House of Commons
Parliament

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Moving Labour's amendment, shadow cabinet office minister Jo Platt says the money resolution would "mark a serious adjustment to our franchise, and end the previous pragmatic approach".

She accuses the government of "politicising the overseas voters registration mechanism."

She says the legislation would create administrative challenges, placing "a serious strain" on resources, for local authorities already experiencing considerable cuts.

The Electoral Commission has outlined that increasing the number of British citizens eligible to vote will "add strain to already stretched resources," she adds.

It is "reckless to the extreme" to leave local authorities in "funding limbo", she says.

She also warns that the system could be abused, telling MPs: "the likelihood for error is extremely high...we are now leaving our democracy open to potentially fraudulent activity".

House of Lords
Parliament

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Baroness Baroness Chakrabarti introduces her amendment, which calls for access to judicial reconsideration for all delegated persons "to guarantee a fair trial".

Corssbench peer and former Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas says "criminal tribunals are very independent bodies and proceed with great care."

He disagrees that members of staff in courts and tribunals are unaccountable, and says it is a "weak argument" to suggest these individuals are not independent.

"It would undermine the decisions of qualified individuals", he adds.

Conservative justice spokesman Lord Keen says a "blanket right of reconsideration simply wouldn't work".

Select Committee
Parliament

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The SNP's Stuart C. McDonald asks Ms Clarke if nurses have seen pupils coming into school carrying knives.

She replies that they have not, but young people are reporting carrying them outside of school.

She adds there has been "normalisation" of knives, and young people lack an awareness of the consequences of carrying them.

Mr McDonald asks where young people are getting knives from. He says stopping young people from acquiring knives is an "impossible task".

The Assistant Director at Compass agrees, telling MPs they are "easily available". She calls for a "bigger public health approach" to prevention.

Select Committee
Parliament

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Labour MP Alex Norris asks if individuals are reflective after their health needs are dealt with.

Surgeon Duncan Bew replies that the majority of people are "absolutely terrified" and sometimes they feel or know they are going to die.

He says this is an "opportunity" to engage with people and listen.

However, he adds: "we shouldn't be waiting for somebody to have an injury to be able to intervene".

Dr Magnus Nelson says there is psychological trauma from being assaulted that is not dealt with.

House of Commons
Parliament

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MPs are now debating a money resolution to fund the Overseas Electors Bill , external- private member's bill which would end the 15-year time limit on overseas voters being eligible for UK elections.

Currently, British citizens living abroad can only vote in elections for 15 years from the point when they were last registered to vote in the UK.

The bill was introduced by Conservative Glyn Davies and has been backed by the government.

Minister Chloe Smith, opening the debate, says the bill "puts right an injustice".

She criticises Labour's decision to add an amendment to the money resolution to limit spending, which she calls a "wrecking amendment".

She says it will cost £1 million a year over ten years to introduce the measures in the bill, and Labour's amendment means there would not be enough money to enact it.

House of Lords
Parliament

Labour peer Baroness Chakrabarti says there is "an ocean of difference between purely procedural decisions and those that could have the effect of depriving someone of their freedom".

She says she is pleased with Conservative peer Lord Keen's comment that decisions based on freedoms and liberties should be considered as a higher order by more qualified individuals.

Lord Keen raises his amendment on the reconsideration of decisions.

The amendment says that the bill should list by each judicial power if a reconsideration of a decision is available, if it is originally made by a staff member of the court or tribunal.

He says that if a reconsideration is not allowed, a reason must be given for this and it should be referred up to the Lord Chancellor and "the right of reconsideration must be made clear".

"This would ensure the most appropriate way for appealing a decision is set out," he says.

Select Committee
Parliament

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The second panel of witnesses take their seats. Yvette Cooper asks about trends in serious violence over the last five to ten years

Duncan Bew, a trauma surgeon at King’s College Hospital, says serious violent injuries have increased over the last 18 months, but numbers have almost doubled since 2013.

He says the median age of victims is around twenty-seven, adding that there has been an increase in self-directed violence through mental health issues.

Maggie Clarke, from Compass, says that increasingly young people are aware of gangs and it can be seen as "inspirational".

