Speeches by Munt.

“Thank you for coming. Thank you for what you do. Can you briefly outline what a criminal record is and what information can be held on one?”

“Do they know that the tutor has requested it? They will not know that.”

“As a last observation, it was quite interesting when members of the Committee visited HMP Bronzefield, where prison staff were bringing local employers into the prison to speak with prisoners with the aim of reducing that stigma of hiring ex-offenders. Probably the more that happens, it sounds as though that would be a…”

“Quickly, do you sense a difference between younger offenders and those who are perhaps older in their chances of going into employment? I wondered.”

“I was wondering particularly about younger people who may have been involved in things like county lines, who can turn their lives around if they are in a different place or in a different set of circumstances and away from trouble.”

“Okay. I should know this because I am working here: can I apply to do a check on myself?”

“Are there other aspects like perhaps travel?”

“What do you think? Where might the Government go with this if they were being open and helpful and stuff?”

“Thank you. Quickly, may I ask you of your experiences as employers of people who are ex-offenders? What would you say?”

“Thank you. Having employed people in the past who had both spent and unspent convictions, I understand that it is so important that we bring people back into society. You have mentioned already the national insurance break. I wondered what other support the Government provides to employers to promote hiring people who …”

“Thank you. Quickly, may I ask you of your experiences as employers of people who are ex-offenders? What would you say?”

“It is such a big change. That 7.3 million will rise because a lot of people want to know what is held on them.”

“We have picked up that employment piece, and the education piece is important. I wonder if you could talk about the impact of having a criminal record and the disclosure of that. How might that impact on somebody’s rehabilitation opportunities?”

“Changes to income tax reporting from April mean that childminders need to claim tax relief on specific purchases, rather than the current 10% wear and tear allowance. Deanne, one of my local childminders, points out that wear and tear is a daily reality for the few professionals who face very young children in the stag…”

“rose—”

“I thank the Minister for her statement. I know that she is a woman on a mission, and let us hope that we get to the end of this before terribly long. We know that the Government are struggling with accepting the families’ wish that we should pick up amendment 23 and its consequential amendments. I am mystified about th…”

“I thank the Minister greatly for giving way. I want to pick up again the point I made about whether these checks will have a clear end date on them. I also have a second question, if I am allowed to ask it. I do not expect an answer now, but it would be nice to have an answer—one of the problems one finds constantly wi…”

“Should DBS checks not have a start date and a finish date, so that people who are not particularly worldly are clear about the beginning and the end, and understand that when the end date comes, a new check will be needed?”

“Madam Deputy Speaker, can you confirm that we can witter on until 10 o’clock? I believe that we are not limited.”

“The Minister refers to the fact that the DBS would be able to check whether somebody who was going to work abroad had a problem with their clearance. Will that work in reverse? For example, if someone is trying to employ an au pair from another country—I do not know if people can even do that any more—could the au pair…”