My Lords, these amendments relate to Clauses 59 and 60, which ensure—as was originally proposed by the right honourable Harriet Harman, as chair of the JCHR, to whom we send our deepest sympathies—that vehicular access to the Parliamentary Estate is not prevented by protests or other activity; and Clause 61, which restates the common-law offence of public nuisance in statute.
I begin with Amendments 133A and 133B in the name of the noble Viscount, Lord Colville of Culross, which I was able to discuss with him and Dominic Grieve last week. They seek to avoid a perceived outcome of Clause 59 that the Greater London Authority will no longer authorise large-scale assemblies on Parliament Square, due to the risk that such assemblies could obstruct vehicles entering or exiting the controlled area around Parliament.
I am most grateful to the noble Viscount for meeting me last week to raise his concerns about Clause 59. I understand that he is concerned that this clause may have the unintended consequences that the Greater London Authority, which is responsible for Parliament Square Garden, would no longer be able to authorise assemblies in the garden if they risk blocking vehicular access to the Parliamentary Estate. I reassure him tonight, as I did the other day, that this is not the case.
The GLA’s by-laws for Parliament Square Garden require that written permission is granted for certain acts to be conducted in the garden; organising or taking part in an assembly is one of those acts. It is important to note that this by-law applies to the garden itself and does not extend to Carriage Gates, nor the road around the garden. The by-laws state that permission will not be given in respect of any matter
defined as a “prohibited activity” under Section 143 of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011. Clause 59 amends this section to include obstructing the passage of a vehicle into or out of an entrance or exit to the Parliamentary Estate as a prohibited activity.
In practice, this means that the GLA could not permit an assembly in Parliament Square Garden if its stated and primary aim is to obstruct vehicular passage in and out of Parliament. However, nothing in Clause 59 means that permission could not still be granted for any other assembly, even if that risks some individuals in attendance obstructing vehicles entering and exiting Parliament. This is the point I was trying to impress the other day.
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Amendments 134 and 135 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Paddick, would strike out Clauses 59 and 60. I know why he wants to remove them. The JCHR has made it clear that protecting access to Parliament is crucial in ensuring that our democracy can function effectively, and these measures give effect to this recommendation, as I set out earlier. I am sure that all noble Lords across the House will agree that unimpeded access to our legislature is fundamental to the effective functioning of Parliament.
Amendment 140, also in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Paddick, would remove Clause 61. As I made clear in Committee, this clause enacts a recommendation of the Law Commission regarding the common-law offence of public nuisance. This new statutory offence both simplifies and clarifies the existing common-law offence, with two significant changes to narrow its scope; namely, raising the fault element of the offence and introducing a defence of reasonableness. If we strike out Clause 61, the effect would be to leave in place the common-law offence with its wider reach and higher maximum penalty. The aim of the Law Commission is to ensure that the law is fair, modern and simple. Clause 61 delivers on that objective.
Amendment 137A in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb, would remove “disease” from the definition of serious harm in relation to the new public nuisance offence. As I made clear in my response to a similar amendment in Committee, it is right that someone who either deliberately or recklessly places the public at harm by spreading a disease should face the consequences of their actions. The Law Commission recommended the inclusion of disease within the list of serious harms covered by the offence and I see no reason for excluding it now.
That said, having reflected on the debate in Committee, we agree that there are some improvements that can and should be made to the drafting of Clause 61, and the government amendments in this group are directed to this end. Amendments 136 and 137 concern the meaning of serious harm to the public. In its report on the Bill, the JCHR raised concerns that the new offence could be read as
“where serious harm is caused to one person rather than the public or a section of the public”.
I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Dubs, for highlighting this point in Committee. As a result, Amendment 137 removes the references to “the person”
when defining serious harm, making it clear that, in the context of public nuisance, serious harm must be caused to the public or to a section of the public.
To further improve the clarity of the new offence, Amendment 136 places the element of the offence where a person’s act or omission creates a risk of serious harm into subsection (1). This will make placing the public or a section of the public at risk of serious harm an element of the offence rather than part of the definition of serious harm itself.
Finally, Amendments 138 and 139 clarify that the existing tort of public nuisance will continue to exist and will not be affected by the new statutory offence of public nuisance. I am most grateful to the noble and learned Lord, Lord Etherton, for raising the issue in Committee, and I hope that these amendments will reassure him on this point.
This House plays a vital role as a revising Chamber, but Amendments 134, 135 and 140 adopt rather a blunderbuss approach to these clauses, simply seeking to strike them wholesale from the Bill. Were these amendments to be agreed by noble Lords, the effect would be to send a signal that it was acceptable to prevent noble Lords accessing this place and that your Lordships’ House did not support well-argued recommendations from the Law Commission to simplify and clarify the law. I invite noble Lords to reject Amendments 134, 135 and 140 and support the government amendments. On Amendments 133A and 133B, I hope that I have been able to persuade the noble Viscount, Lord Colville, that it will still very much be possible for protests to take place in the vicinity of Parliament—as it should be—and that he will withdraw his amendment.