Thursday Volume 597 2 July 2015 No. 27 HOUSE OF COMMONS OFFICIAL REPORT PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES (HANSARD) Thursday 2 July 2015 £5·00 © Parliamentary Copyright House of Commons 2015 This publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Open Parliament licence, which is published at www.parliament.uk/site-information/copyright/. 1607 2 JULY 2015 1608 Bob Blackman: I thank my hon. and learned Friend House of Commons for that answer. Clearly, we want to rid society of this scourge. Will he update the House on how many prosecutions have been brought to court and how many Thursday 2 July 2015 are in the pipeline? The Solicitor General: From 2010, particular offences The House met at half-past Nine o’clock that involve forced marriage as a key element have been flagged by the CPS. I am happy to report that the PRAYERS volume of completed prosecutions in the last year, 2014-15, rose to 46, the highest ever. There is more work to be done, but the progress is encouraging. [MR SPEAKER in the Chair] Graham Evans: Forced marriage is a scourge across many communities in the UK and I welcome the work BUSINESS BEFORE QUESTIONS undertaken by the Government on the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Will my hon. and learned Friend update the House on the work being carried out to bring this TRANSPORT FOR LONDON BILL [LORDS] scourge to an end? What advice has been provided to Motion made, young men and women who might be at risk of forced That the promoters of the Transport for London Bill [Lords], marriage? which was originally introduced in the House of Lords in Session 2010-12 on 24 January 2011, may have leave to proceed with the The Solicitor General: The joint Home Office and Bill in the current Session according to the provisions of Standing Order 188B (Revival of Bills).—(The Second Deputy Chairman of Foreign and Commonwealth Office forced marriage Ways and Means.) unit, which has been in operation for about 10 years, provides free and confidential advice on the dangers of Hon. Members: Object. being forced into marriage and the precautions that can be taken. It operates both here and overseas and last To be considered on Thursday 9 July. year gave advice and support in nearly 1,300 cases. I commend its work to the House. James Berry: I declare an interest, as a barrister. Oral Answers to Questions What is the CPS in London, where my constituency sits, doing to embed best practice for the prosecution of forced marriage? ATTORNEY GENERAL The Solicitor General: I welcome my hon. Friend to the House. He brings a wealth of legal experience and I am grateful to him for his interest. He mentioned joint The Attorney General was asked— training courses; 14 London prosecutors attended last Forced Marriage year’s joint training course, held with the Metropolitan police on forced marriage, honour-based violence and 1. Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con): What steps female genital mutilation. There is a specialist team of the CPS is taking to ensure its prosecutors will be able about 25 lawyers in London dealing with all Crown successfully to prosecute the criminal offence of forced court cases that include elements of forced marriage marriage. [900695] and there are similar arrangements in magistrates courts. 2. Graham Evans (Weaver Vale) (Con): What steps Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab): Of the 1,271 cases, the CPS is taking to ensure its prosecutors will be able 11% involve victims who are under the age of 16. In the successfully to prosecute the criminal offence of forced last Parliament, the Select Committee on Home Affairs marriage. [900696] specifically asked the Education Secretary to write to every headteacher to make them aware of this problem, 12. James Berry (Kingston and Surbiton) (Con): especially before the summer holidays. Has this been What steps the CPS is taking to ensure its prosecutors done? If not, can it be done? will be able successfully to prosecute the criminal offence of forced marriage. [900709] The Solicitor General: I do not have the information on whether that letter has been written, but I very much The Solicitor General (Robert Buckland): The first appreciate the importance of cross-governmental working successful prosecution using the new offence of forced to deal with this issue and, indeed, many others that, as marriage was recorded earlier this year. Previously, the the right hon. Gentleman knows, are cultural and need Crown Prosecution Service had to use offences such as to be tackled head on rather than ignored. assault and kidnap to address this serious issue. The CPS has provided legal guidance and learning support Helen Jones (Warrington North) (Lab): Given that to its prosecutors on cases of forced marriage to