Serious Crime Bill [Lords]

We come to an important group, as all hon. Members would agree. New clause 9 concerns police powers of stop-and-search for dangerous instruments and offensive weapons. The issue is one about which we all share a deep concern, particularly in the wake of tragedies such as the murders of 11-year-old Rhys Jones and of 15-year-old Jessie James in Manchester just over a year ago, the fatal knifing of the promising young footballer Kiyan Prince in May 2006, and the thankfully non-fatal shooting of a 13-year-old boy in Manchester only this weekend. Notwithstanding any differences that we might have about the issue, I do not for one moment belittle the contribution that any hon. Member makes on it. I do not for one minute believe that any hon. Member has anything other than the desire to try to do what we can to prevent more tragedies and awful events from taking place on our streets. That is an important comment to make, given the heat that is sometimes generated around such debates, and one that hon. Members will understand, given the atmosphere in the Committee as we took the Bill through. The Government have responded to those tragedies and those concerns by investing £1 million in the tackling gangs action programme—a programme of focused work in areas of London, Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool where gun crime and gangs are a particular issue—which was launched on 9 September. The programme's aim is to reduce serious violence, particularly that involving the use of firearms by young people as part of gang-related activity. The Home Office is working with police and local authorities to design packages that will be most effective in each area, which will include both enforcement and preventive work, and will be delivered in partnership with a range of local agencies. New clause 9 would extend the stop-and-search powers contained in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. Hon. Members will know that the hon. Member for Hornchurch (James Brokenshire) and his hon. Friends have tabled a related amendment, which I am unable to recommend that we support, as I shall explain. Although the police have routine powers of stop-and-search in situations where they have a reasonable suspicion that a person is carrying certain items, section 60 of the 1994 Act provides exceptional powers for the police to authorise the stopping and searching of persons and vehicles in a locality for knives and offensive weapons—in England and Wales that includes firearms intended to be used to cause injury—without requiring reasonable suspicion. The police may use that power when they believe that a serious violent incident is likely to take place or that persons are carrying weapons in the locality. That provides a preventive power that addresses situations where an anticipated incident has not yet happened or where public order is threatened by weapon carrying en masse. The new clause would add a third scenario in which the power could be used, which is where a serious violent incident has taken place, and where the power would be useful in locating and taking out of circulation the weapon used in the incident and in apprehending the perpetrator. The existing preventive powers in section 60 of the 1994 Act require written authorisation, but the police would be able to make an oral authorisation to use the proposed additional power, so as to avoid any delay in the crucial moments following a violent incident.