Jake Richards
MP for Rother Valley · Labour · United Kingdom
“I understand. I meet victims all the time in my role at the Ministry of Justice. Before being elected to Parliament, I represented many victims of child sexual abuse every day in courts up and down the country. I understand the issues that victims such as his constituent face. I impress on the hon.”
“I thank the shadow Justice Secretary for his opening remarks. This is a profoundly serious matter for all Members in this place, victims across the country—including those here in the Gallery—and indeed all members the public. Confidence in our law and order system must be maintained.”
“I am not sure which letters the right hon. Member is referring to, because none of the letters sent out by the Ministry of Justice has referred to people already being released. I understand the concerns that she raises. We take our engagement with victims incredibly seriously.”
“I understand my hon. Friend’s intervention. Let us be clear that many of the offenders we are talking about have been released previously and would continue being released but for the Sentencing Act.”
“Some Opposition Members still think he is a great man. I do not think that is a universal view on the Opposition Benches. Following publication of the review, the Sentencing Bill began its passage through Parliament and received Royal Assent on 22 January this year.”
“Those schemes were introduced at short notice, without the long-term reforms necessary to put the system on a sustainable footing, but there was no option but to act to prevent a collapse of the criminal justice system, which would have seen sex offenders and others able to act with impunity.”
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“My hon. Friend makes an important point. I know that the Government and the Minister take kinship carers and the care system very seriously, and the Government have introduced a number of measures already. That is very welcome in their first 12 months—it emphasises just how seriously they take these matters—and it is part of the strategy of solving this problem of distance placements. When children can stay in the family, they should.”
“For every Georgia and Kane who find the strength and platform to speak, as I was just talking about, there are countless others whose experiences remain unheard—young people moved from their home with no explanation, no warning and no real choice. Georgia and Kane are remarkable campaigners, and now it is our duty to respond, not with sympathy alone but with serious structural reform. I hope that this Bill can help form part of that response.”
“Absolutely—that is one of the most welcome measures in that Bill, introduced to this Parliament in its first Session. Data can be quite a boring topic, but it is so important, because it allows everyone—including this place, journalists and campaign organisations—to hold the Government’s feet to the fire and hold them to account. While it may seem a dry and conservative development, that register could be really important in making sure we have as much information about what is going on as we can, in particular for children in care, who so often are voiceless. We need to make sure their voices are heard.”
“If it were our children, we would expect them to stay close to home and their community, where they feel safe. We would expect a proper plan. Ultimately, that is all the Bill asks of the Government. The children in our care system deserve nothing less. For that reason, I commend the Bill to the House.”
“The Government know that, yes, they must work in partnership with local authorities, but they must also take strategic decisions about where provision is needed, how it is funded and how we ensure that market dynamics do not dictate children’s futures. I want to be clear that none of this speech is about blaming councils or local authorities, many of which are doing their level best under enormous financial constraints, and are firefighting in a system in which the odds are stacked against them. I hope that this modest Bill can give them the tools that they need to plan, build and provide, rather than simply outsourcing and hoping for the best. The Bill would change expectations by restoring proximity as the norm, and placing the burden of justification on those who propose to go against that norm.”
“Friend the Member for Lewisham East (Janet Daby), who is in her place, for putting children in care front and centre of the Government’s agenda. That has not happened for many decades; many Governments of different colours have failed to properly grasp the issue, but I am pleased that the Government are doing so. However, I urge them to go further. I fear that some measures and ambitions will be lost if we do not ensure that the care estate in every locality improves its capacity. The Department has a wide array of challenges, and this is a particularly difficult one, but the Bill, which would be essentially cost-neutral, would keep the focus on the agenda without placing too much responsibility on local authorities.”
