Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill — Third Reading — 5 Jul 2021 at 21:57

MPs were considering the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill^[1][2]

The majority of MPs voted in favour of a range of changes to the law related to crime and policing including: greater restrictions on protests; criminalising residing on land without consent with a vehicle; reform of the caution system to include conditions associated with a caution; regulation of extraction of data from electronic devices voluntarily provided by users; increased sentences for various crimes; and to enable ministers to refer certain prisoners to the parole board rather than automatically releasing them when their release is due.

The Bill included provisions^[1][2]:

• * increasing the maximum penalty for assault on emergency worker from one to two years in jail.
• * enabling the Police Federation to represent Special Constables in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and to enable Special Constables to play a greater role in the federation.
• * to change the definitions of careless and dangerous driving which applies to someone driving for police purposes to refer to the expectation of, and view of, "a careful and competent constable who had undertaken the same prescribed training".
• * to require the police, specified health authorities, local authorities, probation service providers, youth offending teams and fire and rescue services to collaborate to prevent and reduce serious violence.
• * for restrictions on the extraction of information by the police and other enforcement bodies from mobile devices voluntarily provided by users.
• * to enable charges of financially significant criminal damage to memorials, or via fire, to be tried in the Crown Court.
• * to enable, subject to judicial approval, the fulfilment of requests from other countries for communications data (information on who sent an electronic communication, when and to whom).
• * empowering the police to photograph more classes of people at a police station.
• * to enable the police to make directions in respect of protests to prevent disorder, damage, disruption or intimidation, including “serious disruption to the life of the community” and “serious disruption to the activities of an organisation
• * to make it "an offence for an individual to fail to comply with the direction of a police officer to stop, or not start, obstructing the passage of a vehicle into or out of the Parliamentary Estate."
• * to create an offence of "intentionally or recklessly causing public nuisance."
• * to specifically allow for conditions to be placed on seriously disruptive noisy one-person protests.
• * to create "a criminal offence of residing or intending to reside on land without consent in or with a vehicle".
• * to increase "the maximum penalties for the offences of causing death by dangerous driving and causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs from 14 years’ imprisonment to imprisonment for life."
• * creates a new offence of "causing serious injury by careless, or inconsiderate, driving."
• * "provides a clear statutory footing for the charging of fees for courses offered as an alternative to prosecution for fixed penalty offences".
• * to introduce "diversionary and community cautions" which can be imposed by the police and prosecution authorities and may include conditions.
• * to enable sentences to whole life in prison orders for aged 18 or over but under 21 and for premeditated child murder.
• * to "enable the Secretary of State to refer certain prisoners to the Parole Board instead of automatically releasing them" when their release is due.
• * expands the classes of offender whose release can be made subject to a requirement to undergo polygraph testing to all sentenced to life or a term of 12 months of more.
• * to remove "attendance centre requirements" as a sentencing option.
• * to enable "the remote observation of court and tribunal proceedings [which use] audio and/or audio-visual live links".

The motion supported by the majority of MPs in this vote was:

• That the Bill be now read a Third time.

Support for this motion enabled the Bill to continue to progress towards becoming law.

• [1] Parliament's webpage on the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, Parliament.uk
• [2] Explanatory notes to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, Parliament.uk

Debate in Parliament |