She adds that children who may not have been "classed as vulnerable" are going missing and being groomed through "validation" and money.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Shadow housing minister Jim McMahon says Labour welcome the amendments, which "are entirely in line with the Labour manifesto," although he wishes they had gone further.

"Clearly we're not going to oppose the bill... we support the amendment," he says, but calls for the government to work with the opposition to address the concerns they are raising.

"Our tax based system is absolutely getting to a point where it's not going to be fit for purpose," he says.

"Many of these issues, on council tax and business rates, need not be party political... most people recognise that council tax is taking an in-proportionate burden."

Conservative MP Simon Hoare then speaks for a short time, before MPs vote to support the amendment without division.

House of Lords
Parliament

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Conservative peer Baroness Norbiton says the qualification for someone to use judicial powers will be set out in regulations, "which will not lower the setting of this bar".

She says the qualifications for staff giving legal advice have existed since 1979 and will broadly continue to exit, and the government "are not proposing any changes to this process".

Amendments 3 and 4 , which will raise the bar, "are unnecessary and could adversely impact the diversity of legal experience in our courts", she says.

Baroness Norbiton says "prescribing qualifications on the face of the bill would make it impossible to modernise the rule if a new form of legal qualification was to emerge", noting that this could only be done with primary legislation.

House of Lords
Parliament

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Labour peer Baroness Chakrabarti calls for the set qualifications required for an individual to be able to take on judicial functions to be written clearly in the bill.

"Individuals must be lawyers and barristers with at least three years experience," she says.

Baroness Chakrabarti suggests that allowing individuals with "little to no qualifications" is being introduced as a protest against the salaries of individuals in the legal sector.

"The justice system cannot suffer at the hands of austerity," she says.

Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Justice, Lord Marks, says only a judge should have the power to take the steps to decide on an individual's rights and freedoms, which is a serious power, but more trivial powers shouldn't require an individual with as substantial experience.

"Authorised persons must have qualifications that are appropriate for the tasks they are going to undertake," he says.

He says this bill could "increase efficiency in a suitable manner", but by requiring three years experience for anyone using any judicial power would be to "hinder the purpose of this bill".

House of Commons
Parliament

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MPs now move onto the main legislative business for the day - considering a Lords' amendment to the Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill.

The bill increases the extra charge local authorities can demand for empty homes to 100% of council tax, up from 50%. The bill also reinstates an earlier law whereby properties owned by the same company that are touching only pay one set of business rates.

Housing, Communities and Local Government minister Rishi Sunak is opening the debate and says the bill ends the "so-called staircase tax" and addresses the issue of long-term empty homes.

"I'm delighted to bring forward this amendment... By strengthening the incentive for owners of long term properties to bring them back into use, this amendment will surely come as good news for local government, for families seeking somewhere to live and local communities as a whole."

House of Lords
Parliament

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Lord Keen, Conservative spokesperson for Justice says there seems to be "some confusion" about the extent of which courts and tribunal staff may be able to use judicial functions.

"The power in the bill will not be used to amend primary legislation," he says.

"The government do not need to seek any further powers to amend primary legislation."

Labour peer Baroness Chakrabarti says she will remove this amendment if this is ensured in the text of the bill.

Select Committee
Parliament

Mr Laville asks the committee to look at austerity and the "maths of murder." He points to the cost of incarceration versus employing a community worker.

Yvonne Lawson says the reasons young people join gangs are "complex", such as popularity, pressure and money. She says poverty is a "big thing" and there is "no magic wand."

She calls for a "range of strategies" and more focus on "prevention and intervention". She says schools are worried about their reputations and teachers need to be "accountable".

Ms Lawson says there is a "correlation" between mental health and crime.

Select Committee
Parliament

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Conservative MP Tim Loughton says the work the panel is doing to prevent other parents going through the same experience is the "one positive."

He asks why this "meaningless" violence is happening and how can it be stopped.

Darren Laville says when you are growing up in a community where there is violence and the social media that is being promoted, it "does not help."

He says the influences are "far greater" outside of the home and no one brings up their children to bad.

Caroline Shearer says there are many "kids having kids" and there is not the support there for them. She adds it comes down to housing.

Mr Laville says these issues have been around for decades.

House of Lords
Parliament

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Now peers are moving on to discuss amendments to the Courts and Tribunals (Judiciary and Functions of Staff) Bill in the first day of its report stage.

