Crime and Policing Bill in the House of Lords
The Crime and Policing Bill has now moved into the House of Lords after moving through the policy process in the House of Commons. Introduced on the 25th of February 2025 and presented as a method to support the Safer Streets Mission of government, it has gone through the House of Commons after rigorous legislative scrutiny. After passing both the 1st and 2nd readings, it then moved to a Public Bill Committee, in which we provided written evidence to the committee. Then, moving on to the report stage, in which amendments were debated. Now, it stands at the House of Lords, having passed the 1st reading, now standing at the second reading in the House of Lords.
For a quick refresher on how the policy process works, see below:
First reading:
The first, official stage of a bill. During the first reading, the short title of the bill is read out, then an order for the bill to be published is made. Usually accompanied by explanatory notes, this is when the full text of the bill is made public usually accompanied by explanatory notes. There is no vote that takes place, and it cannot be discussed or amended in any way.
Second reading:
A bill is first debated in the second reading; a minister opens the debate with shadow ministers and backbench MPs having the opportunity to make their points about the proposed legislation.
An MP can table what is called a ‘reasoned amendment’ opposing the bill. If the Speaker selects the reasoned amendment for a decision, it will be voted on before the vote on second reading.
In the case that a bill is defeated at the second reading, it cannot be re-introduced during the same parliamentary session. Defeat at this stage is exceptionally rare, with the last one occurring in 1986. After a vote on the second reading, the House approves a programme motion which sets out the timetable for the stages remaining.
Committee stage:
Most scrutiny takes place within the Committee stage, and this is generally the longest stage of a bill’s passage, the majority of bills are referred to a public bill committee. The membership reflects the composition of the House, a government with a majority very rarely loses a vote in committee. Bills that are of major importance, or those that are highly controversial are taken in a committee of the whole House – this means all MPs can contribute to scrutiny.
During this stage there is clause-by-clause scrutiny conducted by MPs, and public bill committees can also take oral evidence from key stakeholders. In regard to clauses, each clause must be agreed to, amended or removed, and new clauses may be proposed and agreed to.
Report stage:
This stage usually takes place two weeks after the committee stage, the debate in the report stage can take place over more than a day but normally last between three and five hours.
All MPs can propose amendments or new clauses to the bill, and the Speaker decides which ones are discussed and voted on. This stage generally leads to fewer amendments being debate than at committee stage, but more amendments are made overall.
Third reading:
The third reading, as one would assume, is the final opportunity to debate a bill. This occurs normally immediately after the report stage ends – often on the same day – usually lasting up to an hour.
MPs will then vote on whether to approve the third reading of the bill.
House of Lords:
The policy process in the House of Lords follows the same bill stages as in the Commons, however, has a few key differences:
- The Lords is self-regulating, so there is no limit on time spent on debate
- During committee stage, rather than being sent to a public bill committee, the bill is usually debated on the floor of the House.
- At the third reading, a bill can be amended if the amendments focus on something that has not been voted on at a previous stage.
Policy objectives of the Crime and Policing Bill
The Crime and Policing Bill looks to be one of the major policy developments to community safety and anti-social behaviour since the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. We have tracked the progress of the Crime and Policing Bill for some time now and have provided commentary and analysis on some it’s measures. You can view one of our pieces on the bill here. The bill has a large, broad scope, which aims to achieve a plethora of policy objectives. The bill’s main objectives are as below:
- Respect orders- allowing local authorities and police to impose restrictions on people who commit anti-social behaviour, and which would include a criminal sanction on breach. Other measures will amend existing powers under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, including removing the need for the police to issue a warning before seizing vehicles associated with anti-social behaviour.
- Knife Crime - would introduce a new offence of possessing a knife or offensive weapon with intent, increase the maximum penalty for manufacturing, selling, hiring, or lending prohibited weapons, and give the police greater powers to seize knives from properties.
- Cuckooing - would include measures aimed at protecting children and vulnerable people, including creating new offences of child criminal exploitation and ‘cuckooing’, often associated with county lines drug dealing.
- Child sexual abuse - introduce several measures aimed at tackling child sexual abuse and other sexual offending. This includes implementing two recommendations from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. It would make grooming a statutory aggravating factor when sentencing an adult for a child sex offence and create a statutory duty for certain individuals to report child sexual abuse.
- Protests - would reintroduce some of the previous government’s proposals to create new offences related to protests, such as banning face coverings, pyrotechnics, and climbing war memorials.
- Stolen goods and drugs - includes measures to allow the police to enter premises without a warrant to search for electronically tracked stolen goods, and conduct drug tests in custody for a wider range of offences and drugs.
