Vera Baird DBE KC

Chair Criminal Cases Review Commission. Member Women’s Justice Bd.
Ex Victims’ Commissioner, Solicitor Gen & PCC. Fellow St Hilda’s Oxford. Writer. Labour Party

Tag: vera baird

  • Labour Women\’s Safety Conference

    National plans making domestic and sexual violence a priority

    Labour plans which would revolutionise the way sexual crimes are handled have been welcomed by Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner Vera Baird.

    The Commissioner, who has made domestic and sexual violence a priority in her Police and Crime Plan, was at Labour’s Women’s Safety Conference.

    Delegates were discussing ways of improving justice for domestic and sex crimes, some of which have become more prevalent through the growth of the worldwide web, and improving women’s safety.

    Key note speaker Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the insults levelled at teenage girls on a daily basis in schools could be easy to dismiss but were getting worse.

    And it isn’t just abuse and harassment of girls and young women which is growing but violence in young relationships.

    The British Crime Survey has shown 16-19-year-old girls being most at risk of domestic violence, with more than 10% experiencing violence or abuse in a relationship.

    ‘Revenge porn’, where an ex posts a half-naked photo or stalks the person online, and ‘sexting’, where young girls send ‘sexy and pouting’ pictures of themselves on their mobile phones, is also growing.

    Yet delegates heard that while the number of reported domestic violence and rape crimes has gone up, the number of prosecutions have fallen since 2010.

    Additionally legal aid reforms have made it difficult for women to afford the legal costs.

    Vera Baird said: “It’s vital that changes are made not only in attitudes but our culture and that any woman or young girl suffering from any kind of abuse or violence comes forward to seek help.

    “We all have a duty to stand up against these perpetrators and bring an end to their control and I fully support this call for action to prevent violence and change attitudes.

    “I whole-heartedly agree that we cannot ignore online access to extreme and violent porn, which is changing young people’s perceptions of sex, and that education of young people to have a zero tolerance of violence in relationships is a key factor.”

    The Commissioner said changes had already been made by Northumbria Police to make it easier for victims to come forward and that officers did all they can to make the reporting of these crimes as straightforward as possible, listening to all victims and taking action to help them.

    Northumbria, together with neighbouring forces Durham and Cleveland, has introduced a new power – Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs) -allowing police to take immediate action to ban a suspected perpetrator from the victim’s address for 48 hours.

    “This gives any victim much needed breathing space providing them with the reassurance that they are safe and allowing them time to consider their options and get access to support services without pressure from the perpetrator,” Vera Baird said.

    At the conference delegates called for a new law to tackle violence against women and Labour will be gathering information ready for the election.

    This will reform the criminal justice system, bring in new national standards for policing and victim support and provide stronger prevention too.

    “Violence in any relationship should never be tolerated and ending violence against women and girls is a personal priority for me.

    “Any and every measure which can be made available to the police and other organisations which will help victims of what is sometimes a very hidden crime must be welcomed.”

  • In response: Yvette Cooper’s speech to the Fabian Conference (28th June 2014)

    Yvette Cooper once again showed us why she will be an effective Home Secretary in 45 weeks time.

    Speaking at the Fabians Society Conference she delivered a speech which was compassionate, caring and reinforced why we need a Labour Government with Ed Miliband and Yvette leading from the front for a fairer country that speaks for all.

    As a party we are right to oppose the bedroom tax, it hurts too many people – it is not right that people have to make the choice of whether to feed themselves or not because they can\’t afford the ever increasing heating bills and bedroom tax. It is only our party that is standing up and saying the bedroom tax is wrong.

    As Yvette states, Ed Miliband has kept Labour united, focused on what we should be tackling and building a vision for Britain. Ed has ensured that MPs, Councillors, MEPs, and latterly, PCCs are working in communities in every neighbourhood delivering for local people – we are united together in doing all we can to win the General Election. We have the determination, we have the policies and we all know what is at stake if the Conservatives win another term in 2015.

