Official Report: Minutes of Evidence

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McCartney): I welcome the Minister of Justice, David Ford, and Martine McKillop, head of the crime reduction branch in the community safety unit in the Department of Justice. The Minister obviously knows the routine. If you would just make your presentation on Kathleen Marshall's report and the recommendations, we will open the session up to other members for questions. The session will be recorded in Hansard for the public record. Over to you, Minister.

Mr Ford (The Minister of Justice): Thank you very much, Deputy Chair. I think this is the first time you have been in the Chair for one of my many visits, so —

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McCartney): The Attorney General made the same point. The hand of history is on my shoulder, as Tom Elliott said.

Mr Ford: Anyway, I welcome the opportunity to discuss the actions that my Department has taken to date to address child sexual exploitation (CSE) following the publication last November of the report of the independent inquiry into CSE led by Professor Kathleen Marshall. I understand that the Committee received a briefing from Professor Marshall and Derek Williamson of Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJINI) last week, and at the outset, I take this opportunity to publicly thank and commend Professor Marshall and her review team for their work on this very important issue.

As Members will be aware, the former Health Minister and I established the inquiry in September 2013. Its terms of reference were clear. They were to establish the nature of CSE in Northern Ireland; measure the extent to which it occurs; examine the effectiveness of the current arrangements; and make recommendations for the future. As members will also be aware, the report contains 17 key and 60 supporting recommendations across a wide range of Departments and agencies. That fact alone clearly demonstrates the importance of developing partnership approaches and the need to take future actions together to address this dreadful issue. By doing so, we seek to ensure that our response is as proportionate and effective as possible.

The report is clear that CSE is happening in Northern Ireland and that it takes many forms. A key message is that CSE is acknowledged as a risk for all children and young people, though specific groups of young people are identified as potentially more at risk. Perpetrators of that type of crime abuse the trust that vulnerable young people place in them. That type of exploitative relationship should be recognised and firmly placed in the wider context of sexual abuse. It is an appalling crime, and I am sure that, as awareness of that form of abuse increases, more cases will be identified.

The report acknowledged the improvements in recent years in the criminal justice system but was clear that more needs to be done. I welcome that acknowledgement, and I am clear that we must continue with such improvements. You will have received a briefing paper outlining the recommendations that relate to the DOJ and the actions that have been taken since the publication of the report. I take this opportunity to outline those actions.

The report makes two key recommendations for the Department of Justice. Those are recommendation 9, which is underpinned by four supporting recommendations, and recommendation 14. However, one supporting recommendation is allocated to my Department that I believe we do not have the locus to deliver. That is supporting recommendation 46, which refers to CSE forming part of mandatory training for all legal professionals dealing with child abuse cases. It states that that should be made the responsibility of the PPS, the Northern Ireland Bar and the Judicial Studies Board. Delivery of that recommendation would not be within my gift. Nevertheless, I will write to each organisation in the spirit of cooperation to ensure that that recommendation is drawn to their attention.

A departmental working group that was established to contribute to the inquiry was reconstituted to consider the recommendations relevant to the justice system and to develop a departmental response. That group consists of representatives from across the justice system. I have now had the opportunity to consider their views, and I have accepted all those recommendations that fall solely to the Department to deliver. I have also accepted in principle the two key and additional supporting recommendations where my Department is co-joined, and my officials will work with colleagues in the respective lead Departments to assist in the timely delivery of all accepted recommendations.

I am determined to maintain momentum on the issue and to ensure that progress made to date continues. My Department will mirror the timeline that my colleague Jim Wells established and will begin developing an action plan by March. It is likely that that action plan will be developed using a thematic approach, as a number of clear themes were identified in the report. By way of illustration, there is a need to build upon the work already begun to continue to raise awareness, particularly in schools. I am confident that policing and community safety partnerships (PCSPs) will continue to play their part locally. The Department will also support the Safeguarding Board's work as it brings forward a programme of work in that area.

Two of the supporting recommendations for the PSNI refer to PCSPs. In delivering the community safety strategy and developing local action plans, PCSPs are a crucial link to communities, allowing them to identify issues of critical concern, as well as acting to build confidence and trust in local communities to enable reporting of all crimes.

The most recent figures drawn from the Northern Ireland crime survey show public confidence in policing running at around 80%. That has not varied significantly over the last five years, with similar figures for the Policing Board and the Police Ombudsman.

The criminal justice system needs to continue to be informed by victims' views. Only by actively listening to them and their experiences can the services offered to them improve. As Justice Minister, I want to make sure that everyone has access to justice. For vulnerable adults and young people, that means tendering the services and support that we provide to encourage them to come forward to meet their individual needs and to enable them to give their best possible evidence.

Recent service improvements include the publication of the new victim charter, setting out victims' entitlements and the services that should be provided to them. The victim and witness care unit provides a single point of contact for victims and witnesses for as much of the criminal justice process as possible. Checks are built in to ensure that vulnerable and intimidated witnesses are properly supported. There is also the NSPCC's young witness service, which is unique in Northern Ireland, providing support to young people at court.