- Complaints to the police - would reform certain arrangements for the handling of complaints and conduct matters against the police, in the context of concerns about both complainants and the rights of officers under investigation. These measures were first proposed by the previous government as amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill.
- Youth radicalisation - would introduce measures aimed at tackling youth radicalisation, announced as the initial response to the ‘counter-extremism sprint’established by the government following the general election.
- Protect retail workers – introducing a new offence of assault a retail worker. Repeals section 176 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, which downgraded the police response to so-called ‘low-value shop theft’
- Protect emergency workers – new offences to protect emergency workers from racially or religiously aggravated behaviour
Powers extended to Devolved Nations
The Crime and Policing Bill as introduced to parliament on the 25th of February 2025, contains a mix of measures, some of which apply or are extended to Northern Ireland; and some matters which are transferred and as a result, require the Assembly’s legislative consent. Some of the powers, not originally extended to devolved nations, such as Northern Ireland, were extended following debate. On the 23rd of June 2025, a legislative consent motion on the provisions located within the crime and policing bill was moved by Naomi Long, Minister of Justice of Northern Ireland. She proposed that 10 measures located within the Crime and Policing Bill, should be extended to Northern Ireland, following the Assembly’s legislative consent, there were no amendments to any of the provisions proposed to extend to Northern Ireland. The measures extended to Northern Ireland are:
- an offence of cuckooing
• an updated offence of possession of advice or guidance relating to the creation of child sexual abuse images
• strengthening and streamlining the current sex offender notification requirements (’sex offender register’)
• an offence of spiking
• an offence of encouraging or assisting serious self-harm
• Offences relating to electronic devices for use in vehicle theft
• Reforms to the confiscation of the proceeds of crime
• Proceeds of civil recovery: costs and expenses
• Implementation of international law enforcement information sharing agreements
• Criminal liability of bodies corporate and partnerships where senior manager commits offence (Identification Doctrine).[1]
Other amendments included various clauses that enable Scottish Ministers to make amendments that are withing Scottish devolved competence.
This relates to Clause 66, page 186, line 8
Key Amendments going into the House of Lords:
As the bill goes through to the House of Lords, a variety of amendments will be considered for debate. We will highlight some of the key amendments as they are found:
Bob Blackman, NC158: A which clause would make clear that rough sleeping, passive begging, or visibly using public space for shelter or subsistence does not, on its own, amount to anti-social behaviour. It would place a legal duty on authorities to consider context, vulnerability, and proportionality when assessing whether behaviour constitutes anti-social behaviour.
The conservative party also pushed two new amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill on the 17th of June, aiming to toughen sentences for violent weapon possession and to crack down on fly-tipping and roadside littering. One amendment seeks to increase the maximum sentence for possession of a weapon with intent to commit unlawful violence from four years to 14. Another aims to call for new powers to hit drivers who litter from their vehicles with three penalty points on their licence.
Increasing maximum sentence for weapon with intent to commit unlawful violence Amendment 175:
Clause 25, page 30, line 24, leave out “4” and insert “14”
Member's explanatory statement -
This amendment would increase the maximum sentence for possession of a weapon with intent to commit unlawful violence from four to 14 years. The Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation recommended an increase in his review following the Southport attack.
Fly tipping Amendment 173:
Clause 9, page 17, line 34, at end insert
“(1A) Guidance issued about the enforcement of section 33 offences must ensure that, where a person is convicted of a relevant offence, they are liable for the costs incurred through loss or damage resulting from the offence.”
Member's explanatory statement -
This amendment would ensure the Secretary of State's guidance on fly-tipping makes the person responsible for fly-tipping, rather than the landowner, liable for the costs of cleaning up.
Conclusion
The bill continues to make headway, making significant changes to the anti-social behaviour policy landscape. The bill has been thoroughly scrutinised, our own CEO, Rebecca Bryant gave evidence as to the bill’s application and interference with human rights; we have published a written response to this scrutiny. As the bill proceeds, more amendments will be proposed to the house, and debate will be underway. As this happens, we will identify to our members the amendments of note, which we support, and why.
Of course, our membership body is the foundation of our influence and policy objectives, and so if you have any questions or input on the Crime and Policing Bill, or other policy work, please contact:
Harrison Box, Policy Officer
[1] https://www.justice-ni.gov.uk/news/spiking-be-dedicated-offence-northern-ireland#:~:text=Some%20provisions%20of%20the%20Crime,feeling%20violated%2C%20vulnerable%20and%20confused.