    During the Shadow Home Secretary’s speech she mentioned that prosecutions for domestic and sexual violence have dropped even though reported crimes are going up, 999 waits across the country are going up and fewer crimes are being solved. Here in Northumbria we have seen our budget cut by £67 million since 2010, we have had to look at every option available to protect neighbourhood policing – had the Tories had their way we would have seen frontline policing cut to the skeleton – as Labour Police & Crime Commissioner for Northumbria there was no way I was going to allow this to happen, so we are relocating police stations in to the heart of communities, looking at sharing premises with organisations such as the fire and health service to save money, this making our police bases more accessible to the public and keeping officers on the beat, we are then disposing of old properties, cutting tiers of management and have looked for savings at every level to protect neighbourhood policing. With the election of a Labour government we know that neighbourhood policing will be a priority on Yvette’s agenda.

    Theresa May really does believe that policing is only fighting crime – we need to put preventing crime back on the agenda as the last Labour government did. The Home Secretary declined my invitation to stop off and see excellent policing in action when she was coming through the force area to go to the Scottish Tory Party Conference earlier this year – she has still to accept my invitation to see first class police officers trying to deliver for communities despite massive budget cuts.

    I’m pleased that Yvette recognised that Labour PCCs have worked hard to collaborate with each other and with local councils and partners, this is what we were elected to do and we continue to urge Commissioners of other political persuasion to do the same.

    When delivering public services, it frightens me that the market is dominated by Capita, G4S, Serco, Sodexho and Atos – I don’t have have confidence in these companies, yet the governments commissioning process is pushing them at us and as Yvette rightly states they are crowding out smaller organisations, local voluntary groups and failing to deliver value for money too.

    Northumbria’s Probation service is recognised as one of the best in the country, now their future is uncertain as the government has cut up and privatised the service to the point were morale is rock bottom and the staff are working in a system with no direction from government apart from to cut costs at any measures. The services that are being dismantled are crucial to an effective rehabilitation process and getting it wrong now will have consequences for many years.

    Everyone is in favour of introducing aftercare to prevent re-offending by people sentenced to one year or less. But the coalition’s Crime Minister made clear, in answer to a question from me, in May, that this will “not happen soon” but after “we have waited for the cohort to build up” whereas if it had been given to local probation trusts, the best team to deliver it, no doubt it would have been in place by now, preventing more crimes and protecting more victims. It was a showpiece reason for making these changes but the best current estimate is that it won’t even start until 2016. This is worrying

    A Labour government knows that resources will be tight during the next Parliament, but public services will be more important than ever and it is Labour’s different set of values to the current government that will deliver a difference. As Yvette states “for the many, not the few; for social justice, not social fragmentation. Labour progressive values, not Tory prejudice”

    Labour PCCs will both inform and support the next Labour reforms in criminal justice. We say yes to services that are personalised, giving power to individuals, families and communities; Yes to creating partnerships and collaboration. Labour PCCs believe in this rather than fragmentation and enforced competition.

    Long term prevention is a Yes from us and we fully support raising professional standards.

    Labour values will make a difference to our country and as Ed Miliband said nearly a year ago “Britain can do better” I’m up for the fight, I have implemented many Labour policies since my election as PCC in November 2012 – one of the proudest being a Living Wage for all who work for Northumbria police. We brought the cleaning team back in house so we could pay them a living wage.

    Let’s make the next 45 weeks count and come May 2015 we will have a brighter future for our communities – with Ed Miliband as Prime Minister and Yvette Cooper as Home Secretary.

  • Commissioner takes concerns to Parliament

    Northumbria\’s Police and Crime Commissioner is joining forces with Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner, Tony Lloyd in raising concerns about proposed legislation which they fear could make it easier for bogus taxi drivers to prey on vulnerable people.

    The proposed Deregulation Bill – aims to free private hire and taxis from red tape. However, the legislation includes several measures on the private hire trade which the Commissioner has described as giving grave cause for concern.

