§ 1. Mr. Desmond Swayne (New Forest, West)If he will introduce mandatory minimum sentences for burglars convicted of a third offence. [40263]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Mike O'Brien)Ministers in the Conservative Government said that the implementation of section 4 of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997 depended on the Prison Service's capacity and available resources; we agree with that.
§ Mr. SwayneWill the Minister confirm that the average sentence for a third-time burglar is a mere 20 months? Does he believe that that provides adequate protection for the public, many of whom are of very modest means and have had their homes wrecked by such people?
§ Mr. O'BrienThe courts increasingly regard those who have repeatedly burgled domestic premises as very serious offenders, and the average of the tariffs that are being imposed is increasing. It is clearly right to send a message on the issue, but the Conservative Home Secretary, the right hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Howard), refused in March 1997 to set any date for implementing section 4. His press statement said:
None of the provisions of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997 have immediate effect. No dates have yet been set for implementation.The Conservatives said that they would deal with the issue as soon as Prison Service resources allowed; we have increased those resources
§ Mr. John Greenway (Ryedale)Why is the Minister so reluctant to implement the mandatory sentence for persistent burglars? Is it because he does not really believe in the concept; because he and the Home Secretary have failed to persuade the Chancellor to provide the money for the prison places; or because he knows only too well that, far from burglars being locked up under mandatory sentences, they will be let out under the Government's plans for early release, so instead of being behind bars, they will be free to burgle again?
§ Mr. O'BrienThe hon. Gentleman is guilty of mere posturing on the serious issue of crime. The nearest that the Conservatives ever got to saying when they would implement section 4 was when they said that if, for example, they could implement it by October 1999, it might have some effect after 2001. If section 4 is the Conservatives' acid test on sentencing, they did not seem in a rush to implement it, did they?
We put resources into the Prison Service that the previous Government did not even have there. We will take no lessons from the Tories on crime. Our Crime and Disorder Bill will be tough and effective, where the Tories merely postured.