“It would ensure that we treated data not as a bureaucratic requirement, but as the foundation of good care, and it would ensure that Parliament played a role in scrutinising the system, rather than simply reacting to its failures. The Bill would not ban distance placements, because, as I have touched on, there will always be cases where a child must be moved, but it says firmly that they should never be the default. Placements should never be driven by gaps in provision, lack of planning or market dysfunction, and the Government must take a leading role in changing the care system. As I have said, I welcome the legislation going through Parliament, and I applaud the Education Secretary, and in particular the Under-Secretary of State for Education, my hon.”
“They face a dire shortage of foster carers, especially those trained to provide therapeutic support, and they are locked in bidding wars with other local authorities, or priced out by private providers demanding fees that would make even a well-resourced system buckle. If the state is going to remove a child from their family and their community —an enormous, draconian power and responsibility—the least it can do is ensure that every child does not lose everything else in the process. We must not only protect children, but nurture them; we must provide not just safety, but stability. I hope that the Bill lays the groundwork for that ambition. It would ensure that we do not just talk about sufficiency but plan for it.”
“Member for North Herefordshire (Ellie Chowns) has advocated for, with strong relationships and homes that are local, loving and stable. It warned of a dangerous reliance on large private providers, many of which operate with little accountability and at high cost. We could have a whole separate debate about the extortionate costs of private companies in the care system and the profits they are making on the backs of desperate local authorities. That review also made a powerful case for rethinking the way in which we plan for care, arguing that the absence of a joined-up national approach has left too many children at risk of instability, isolation and, in some cases, real harm. We know from councils that the crisis in placement sufficiency is leaving them with little choice.”
“One of the most significant contributions to the Government’s Bill, and indeed to our understanding of the whole system, was the independent review of children’s social care led by my hon. Friend the Member for Whitehaven and Workington (Josh MacAlister). That review laid bare a system that is under immense strain, one in which the needs of children are too often shaped by market forces and a postcode lottery rather than what is in the best interests of those children, which is what the Protection of Children Act 1978 requires and should shape all Government policy. My hon. Friend’s review could not have been clearer: too many children are being placed far from home. It called for a fundamental reset—a shift from a reactive, fragmented care system to one grounded in early intervention, as the hon.”
“Absolutely. Care should always be the last resort, and later in my speech I will speak about the false economy of spending billions of pounds on a care system that is failing children—most importantly—but also the taxpayer and everyone else. Early intervention is absolutely critical, so I completely agree with the hon. Member’s point. How have we got to this stage where, as I have just touched on, the system is failing in so many different aspects? The reasons are complex. Too often, distant placements simply reflect a chronic lack of local provision, with a market-driven care system unable or unwilling to provide safe, nurturing homes close to where children live. As we have heard, the result is thousands of children being let down by a failing system.”
“My hon. Friend is, as ever, making really important points. Is he reassured by the fact that the commissioner will be reporting annually, as per the previous clause, and that the panel will give reasons, which will likely be public?”
“I appreciate the point that the hon. Member is trying to make and I think it is a fair one, but how does he think this could work? As he said in his own intervention, people might have to be paid for one part of the process, and then for the next. If we appreciate the principle that people get paid for time, there is inevitably more money involved as the process goes on, so can he explain how his amendment would work?”
“I hope that, both in the Committee and outside it, they will support my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley, who has gone to great lengths to build support and to make sure that the Bill is workable. I will be voting for amendment 548 with a great sense of reassurance, but also a great sense of optimism that one day this country will see this change, which is so desperately needed.”
“Secondly, for those people—including those who have been in the Public Gallery today, Committee members and, indeed, other Members of the House—who might be disappointed about the delay, in my mind the amendment is not an obstacle to change. In fact, what we have seen here is the Bill’s promoter working with the Government, who remain neutral on the principle but want to make the Bill deliverable, to come up with a sensible, pragmatic proposal for how and at what speed this profound change is to be implemented. In my mind, that gives a sense of the Executive and the promoter thinking about the practicalities. I urge those who are desperately seeking this change and have fought for decades to secure it to approach this measure with a sense of optimism. This is serious. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver that change.”
