Speeches and Statements
The Home Secretary outlines his vision for the Home Office
Speech by the Home Secretary, outlining the vision for the future of the Home Office, in December 2005.
By the time of the next General Election, whenever it comes I, as Home Secretary, want to be able to say that:
- we have a fair system of immigration and asylum that citizens understand and trust as effective;
- we have eliminated the anti-social behaviour and disrespect which still blights the lives of so many;
- we have built on our success to reduced dramatically the levels of violent crime;
- and that we have put in place a penal and criminal justice system which is genuinely focused upon promoting effective justice and preventing re-offending.
I am acutely aware that this is an ambitious agenda which requires us to place these issues at the forefront of our concern.
But we have to make these changes happen and I am determined that we will make these changes happen.
I believe that the desires of the British people are pretty clear and straightforward and can be expressed in three simple requirements.
- First and foremost people want to feel secure in their homes and everyday lives, free from abuse, disrespect and anti-social behaviour, and respected by others as they would expect themselves to respect others.
- Second, when a crime does occur, people want to feel that the offender will be caught, that justice will be done, will be carried out effectively, fairly, and hopefully swiftly, so that we live in a society based on the rule of law where other forms of revenge or retribution are outlawed and unnecessary.
- And third people expect Government and all of its agencies to do their very best both to prevent people offending in the first place and to ensure that when offenders leave the criminal justice system they will go back to ‘the straight and narrow’ and become constructive contributors to the good of society as a whole.
These ambitions can only be tackled by all parts of our society working together in partnership and by changing and reforming the services which have the duty of protecting us.
It is that process of reform and change on which the Home Office is now embarked.
In everything we do, we are seeking to work in an open, confident and interactive way. Because we understand that our ambitions cannot be achieved by ourselves alone, we know that we have to work with all of our partners – statutory or voluntary - and we are doing that.
Moreover we also know that our major pre-occupations, serious and organised crimes like people-trafficking and drug-dealing, combating terrorism from wherever it comes and dealing with migration and asylum can only be tackled by working internationally with our partners.
The days when we could hope to erect a fence to insulate this country from the rest of world are gone, if ever they existed. Splendid Isolation and celebration of the White Cliffs of Dover are not policies which answer the needs of today.
To that end we have offered positive leadership on these matters in our presidency of the European Union and the G8, and will continue to do so.
This spirit of outward-looking reform and change inspires each part of the responsibilities of the Home Office.
Crime Security and Communities
The first pillar, which deals with counter-terrorism, serious and organised crime, policing and voluntary and community organisation is led by Hazel Blears and Paul Goggins, whom I want to thank for their leadership and hard work.
The policing challenge is clear. The nature of crime is changing. At the national level, we face an evolving and increasingly potent threat from terrorists and organised criminals. At local level, communities are increasingly menaced by anti-social behaviour.
As the threats to our security change, so must our police. The police have already done much to modernise. But we need to build on this to create a service that responds better to individual needs and local circumstances but also has the flexibility and strength to confront the emerging challenges of tomorrow.
To that end we are undertaking a bold set of reforms at four levels to make this vision a reality.
At local level, we are introducing dedicated neighbourhood policing teams. By 2008, every community – an area the size of one or two local wards - will have its own dedicated team of named police and community support officers, based permanently in their area, driven by local priorities and answering the community’s concerns.
They will work with local voluntary and community organisations to establish a strong and resilient local police presence for every community in the country.
This is our top policing priority and I am determined that by 2008 every household in the country will know the names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses of the community police officers who are directly and personally responsible for their household.
At district level, we are undertaking a restructuring to strengthen both the Basic Command Unit and the Crime and Disorder Partnership link between the police and local government.
At strategic level, we are beginning the process, led by the police, of restructuring the forces to create more effective ‘strategic forces’ which will be more effective than some current smaller forces in stemming larger scale threats and defeating the major, cross-regional threats of tomorrow.
And at national level, we are establishing the Serious Organised Crime Agency to transform the effectiveness of the police in taking on the biggest crimes and the most dangerous criminals.
Furthermore we are underpinning this integrated approach with a programme of training and workforce modernisation to give all members of the police family-officers, PCSOs and police staff-the skills they need to deliver a step change in performance.
This responsive local policing is the foundation of our approach to tackling a lack of respect in our communities. Neighbourhood police teams will be able to respond quickly to local concerns about ASB. Their local knowledge will enable them to focus rapidly on troublespots and troublemakers, nipping problems in the bud before they take hold.
Part of that approach is to provide the legal powers which the police need to take on those who disrupt our daily lives. It is an approach that is already paying dividends. Between October 2003 and September 2004, over 100,000 cases of ASB were tackled and 5,000 acceptable behaviour contracts were issued.