Another key service that particularly helps young people is the registered intermediary schemes. Those communication specialists help those with significant communication difficulties to give evidence to the police and at trial. Around 60% of the requests to date have involved a young person. Following the evaluation of the scheme, I will announce the way forward. While significant progress has been made to improve support for vulnerable witnesses, there is no doubt that much more needs to be done. A witness charter will be brought forward as part of the next victim and witness strategy action plan. We will also be providing for the most vulnerable witnesses to have their cross-examination video recorded. That is the one special measure that has not yet been commenced.

This is a challenging programme of further work at a time when resources are limited. However, there is one area that I believe needs to remain a priority. It is also important that cross-sectoral working is developed to create more effective working practices and to improve, as appropriate, arrangements for the timely sharing of information. While the governance arrangements are continuing to be developed, it is envisaged that the departmental working group will evolve into a delivery group, to which the PPS and the PSNI have been invited. The current thinking is that the group will report to the Criminal Justice Board until the point where the agreed action plan is sufficiently progressed for it to be mainstreamed into the delivery structures for the stopping domestic and sexual violence and abuse strategy, which is due for publication this spring.

To ensure that there is a coordinated cross-departmental response to the recommendations, my Department will be represented at a senior officials group, which the Minister of Health also established. My officials recently met with Derek Williamson and outlined the progress made, as well as the current thinking on the way forward. I am pleased to report that that was a very positive meeting, and, as a member of the review team, his views are regarded as a key indicator that we are on the right track.

In closing, and building on the theme of acting together, the development of our response should also be cognisant of the good work that the Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland is doing. I am confident that the outworkings of its thematic review, which is yet to conclude, will also inform our approach. I and my officials remain committed to ensuring that future actions are taken by all Departments and agencies working together to tackle this issue.

I am happy to take any questions from the Committee.

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McCartney): Thank you very much for that, Minister. The correspondence says that a departmental working group will head up your Department's approach to the recommendations. Will it then formulate the action plan?

Mr Ford: It will be responsible for formulating our action plan, but there is also the issue that the cross-departmental group led by Health is dealing with.

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McCartney): When the action plan is ready, will an implementation process run alongside it?

Mr Ford: Yes, I imagine that we will report on that to the Committee. I am not sure whether Martine has a timescale for that at this stage.

Ms Martine McKillop (Department of Justice): As the Minister said, we are mirroring the Department of Health's time frame, which is to have an action plan developed by the end of March. We will then compile an implementation plan. The action plan will be developed by the departmental working group, which involves the key members of the criminal justice family, such as the youth justice and probation bodies and other areas in the core Department. We will all work together to implement that action plan.

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McCartney): The end of March?

Ms McKillop: Yes, March 2015.

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McCartney): This point was made to Kathleen Marshall at her briefing last week: there appeared to be gaps. All the agencies were working themselves, but there seemed to be gaps in the system, and the gaps appeared to be exploited. That is the best way I can put it. Are we reasonably confident now that those gaps are at least being closed?

Ms McKillop: The report certainly gives that opportunity. As the Minister said, there is a cross-departmental working group, led by Health, composed of senior officials. Our working group will certainly feed into that overarching action plan in the hope of plugging all those gaps.

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McCartney): A recommendation in the report was around looking at legislative proposals as well. Is that part of the working group, or it is part of the cross-sectoral groups?

Mr Ford: There will be significant issues for the Department to follow through in the working group. The reality is that there are quite complex issues to be addressed around legislation, so it will take some time — certainly into the next mandate — before we are in a position to bring forward specific recommendations for the Department's responsibilities.

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McCartney): Will they be scoped out, or are you just going to wait until you are ready before you announce them?

Mr Ford: There will be a lot of scoping out to be done over the coming months.

Mr Douglas: Thank you, Minister. This question is indirectly related to your presentation. Thank you for that. I visited the Probation Board on the Newtownards Road this morning. I was hugely impressed by its work. I know that you have been to see the work it does. The issue about managing sex offenders in the community has been raised before. Obviously, the fear for some of the victims is that they could end up meeting their abusers on the main road or in the shopping centre. Are you convinced that you are doing enough to manage sex offenders in the community? I know that that relates back to the previous discussions about the budget, and you were very helpful in that way. Will you look at that again? It is such an important aspect for people in communities, particularly the victims of abuse.

Mr Ford: Yes. That is certainly a very significant issue for some people. You can never say that we are doing absolutely everything, but I believe that the public protection arrangements, which are largely led by probation in terms of the direct management of some of those sex offenders, are as robust in this jurisdiction as they are in other jurisdictions in these islands. There is good partnership working and liaison between probation and police. Issues are managed fairly well. The issue of the areas where particular offenders can go frequently comes up, but those are the kinds of practical issues that have to be managed on a day-to-day basis by those charged with PPANI. We have a good set of arrangements, but, inevitably, there is a lot of very complex work to be done. You have highlighted the issue of budget cuts. That is the kind of work that is being prioritised by probation. I will be meet probation later this week to discuss some of those issues.

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McCartney): Thank you very much for that. There may be other questions that come up, particularly around the action plan and the implementation plan. I am sure that the Department will supply us with the information.

Mr Ford: We will certainly keep in contact with the Committee.

The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McCartney): Thank you very much.