“I rise to speak briefly in support of amendment 548, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley. I do so fundamentally for two reasons. First, there may be a lot of support for the principle of assisted dying among members of the Committee and, indeed, Members of the House, but there are also understandable concerns about its implementation. We have been debating all the aspects of that over a lengthy period in Committee, and it is undoubtedly complex. Although my hon. Friend is disappointed that she has had to table the amendment, I commend her for doing so, because it is important to get this right and to be brave by setting longer time limits if necessary. I think that can be reassuring to Members who, while supporting the principle, want to make sure that we get this right. I hope that the amendment will do that.”
“Tonight I want to make the argument for further Government action, and also offer a call to arms to us all. We can all do more to check in on our neighbours, friends and colleagues, and to build safe spaces for men to talk, to feel valued and to know that it is okay not to feel okay and that there is help. We should never forget the tragedy of women taking their own lives, too, and the particular circumstances that only women face that might lead them towards doing so. That matter is worthy of its own debate, though much of what we discuss will of course be relevant. The numbers for men are startling and worth stating bluntly: suicide is the biggest killer of men aged under 50. Men account for three out of four suicides in England and Wales. A hundred men end their lives each week across the country.”
“In Rotherham, male suicide is a silent tragedy on the rise. As the local MP, I receive too many calls or messages early in the morning or late at night, telling me about another husband, father, brother or friend who has died in these tragic circumstances. Each call haunts us and our communities, but it is nothing compared to the unimaginable sense of grief and agony suffered by family and friends. The growing phenomenon of male suicide is part of a wider storm we face: of worsening mental health and mental health provisions for men; of splintering communities and support networks; and of a society that too often makes some men feel that they are unable to open up or reach out for help, or indeed that they are themselves part of the problem.”
“My hon. Friend makes a good point. Just on Friday, I had the Defence Secretary, who is with us today, and the Veterans Minister in Dinnington to speak with veterans groups and organisations. Mental health provision was right at the top of the agenda, as it should be. Beyond each individual tragedy is a wider story. There is a specific challenge for policymakers in grappling with male suicide.”
“It’s this narrative being told to white boys from nowhere towns.” I fear there is some truth to that—that men from towns built in a bygone era feel they are a problem in modern times. I want to play my part as the local MP in changing that, and I am not alone. Brilliant organisations in my constituency already do fantastic work. Andy’s Man Club in Maltby and Kiveton Park meet every Monday evening. Better Today, run by John Leaver, is incredible at supporting men in times of real difficulty. There are many fantastic sports clubs and associations, from boxing in Dinnington to Swallownest FC and Maltby Main FC. There are the regular coffee mornings, the walking and rambling clubs, and the monthly men’s breakfast in Anston. They all play a vital role in supporting men in difficult circumstances.”
“Those places were built on the back of coalmining—a proud tradition of honest hard work, offering a sense of purpose and meaning for generations of young men. We should not simply look back with rose-tinted spectacles, but after the closure of the pits, we have too often struggled to replace that social fabric for men. These remain brilliant communities with a long-standing sense of solidarity and camaraderie, but too many within them still feel lost. Even worse, too many men feel victimised or attacked. I was recently struck by the words of musician Sam Fender in a newspaper interview. Speaking about the towns in the north-east of England that he grew up in, he said lads were “being shamed all the time and made to feel like they’re a problem.”
“I agree with the hon. Member, who makes a characteristically pithy point. John Leaver, who does incredible work with men in tough times in Kiveton Park and Wales in my constituency, is in many ways the inspiration for the debate and the campaign I intend to run in Rotherham. John works with men and women, but has extensive experience of the particular issues that men face in his area. He has often been the person telling me of another suicide, and not infrequently it is somebody he knows well, played football with, went to school with or is an old family friend. He spoke to me about the effect of the decline of post-industrial towns and villages, such as Kiveton Park, Dinnington, Maltby and Thurcroft in my constituency, on men and notions of masculinity.”