However, tackling a lack of respect is about more than just cracking down on the most disruptive troublemakers. It is about changing attitudes and challenging people to play their part in building a decent society.
That is why we focus so strongly on offering support to parents who are finding it hard to raise their children right. I strongly support Ruth Kelly’s tough stance on school discipline.
And our ambitious TOGETHER programme is designed to build the strength of every local community partnership, reinforced by local policing.
The criminal justice system and offender management
The second Home Office pillar, which deals with prisons, probation, offender management and criminal justice reform is led by Patricia Scotland and Fiona MacTaggart, whom I want to thank for their leadership and hard work.
I believe we must make the goal of reducing reoffending the central ambition of the organisation of our correctional services. At present, more than half of crime is committed by people who have already passed through the criminal justice system. This is far too high a figure and we have to bring it down.
We need to start by acknowledging that offenders are not a homogenous group – they have very different reasons for offending and will respond to different solutions. For some the fact of prison, or even simply the threat of prison, will be enough to prevent re-offending. For others, prison is merely part of the reality of an institutional life in which the individual has little stake.
From the very first day that an offender enters prison or probation, there has to be a thorough and systematic assessment of the individual’s needs, and of their own commitment to addressing them. At the core has to be the measures that are most likely to be successful in reducing the likelihood of re-offending.
The tailored support package which results will include a range of elements including enhanced employment prospects, strong social and family links, housing, health and education.
For instance, we are a government deeply committed to education and health. But the fact remains that the least educated and least healthy people in the country are those within the criminal justice system. And their poor education and health does not only damage them. It makes them more likely to re-offend and so a greater danger to society than they need to be.
So for prisons and probation we have a substantial agenda of reform focused rigorously on reducing re-offending and so reducing crime.
Of course this approach needs to be supported by the broader reform across the Criminal Justice System which Charlie Falconer, Peter Goldsmith and I are promoting.
The courts’ resources and time must be focused on dealing speedily with the most dangerous criminals. And every part of the CJS must work better together to minimise the chances of re-offending, ensure that more offenders and caught and punished and offer victims the support they need.
Again, an ambitious programme – difficult to put into effect – but one which we are determined to achieve.
Immigration and Citizenship
The third pillar, which deals with immigration and asylum and ID cards is led by Tony McNulty and Andy Burnham, whom I want to thank for their leadership and hard work.
In February we published a comprehensive five-year plan for immigration and asylum which both meets public concerns and the needs of our nation.
It is based on the proposition that we want to encourage legal migration to work and study and that we are proud of our country’s longstanding tradition of offering asylum and refuge from tyranny.
However those aims have to be implemented through a transparent and clear system of strict controls which prevent abuses and safeguard national security and so has the confidence of the public.
That is why we are introducing an immigration points system that brings together all the current work and student schemes into a single system. The system will be make immigration fairer and more transparent, with points awarded on the basis of qualifications, work experience and job placements. It will also be flexible and it will reflect the changing needs of the jobs market.
As well as changing the way we assess asylum claims, we are also streamlining the asylum process itself to cut the bureaucracy and overlong waiting times which have so undermined confidence.
We are introducing a new asylum model. Asylum seekers will have their case handled from start to finish by a single case manager. This will allow cases to be processed more effectively and efficiently, raise the quality of decisions and enhance public confidence in the system.
It will allow genuine asylum seekers faster clearance and ensure that those who aren’t genuine are returned to their countries of origin. This will maximise deterrence against future unfounded applications.
At the same time we are strengthening our borders, for example through our e-borders initiative will provide enhanced information about passengers and their movements.
This system will be further reinforced by the introduction of biometric passports and of ID cards.
ID cards are controversial of course, but we all need to understand that we already live in a society where there are enormous databanks of information about all of us whether held by financial institutions, employers, passports and driving licences, health and education authorities or criminal justice agencies.
Moreover we all face many occasions where we need to prove our identity, whether it is to open a bank account, take out a mortgage, claim a benefit, pass through a border control, get a Criminal Records Bureau clearance or many other basic transactions.
An up-to-date ID card system will make all of these transactions easier for the individual and beneficial for the state.
- It will provide an effective mechanism to tackle crime, reduce identity fraud and improve legitimate access to services.
- It will not remove civil liberties but will give an individual greater control over his identity.
- It will not create the Big Brother state, it will help to control it.
- So again an ambitious programme of reform.
We do indeed have a long and difficult path to follow until the next General Election.
But we are building on strong foundation of increased resources, substantial reductions in crime, significant improvements on asylum and immigration.
But all of these achievements are not enough for the British people. They are not enough for me.
Our ambition has to be to use this Parliament to resolve the security concerns of the British people and to create safe environments in every community.
The challenges are big. But the prize is bigger. We have a once-in-a-generation chance to transform the power individuals have over their own security, safety and quality of life. It’s a chance the government is determined to seize.