raise the forced marriage unit, which the Solicitor General their awareness of the issues involved, which includes rightly commended, is offering advice on some 1,300 cases, the important work of joint workshops with the police we are clearly only touching the tip of the iceberg with in every CPS area to tackle this menace. the number of cases that come to court. Is he certain 1609 Oral Answers2 JULY 2015 Oral Answers 1610 that Crown prosecutors have the resources they need to Nick Smith: The SFO going cap in hand to the deal with these complex cases and adequate training Treasury when it wants to take on a major case could to understand the cultural and family backgrounds that mean delaying justice. Why not let moneys recovered by might lead to victims wanting to withdraw the case? the SFO be kept by it so that it has autonomy? The Solicitor General: The hon. Lady makes a proper The Solicitor General: Attractive though that proposal point. I can reassure her that the degree of training and, sounds—I take it in the constructive spirit which I know importantly, the joint training that goes on with the the hon. Gentleman intends—my worry is that that is police is very much understood by the Crown Prosecution an even more uncertain means of funding the SFO. The Service. It applies not just to forced marriage, but to a advantage of blockbuster funding is that it allows the range of offences in which cultural barriers and other SFO the flexibility it needs, allows significant amounts issues can make it difficult for victims to come forward. of money to be allocated to its work, and proves the point It is well understood and I am glad to see that numbers that funding will never be a bar to the work of the SFO continue to increase, but of course more work needs to in investigating serious fraud. be done. Mr Speaker: I think the Solicitor General is telling us Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP): Since the Modern that he is not all that keen on the idea, if one interprets Slavery Act came into force, there has been some limited the lawyer-speak. success, but more has to be done to protect victims. What has been done to train staff in the public agencies to spot forced marriages? Alex Chalk (Cheltenham) (Con): Installing temporary IT equipment in courts for SFO prosecutions is eye- The Solicitor General: I have dealt with training within wateringly expensive and a drain on SFO resources. the CPS and the police, but the hon. Gentleman makes Does the Solicitor General agree that we need to look a proper point about third-party agencies. In the case of again at this issue to establish whether the taxpayer is young people it is an issue of safeguarding. Forced getting value for money? marriage is a form of child abuse and must be recognised as such. All agencies should be alert to this manifestation The Solicitor General: Yes. and make reports promptly and comprehensively. Mr Speaker: Splendid fellow! Nick Thomas-Symonds (Torfaen) (Lab): Does the Solicitor General agree that the number of successful Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op): The prosecutions on forced marriages, as with other offences, Solicitor General may know of my long-term interest depends on there being a sufficient number of prosecutors in this matter. We all want a Serious Fraud Office that is with the time to make individual judgments on cases fit for purpose; this Serious Fraud Office is not. We go and to prepare properly for trial? Does the hon. and back to the catastrophe that was the daft prosecution learned Gentleman agree that cutting the number of and dawn arrest of the Tchenguiz brothers. As he knows, prosecutors in this Parliament and cutting funding for the if we have a weak SFO, it relies on other accountants, Crown Prosecution Service is likely to be counterproductive? such as Grant Thornton. That is not a healthy relationship for the SFO. The Solicitor General: I welcome the hon. Gentleman to his place—another experienced lawyer. The work that has been done by the Crown Prosecution Service in The Solicitor General: The hon. Gentleman is right to the past five years in removing excessive expenditure refer to previous failures, but things have moved on in the back office and concentrating on the front line considerably in the right direction since the appointment has yielded results. I am absolutely confident that issues of the current director in 2012. It is important that we of resource will never get in the way of the proper give our full-throated support to the work of the SFO investigation and prosecution of such allegations. because, as the hon. Gentleman says, if there are doubts about the integrity and efficacy of that important arm Serious Fraud Office of the prosecutorial authorities, we are in serious trouble indeed.