“At the moment, the causative link between gambling addiction and suicide is not given appropriate recognition. There are broader issues. Although the issue of men’s mental health is complex, there are specific policy areas that the Government must confront. First, the rates of men taking their own lives are highest in the most deprived communities. The suicide rate in the most deprived 10% of areas in England in the two years from 2017 to 2019 was 14.1%—almost double the rate in the least deprived areas. Indeed, rates of men taking their own lives in the regions of England are almost double what they are in London. Tackling poverty and insecure work across our country is a Labour mission, and it is one that will save lives.”
“I have met two local mothers who are fighting for justice after their sons, both of whom were hard-working, talented and honourable men, took their own lives far too young as a result of spiralling online gambling addictions. Social media and technology have allowed vulnerable users easier access to gambling. A report found two years ago that there had been a 43% annual rise in demand for NHS gambling clinics, and that one in three of those patients had already attempted to take their own lives. It is estimated that every year there are more than 400 gambling-related suicides in England—and those are the ones we know of. I have before urged the Government to consider ways in which we can empower coroners courts, and indeed place responsibilities on coroners, to look at these issues in a robust and rigorous manner.”
“That service in my hon. Friend’s constituency sounds vital—just like those in my constituency. The focus on veterans in particular is critical. Suicide does not simply affect the person taking their own life. Families lose loved ones and towns and villages are scarred by the traumatic loss of people with great promise and talent. The number of men who kill themselves every year is eclipsed by the number of people affected by their loss. I will use my role as the local MP to press the Government to take action. There are specific policy issues that I want to raise. I am very aware of specific issues to do with gambling and male suicide.”
“Men, especially our young men, are spending less time outside and less time meeting people and communicating in person—all things that make us far happier and healthier. They are often sat alone for hours being bombarded with algorithms showing unrealistic representations of life, or communicating through anonymous group chats. Research shows that self-harm content has sometimes been allowed to flourish on social media by companies failing to remove explicit images and encouraging those engaging with such content to befriend one another. The arrival of smartphones has taken place in parallel with sharp rises in depression and anxiety in our young people. Of particular concern is the impact that mobile phones have on our young people. The average 12-year-old now spends 29 hours a week on their phone—equivalent to doing a part-time job.”
“New technology and social media can help efforts to combat men in difficult times: the internet can allow faster access to mental health provisions and can provide a network. However, it has been clear for more than a decade now that technology and social media can be deeply damaging to mental health, eroding confidence, often siloing rather than enhancing our communities, and exposing people to potentially harmful material. I know that many colleagues in the House have been moved by the Netflix drama “Adolescence”, which shines a light on the way the internet can remould ideas of masculinity and purpose—completely unbeknown to those closest to the 13-year-old boy in that drama.”
“There is a direct link and we should not shy away from acknowledging, confronting and talking about it. When we talk about tackling poverty, we are talking about saving lives, too. Secondly, we must save our NHS. This Government inherited a dilapidated health service and a particularly severely under-resourced mental health service. Fourteen years of under-investment and chaotic reform have hindered efforts to grasp this crisis. Long delays for treatment and diagnosis mean that so many men cannot get the support that they need and face worsening mental health in the meantime. Thirdly, in my view we must be bolder in acknowledging the role that technology and social media have played in this crisis.”
“Absolutely, and my hon. Friend has done so much admirable work in this area, long before my time in the House, so I can only learn from her. One point about suicide and male suicide is that an array of policy issues feed into it. This should not be a policy concern for the Government in silo; it should be part of every policy area, and every Department should have those concerns about mental health and suicide protection at its heart. I was talking about mobile phones and the effect they have had. Since 2010, the average time that teens spend with friends each day has fallen by 65%. I applaud recent Government announcements about reviewing those policy areas, but I urge them to grasp the nettle when it comes to technology, phones, young people and mental health. In a decade’s time I believe we will wonder why we did not do so far sooner.”
