EXTENT (Hansard, 17 June 1998)

§ Mr. Ingram
I beg to move amendment No. 89, in page 9, line 5, leave out 'and 15' and insert `, (Information for victims) and 15'.

The Second Deputy Chairman
With this, it will be convenient to discuss Government new clause 3—Information for victims.

§ Mr. Ingram
During the Second Reading debate, several hon. Members drew attention to the plight of victims and their need to be given some idea of when offenders would be released. That point was also raised by the noble Lord Alderdice and members of the Alliance party, who made powerful representations on behalf of victims.
Victims of an offence or their families should have the right to know when perpetrators of offences are likely to reappear in public as a consequence of their release under the Bill before the Committee. When the hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Mr. Willis) raised the matter, I said that I would be happy to consider further questions on the issue, with a view to tabling a Government amendment to tackle that point. I have done that: an amendment standing in the name of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State fulfils my commitment.
The amendment places a duty on the Secretary of State, if it is requested—that is an important point—to provide victims of an offence and members of their families with information about the prisoner sentenced for that offence. That would of course include the date on which the prisoner is to be released, if that has been set. It would also include information about whether the prisoner has made an application under the legislation, and whether it has been accepted or refused. The Secretary of State 476 would not be required to make information available if she believes that it would put a prisoner at risk. That is an important and necessary safeguard.
I should like to make one or two other points but, in view of the time available and the fact that I understand that the hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough, who raised this issue in the first place, wants to comment in the few remaining seconds, I shall not.

§ Mr. Phil Willis (Harrogate and Knaresborough)
The Liberal Democrats are extremely grateful to the Minister—first, for allowing us so much time to respond, and secondly, and more importantly, for including this very important issue in the Bill.
All the issues that have been debated tonight are incredibly important, but this element of the Bill redresses the balance for those whose lives have been wrecked as a result of terrorism. Until now, the Bill was all about the people who had perpetrated crimes and the arrangements for releasing them from prison. The amendment and the new clause redress the balance; they say that Parliament is genuinely concerned about the victims.
We would place a proviso on new clause 3(2), which we should like to follow up on Report. Although some problems surround that proviso, tonight is clearly not the time to raise them. I am grateful to the Minister for his comments.

§ Rev. Ian Paisley
I say to the hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Mr. Willis), who spoke on behalf of the bereaved in Northern Ireland, that they will in no way think that the amendment and the new clause redress the balance. The hon. Gentleman may not have meant that the amendment and the new clause fully redress the balance, but if the Committee and the House think that informing people that those who murdered their loved ones are getting out of prison does anything for those victims' sorrow, darkness and sadness, there is something very wrong.
I want to say that strongly on behalf of the people whom I represent, who have gone through the darkest of all tragedies. Some of them are mere vegetables today; their loved ones have to attend to them. To one such victim, who has been in a coma for a very long time and whose wife has to stand at his bed and attend to his every need, the amendment and the new clause will never balance anything.
There is much dispute about whether providing information to victims is a good or bad thing. Perhaps it is better for people not to know that the person who carried out such an act is being released from prison. Such knowledge could put more fear into their hearts. None the less, I am quite happy that applying for the information should be a matter for the relatives. The Committee should not think that it can balance the books just by accepting the amendment and the new clause.

§ Mr. Ingram
That is not the intention of the Government amendment and the new clause. The hon. Member for North Antrim (Rev. Ian Paisley) does not have a monopoly on compassion; he never has had. This issue is one of those particularly difficult ones. That is why the Government set up the commission under Sir Kenneth Bloomfield. I have been charged to take 477 forward some of the deeply hurtful issues to try to find a way of making them hold. The amendment and the new clause represent one of the ways in which we have given manifest support to that effort. It will not solve all the problems, but it may just begin to address them for some of the people if they so wish. I ask the hon. Gentleman to have a bit more compassion in his heart; to understand what we are trying to achieve rather than condemning it out of hand.