Clause 15 - Disclosure of information about assessments
Drugs Bill
11:00 am
Mrs Cheryl Gillan (Shadow Minister, Home Affairs; Chesham and Amersham, Conservative)
Clause 15 deals with disclosure of information about the assessments. I have only a brief point to make, but clarification from the Minister would certainly help me, if not the rest of the Committee.
Subsection (1) states:
''An initial assessor may disclose information obtained as a result of an initial assessment to any of the following—
(a) a person who is involved in the conduct of the assessment;
(b) a person who is or may be involved in the conduct of any follow-up assessment.''
That is a specific restriction on who can have information that has been adduced from the initial assessment. Clause 17(4), however, reads:
''An initial assessor may disclose information relating to an initial assessment for the purpose of enabling a court considering an application for bail by the person concerned to determine whether subsection (2) or (3) applies.''
What is the definition of being
''involved in the conduct of the assessment'',
and to whom will it apply? Is it the police officer who took the client into custody? Is it any replacement officer who has taken over on the case, because police officers move around and their involvement is not always continuous? What about the probation officer, who will need information on the assessment to move the individual forward? We are talking about individuals who often have complex roles and are subject to intervention from various bodies. What about a prison officer or governor, who will be involved in the interim between the first assessment and any follow-up assessment if the due process of law has kicked in and the individual concerned has been put into a custodial situation, either as a result of sentencing or because they are on remand? What about a doctor or other medical staff involved in the emergency treatment of that individual?
I am sorry to throw up a range of examples, but I suggest that the issue is important if there is intended to be a restriction, qualified only by clause 17(4), on the people who can receive information from the initial assessment. Again, the Bill is narrowing down a provision, which will mean that the individual is prevented from receiving the wider help that is envisaged elsewhere in the Bill.