“Rest assured, I will be challenging the Government every step of the way to be ambitious in this agenda, and to ensure that policies will work for every town and village in Rotherham. Locally, I will be setting up my Rotherham taskforce to hold authorities to account, working with men and women who are on the front line confronting this issue. We will lead the ongoing awareness campaign and ensure that professionals, and local and national Government, treat this issue with the seriousness it deserves. I am grateful for the opportunity to speak about this important issue, and I hope that by doing so we begin more conversations across our borough. Together, we can bring about meaningful change, and save lives.”
“The work of Rotherham health and wellbeing board, and the South Yorkshire integrated care system is hugely commendable, not least the emphasis on improving data and evidence to ensure effective and timely interventions, and providing tailored, targeted support to priority groups and effective bereavement support to those affected by men taking their own lives. Those plans sit within strategies to tackle loneliness, health inequality and domestic abuse. I have committed to holding regular meetings with all GP practices in my constituency, and other support groups, to help tackle male suicide. We will hear from the Minister shortly about the Government’s national efforts, and from conversations with him I have no doubt that he grasps the severity of this crisis and the urgency with which this Government must confront it.”
“Some of the chat was mundane: they were finding their work more boring, or they had had a good weekend with the family. Others were dealing with the most impossible trauma that put all else—in particular my election campaign—into stark perspective. Afterwards, everyone walked away ready to face the week, however big the challenges ahead. I have since met so many men who use that service. One of the first things I did once elected was to bring Andy’s Man Club to Parliament. I promise to continue to champion its work, and the work of many others. I also regularly meet local health practitioners in Rotherham to hear their strategies to bring down the rate of men ending their own lives locally.”
“I am grateful to the hon. Member, who has a remarkable ability to bring that important issue into any debate or intervention he makes. He is the most vociferous campaigner on that cause. I support him in that, and I know the Minister will also be listening. I want to finish with the action I will take as the local MP. First, I pledge to continue to support the brilliant services we already have. I remember attending my first Andy’s Man Club in Maltby during the general election campaign. I must admit I was slightly cynical. I had seen the marketing, but questioned how effective or useful that informal meeting would be. I was blown away. Over the course of a few hours, a group of blokes spoke about their weeks, and their problems, over a cup of tea.”
“Does the hon. Gentleman appreciate that, although this is different from the healthcare services we currently have, we have a legal framework that deals with many of these conflicting issues as and when they arise in lots of different circumstances that are not completely adjacent to these?”
“Does it need to be legitimised by Parliament, or can it be undertaken by a Minister? I do not think I need to expand greatly on the point, but we can all imagine circumstances in which clinicians are compromised in their view of the duty of care that they have to the patient. When this process begins in this jurisdiction, it needs to be clear what that is.”
“I want to raise some more issues that need to be considered in the light of the provision for aspects of civil liability in this process. That is why last night I supported the amendment in the name of my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich, which was not passed, relating to guidance for doctors in certain circumstances during this process. I raise those points about the standard of care and the duty that doctors and clinicians will be working to throughout the process for the record, and so that the Government and my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley can take them forward. I raise those questions not because they are unanswerable—I think they are answerable—but because we need to work out exactly what we are asking our doctors to work to, and what form that guidance comes in.”
“I welcome the amendments tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley. As I think she accepts, given that she tabled the amendments, there is an oddity with the Bill as drafted that has to be fixed, and I think the amendments would do that. I appreciate that there is some force to the argument of the hon. Member for East Wiltshire. I would be interested to hear what the Minister says, but it seems to me that there is a balancing act between ensuring that medical practitioners and clinicians are working in an environment in which they do not constantly feel the heat of a lawyer’s breath on their neck, and ensuring protections. There is some force to the argument for removing the clause altogether, but on balance I see more force in the argument that we should have more clarity.”
“My intervention is on something completely different. I have been reminded that in Australia, there is a specific clause that relates to the provision in this amendment almost word for word, so I think the hon. Member for East Wiltshire may have been incorrect in his comments.”
“I had hoped that debate on this clause would be straightforward, with the Committee seeing that it clearly strengthens the safeguards around assisted dying.”
