal but advocate for a replacement approach. They propose a targeted amendment to the welfare checklist, requiring courts to consider the quality and sustainability of the child’s relationship with each parent, the nature of the relati…”

“It would be for the Crown court to decide whether to hold a hearing to determine permission. In other words, the initial stages of the process will play out entirely on paper, without any oral hearing at all. That is a serious change.”

“I also oppose schedule 2, which would insert proposed new sections 108A to 108V into the Magistrates’ Court Act 1980. This is a comprehensive replacement framework. It is what introduces the permission requirement, the new grounds test, the single judge model, the new retrial provisions and the narrowing of what the ap…”

“The introduction of a paper application with no right to an oral hearing is a flaw. Even in appeals from the Crown court to the Court of Appeal, a refused paper application may be renewed orally. The Bar Council is clear that, where a decision is made on paper, there should be a safeguard in the form of a right to rene…”

“I completely agree with the hon. Member. I appreciate the fact that she has tabled these amendments and that she recognises that it is not easy to strike this balance, particularly when we are trying to address abuse and alienation cases and it is sometimes hard to know what situation we are dealing with. We are trying…”

“For all those reasons, I oppose clause 7 and schedule 2. The current appeal route from the magistrates court exists for a reason. It is a vital safeguard used in a tiny proportion of cases, but succeeds at a strikingly high rate. The Government’s proposed replacement would introduce a narrower permission-based, paper-h…”

“That is why the existing system makes sense. The magistrates court is not recorded and reviewed in the way that a Crown court jury trial is, so the present appeal system cannot be seen as a luxury; it is the mechanism by which error, questions of credibility, misjudgment and unfairness can be corrected in a jurisdictio…”

“One of the most troubling aspects of schedule 2 is the proposed permission stage itself. The Crown court would grant permission only if it is”

““The Law Commission…considered and…rejected a leave requirement, citing the low number of appeals, lack of evidence of abuse, and the importance of correcting wrongful outcomes”.”

“The clause cannot be viewed in isolation from clause 6. As we have covered already in our proceedings, the Law Society expressly opposes the increase in magistrates’ sentencing powers in clause 6, particularly when combined with the restrictions on appeals in clause 7. That is understandable because, taken together, th…”

““reasonably arguable that there are one or more grounds for allowing the appeal.””