    Vera Baird has concerns about the measures which include: allowing people who do not hold a private hire vehicle driver’s licence to drive a licensed private hire vehicle when it is not being used as such; standardising drivers’ licences at three years, and five years for operators; and allowing private hire vehicles to subcontract each other across licensing boundaries.

    Mrs Baird has raised her concerns with all the MPs in the Northumbria region. In a letter, Vera Baird QC, says clauses in the Deregulation Bill currently making its way through Parliament will make it easier for bogus drivers to prey on vulnerable people, and make it harder for the authorities to ensure vehicles are being operated properly. The letter also mentions the potential impact on community safety and has asked for MPs support to help persuade the government to remove these clauses.

    Vera Baird said: \”The proposed measures could have the unintended consequences of making vehicles less safe and make it harder for the authorities to ensure vehicles are being operated properly.

    \”The possibility that unlicensed individuals could operate taxis is a cause for significant concern.

    \”Effective stewardship will require local authorities and individuals to sign up to the Disclosure and Barring Service update service, which will allow authorities to receive information about convictions during a licence term . The system needs to be robust enough to handle the extra work – we’ve seen the difficulties that the passport agency is currently having, I fear the government will not have the necessary resources in place to deal with the increased workload. This needs addressing.”

    The Government also needs to address “out of area taxis” coming in to an area – it is only right that taxis licensed in an area serve that area.

    “The Government needs to have an honest and open debate on these matters and proper scrutiny needs to happens. Parliament needs to get this bill right first time.

    “I call upon David Cameron to work with the Law Commission who have undertaken a lengthy review of the current legislation and has already drafted a Taxi Bill which would introduce a national system of proper regulation that would begin to address the issue of inconsistency between authorities. The Law Commission’s more comprehensive measures would be subject to significantly more scrutiny and consultation than the rushed measures in the Deregulation Bill.

    \”The priority has to be to make sure that taxis and private hire vehicles are a safe and secure way of getting home after a night out. Measures in the Deregulation Bill endanger this. Local residents should always be safe in the taxi they book and I know taxi drivers would welcome the additional security that changes to this bill would bring for them”

  • Miliband calls for “proper intervention” into police conduct during the Orgreave miners clash

    Labour Leader, Ed Miliband and Vera Baird – Calling for Answers.

    From Labourlist – www.labourlist.org

    The Guardian has reported today that Miliband has become one of the most senior politicians to call for a “proper investigation” into the confrontation between police and miners at Orgreave – known as the Battle of Orgreave

    Thirty years after the clashes between police and miners at Orgreave, the drive to push for a full investigation into alleged police alleged misconduct both during and after the incident continues. The police are accused of physically assaulting miners, lying under oath and perverting the course of justice when it came to the prosecution of 95 miners.

    In light of these accusations, in November 2012 the South Yorkshire police referred themselves to the Independent Police and Complaints Commission (IPCC). But over a year and a half later and the IPCC says they’re still “scoping” existing evidence so they can decide whether they’ll hold a full investigation

    Miliband, speaking to miners and representatives from Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign at Hatfield Main colliery in his Doncaster constituency, recently described the miner’s strike as a “just cause”. He went on to call for a full investigation into the polices actions:

    “You were fighting for justice, for your community, for equality, for all the things that mattered.

    The values you fought for are the values that we have to take forward for the future.

    Very specifically, there does need to be a proper investigation about what happened at Orgreave. We support that proper investigation taking place, as a matter of truth and a matter of justice.”

    A Labour party spokeperson further explained what a “proper investigation” meant: “The IPCC is looking into whether they should investigate. We want them to do the right thing.”

    Northumbria’s police and crime commissioner Vera Baird QC echoed Miliband’s sentiments. Speaking with the the Observer she said:

    “The IPCC is running out of time for trust to be sustained. One wants to have faith in the publicly established statutory organisation that investigates complaints against the police, but it’s impossible not to ask yourself: ‘What’s keeping them?’”

    Miliband’s bold stance is surely a welcome one, particularly for the miners and their families directly involved in and affected by the clashes – after thirty years it’s about time the matter was investigated thoroughly.