The Bill would allow authorised staff of HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) to exercise some judicial functions, but the Equality and Human Rights Commission have raised concerns that the bill does not provide sufficient safeguards around the delegation of judicial functions, which means decisions with significant impact could be made by an employee of HMCTS rather than an independent judge.

Labour peer and barrister Baroness Chakrabarti introduces the first amendment which regards the issue raised above.

"This bill is the beginning of a slower legislative drip feed process and there has been no adequate scrutiny of this new programme," she says.

Baroness Chkrabarti says her amendment, "attempts to ensure more constitutionally appropriate scrutiny and accountability is assured".

House of Commons
Parliament

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Plaid Cymru MP Hywel Williams is now presenting his Cold Weather Payments as a ten minute rule motion.

"This bill seeks to improve cold weather payments to take better account of the location of vulnerable people," he explains.

"Some vulnerable people get one off payments of £25 towards their heating during periods of cold weather...however some people who are indeed vulnerable are missing out."

He says this is because of the way an area is defined "that is by the postcode," which particularly affects "those in upland areas."

He says he has concerns generally with the scheme, but wants to re-examine the way the weather data which triggers cold weather payments is gathered.

Select Committee
Parliament

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The panel continues to tell their stories.

Caroline Shearer, CEO of Only Cowards Carry Weapons Awareness, says the day her son Jay died, she was shopping for her daughter's wedding dress.

She tells the committee that Jay had made it to round two of the Junior Apprentice.

Ms Shearer says the time she got to the hospital her son had died. She adds that she tried to put a policeman's taser in her mouth because she did not want to live.

She says it was not until two days later she was allowed to see body and a trial took three years.

Ms Shearer finishes her evidence, informing the committee about her foster child's subsequent suicide and another foster child who was found murdered.

Darren Laville, Founder of the Epiphany People, says his son Kenichi Phillips was shot dead in 2016 and had an interview for apprenticeship the day he was killed. He adds the family later found out he had got the job.

Mr Laville says his son did not live long enough to see the birth of his child

He tell the committee his older son was present at the time of Kenichi's death.

Mr Laville says he had to wait four days to see his son because he was evidence and adds there were five trials.

House of Lords
Parliament

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Crossbench peer Lord Hylton asks a Private Notice Question on whether urgent international action will be taken to prevent deaths from starvation at Rukban camp on the Syria-Jordan frontier.

Earlier this month, the Syrian government and Russia blocked all aid from reaching the Rukban camp in an attempt to force frightened refugees into reconciliation, and pressure US and rebel forces to leave their base at nearby al-Tanf.

In October 2018, UNICEF estimated that 45,000 people live at the camp, and that two children have died of starvation in the camp. They have called for urgent action.

Lord Bates, Minister for International Development says this is "another example of the Assad regime's blatant disregard for humanitarian law and the welfare of its people."

"The government continue to liaise with the United Nations and are lobbying so that deliveries can take place," he says.

Lord Bates says a delivery convoy has been agreed from Damascus to Rukban to begin later this month, which he hopes will "give these people the help they so desperately need".

"This is a progress in the right direction, but should have come much earlier," he says.

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour MP Christopher Elmore, who says he was a victim of serious bullying when he was a teenager, says he finds it "abhorent" that some Conservative MPs "have used this for their own agenda, using bullying to bully the Speaker."

"I find that utterly appalling as a victim of bullying", he adds.

He says there is a need for constituency-based staff to not be forgotten.

Regarding suggestions from Andrea Leadsom about training for MPs to prevent abuse from happening, he says: "I'll be her first volunteer to take the training".

"Frankly, we should all be made to take it", he adds.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Conservative Sir Edward Leigh urges MPs and the government "not to conflate this vitally important issue with any campaign to get rid of the Speaker."

"That doesn't mean that he can behave badly or do anything criminal, or anything like that, but he should not be the subject of a political campaign," he says, warning that the independence of the Commons could be put at risk as result.

He asks for assurance that there will be "absolutely no pressure by the executive" on the Speaker at the House Commission meeting on Monday.

Andrea Leadsom replies: "What the House Commission will be doing is reviewing the recommendations in Dame Laura's report and taking action as it sees fit."