Member

The noble Lord, Lord Polak, supported by the noble Lords, Lord Bethell and Lord Hampton, seeks with Amendment 286A to remove the criminal offence of preventing a reporter from carrying out their duty and replacing it with a more general offence of intentionally concealing sexual abuse in any of the contexts specified. This is a real shift in focus from empowering our reporters to concealing punishment more generally. That may be the intention of the noble Lord, Lord Polak, but the proposed offence triggers when a person suspects that abuse has taken place. This is far broader and would be harder to justify or prosecute than interference with a known statutory duty. The Government’s preferred model for this type of offence is narrowly targeted, purpose-driven and clearly aligned with the mandatory reporting duty. We will reflect on what the noble Lord, Lord Polak, said, but the initial response to him and the noble Lords, Lord Bethell and Lord Hampton, is that this is a very difficult and challenging area for us.