“We are developing a new process in our healthcare system that will affect how our society and culture works, and creating a new legal process, which we had lengthy discussions about when discussing the provisions that will replace clause 12, in the debate over the panel. In my mind, it is wholly appropriate to have an offence specifically in this very new area. I cannot see any weight to the argument that it undermines the law of homicide in our country and jurisdiction. Respectfully, I cannot see how Members who have been, understandably, worried about the Bill cannot see that this only strengthens it. I would gently say that the arguments that this somehow undermines the law of murder or homicide are slightly disingenuous.”
“You intimated, Mr Dowd, that we can speak for as long as we want, but I will not speak for long on this clause, partly because I fear that we are making a mountain out of a molehill. The clause creates new criminal offences; I am not a criminal lawyer, but that is my reading of the clause and the amendments tabled to it by my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley. There are an array of reasons why criminal offences are legislated for. One good reason is to provide deterrence against committing such an offence. If the Bill receives Royal Assent, we are entering new ground.”
“5. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to the mineworkers’ pension scheme on the living standards of the recipients of that pension.”
“At the last general election, I made a promise to ex-miners in my constituency that a Labour Government would deliver justice on the MPS investment reserve fund and return it to its members. I am delighted that at the end of last year, this Government delivered, providing a boost of more than 32% to their pensions. However, in my constituency there are more than 600 BCSSS members, who are still really concerned about this issue, so I would welcome the Minister’s answer on that. Can she reassure them and me that the trustees will continue to update the members of that scheme? At the moment, there is a degree of uncertainty on what progress can be made over the coming months.”
“I have a genuine question: is the hon. Lady of the view that families’ views about whether the decision is right for the individual should be considered by the panel, tribunal or judge, or is it just their views about eligibility under clause 1?”
“I have been rightly and fairly challenged in the hon. Member’s speech, but the difference is that if a family member has a right to appeal in the internal process, that family member would have to be a party in the original hearing. The whole point of the panel is that a person comes to it with their application. The family have the right to put information before the panel, but they do not have the right to make their case to the panel, because their views on the application are not relevant. Information that they might have is relevant, but their views are not. That is why there is a disparity between the person’s ability to appeal internally against a refusal of their application, and third parties having to take other routes. I hope that that offers some clarity as to why I am comfortable with the difference between the two.”
“Can you see why, as I set out in my speech, the “beyond reasonable doubt” burden is not appropriate for the task of this panel?”
“I know that the hon. Lady has been on her feet for some time, but I just want to explore the difference between what a jury is doing and what this panel is doing. Let us, for example, consider the issue of coercion and a case where there is no evidence that the person is being coerced in any way, but of course the panel has not asked everyone in that person’s life. It has not heard evidence from everyone. There is no factual matrix determining what has happened or what has not happened. Can the panel sit there and say, “We are sure,” or do you think it would have to investigate all the circumstances of that person’s life and interview everyone that is in and around their social circle to be sure that they have not been coerced?”
“It came up in the debates last week that we heard some evidence from medical practitioners on how decisions and assessments were better made when done collaboratively. That means that we need to keep them independent but that, where possible, doctors should be working together in this process. Does my hon. Friend agree that amendment 459, tabled by the hon. Member for Richmond Park, may assist in that?”
“Does my hon. Friend agree that she is making a powerful case against amendment 468? A multitude of conversations and different circumstances will need to be taken into account; it is wholly inappropriate to have a mandated question in primary legislation. We should go back to clause 1, which I think the Bill is actually about. It states that the person must have “a clear, settled and informed wish to end their own life”. Does my hon. Friend agree that that is what is at the heart of the Bill, rather than decisions about what is in the person’s best interests?”
“The amendment that the hon. Member is supporting speaks of a doctor having to consider what is “in the person’s best interests”, which is wholly subjective. Does he not agree that the same difficulties he identifies with the current drafting are extrapolated greatly by the amendment?”