My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who participated in this debate. I am particularly grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, and my noble friend Lady Tonge for setting
out the case for their amendments. The noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, talked about the general issue of forced marriage. In Committee, full discussion took place with the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Scotland, who I regret is unable to be with us today. My noble friend Lord Taylor of Holbeach and I had several meetings with her on this issue. I want to put on record my personal appreciation, and that of the Government, for the sterling work that she did in her various capacities as a government Minister, particularly her role in establishing the Forced Marriage Unit. I know that she comes to this issue with great expertise and knowledge, which have been a useful and extremely important part of the debate that we have had.
As was said by the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, and by my noble friend Lady Tonge, whichever way you look at this particular issue, we are all agreed that coercion in marriage and forced marriage are things that need to be tackled. The previous Government took the issue forward in positive ways, and I fully acknowledge that in the course of our considerations and debate, and in our discussions both in Committee and outside the House, opinions have been expressed on all sides of the argument.
I have heard the reservations, and the noble Baroness mentioned the meetings that my noble friend Lord Taylor of Holbeach will be having in this regard. We hope that all organisations, wherever they stand on the issue of criminalisation, will support and work with the Government to ensure that the implementation of these proposals is effective and—what is most important—will help support those who are the vulnerable victims of this terribly tragic and heinous crime. There is no better way of explaining what this issue is.
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As I said in Committee, after considering everything, we believe that the issue of marriage without consent or without the capacity to consent—I will come on to the specific proposals in a moment—is totally unacceptable. By making forced marriage a criminal offence, we believe that we will send out a clear and unequivocal message that this brutal practice will not be tolerated in the UK. The Government are clear that we want to capture forced marriages where someone does not or cannot consent.
I turn now to Amendment 87ZZ. The noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, explained that the amendment seeks to ensure that the Bill considers an individual’s ability to consent to marriage. The noble Lord, Lord Harris—again, I commend him on his work in this regard—also mentioned that this would be the Government’s response. We retain our position that we believe that Clause 109 provides that a person commits an offence if he or she,
“believes, or ought reasonably to believe, that the conduct may cause the other person to enter the marriage without free and full consent”.
A person who lacks capacity to enter a marriage is of course incapable of giving free and full consent to it. While I appreciate the intention of the noble Baroness, I am not persuaded that the amendment is necessary. I am satisfied that the definitions in the Bill are adequate and already capture the intended effect of the proposed amendments. Multi-agency practice guidelines have been in existence since 2010 to support practitioners
tasked with tackling forced marriage involving victims with a learning disability. Where necessary, the Forced Marriage Unit works closely with adult social services to ensure that a capacity assessment is carried out to determine whether the individual does indeed have the capacity to consent to marriage. As I indicated, I share the noble Baroness’s wish to see all instances of forced marriage comprehensively dealt with, particularly in the case of vulnerable adults.
I shall refer briefly to the guidelines mentioned by the noble Baroness. I acknowledge and appreciate her specific comments on them. They provide step-by-step advice for those who work with people with learning disabilities. After all, they may have only one chance to speak to the potential victim and therefore only one chance to save a life. This means that all professionals working in the statutory agencies must be aware of their responsibilities when they come across suspected forced marriage situations. I fully acknowledge that this is even more important for people with learning disabilities. There is an even greater onus on the practitioner to recognise the warning signs. We hope and intend that the guidance will ensure that all practitioners working with people with learning difficulties are aware of their responsibilities and will not let one chance to save a victim be lost. In this regard, after the passing of the legislation, we hope to revisit the guidelines to further strengthen the hand of practitioners and to increase awareness of this issue.
I turn to some of the specific questions that were raised. The noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, talked about how we will review the legislation and take it forward. We regularly take NGO partners’ views into account, as demonstrated by our public consultation on criminalisation. Let me assure the noble Baroness as well as your Lordships’ House that all views were considered and all shaped the way the legislation has come together. The quarterly meetings of the forced marriage NGO partnership board are the forum for reviewing current and future guidance documents, and membership of this group comprises a number of key organisations that are both in favour of and, indeed, against the introduction of criminalisation. These include organisations such as Southall Black Sisters, mentioned by the noble Baroness.
My noble friend Lady Hamwee referred to Clause 109(1) and to how the two paragraphs might be used. The Government’s view is that the clause, taken as a whole, provides protection for such vulnerable individuals, and that the definition of coercion that my noble friend asked for, in this context, means the application of pressure. The phrase,
“any other form of coercion”,
is deliberately drafted very broadly—we have discussed this with legal counsel across government—so as to encompass a wide range of behaviours. For example, I am sure that many noble Lords have come across a situation where various pressures are put on people who find themselves in this situation. The pressures could be financial, emotional or—