HL Deb 08 November 2000 vol 618 cc1537-8

(" .—(1) If it appears to a chief officer of police or a director of social services of a local authority that the conditions set out in subsection (2) are satisfied in the case of an individual, the chief officer or (as the case may be) the director may apply to the High Court for an order under this section to be made in respect of the individual.

(2) The conditions are that—

  1. (a) a disqualification order made in respect of the individual is no longer in force, and
  2. (b) the individual has acted in such a way (whether before or after the order ceased to be in force) as to give reasonable cause to believe that an order under this section is necessary to protect children in general, or any children in particular, from serious harm from him.

(3) An application under this section may be made at any time after the disqualification order ceased to be in force.

(4) If the High Court is satisfied that the conditions set out in subsection (2) are satisfied, it must order that the disqualification order is to be restored; otherwise it must dismiss the application.

(5) Where an order is made under this section, section 33 has effect with the following modifications—

  1. (a) in subsection (3), the reference to the individual being under the age of 18 when he committed the offence against a child is to be read as a reference to his being under that age when the order under this section was made,
  2. (b) in subsections (3)(a) and (4)(a), references to the relevant date are to be read as references to the date on which the order under this section was made.
  3. (c) in subsection (5)(a), the reference to the individual's circumstances changing since the disqualification order was made is to be read as a reference to his circumstances changing since the order under this section was made.

(6) For the purposes of this section a disqualification order is no longer in force if a direction under section 32(3) has been given in respect of it and it is not restored by virtue of an order under this section.").

The noble and learned Lord said: My Lords, originally this amendment was grouped with Amendments Nos. 29 and 132. The noble Baroness, Lady Blatch, is quite right. I listened to the way in which she deployed her argument on the point of—I believe that I paraphrase it accurately—the restoration of a disqualification to a previously disqualified individual, and, if I may say so, I believe that her argument had substantial merit.

We gave the matter a good deal of thought. The government amendment, which is an alternative, seeks to provide a power for the High Court to disqualify a previously disqualified person or restore to the list a previously listed person acting on the application of a chief officer of police or a director of social services of a local authority. The High Court would have the power to reinstate the disqualification order or restore the person to the list if satisfied that such a course of action was necessary for the purpose of protecting a child or children. The reinstated order would trigger all the consequences following from the original disqualification.

Therefore, I am most grateful to the noble Baroness. I believe that she and I both had the same purpose in mind Accordingly, I beg to move, and commend, Amendment No. 30.

On Question, amendment agreed to.

Lord Williams of Mostyn moved Amendment No. 31: After Clause 37, insert the following new clause—

("Indecent conduct towards children