Clause 16 - Parenting contracts: local authorities and registered social landlords
Police and Justice Bill
2:45 pm
Martin Horwood (Shadow Minister (Environment), Environment, Food & Rural Affairs; Cheltenham, Liberal Democrat)
I think that intervention in family life is a serious, sensitive matter and the state should tread lightly and cautiously. As I have said, we Liberal Democrats welcome the idea of parenting contracts as an addition to the range of tools available to local agencies to tackle antisocial behaviour. However, to extend and expand those responsibilities to a whole range of agencies would go beyond proper caution and would, potentially, hand to agencies extremely sensitive, delicate powers that would be quite outside their comfort zones and range of experience. In fact, when the Minister said just now that such agencies could draw on the expertise of local authorities, she implicitly accepted that they do not have that expertise at the moment and thinks it unlikely that they will have it.
The Minister also asserted that many registered social landlords want these powers, but I am not so sure. If I were an officer of Cheltenham Borough Homes, or another registered social landlord, I might hesitate before getting involved in parenting matters. One can imagine the kind of liabilities that might arise from intervening wrongly or inappropriately and the kind of complexities that might be added to an already challenging job. I should be interested to know if the Minister has any evidence for registered social landlords demanding these powers, but I should be surprised if many of their officers on the ground are demanding them very loudly.
As my hon. Friend the Member for Hornsey and Wood Green said, registered social landlords often work well in partnership with local authorities and other agencies in providing a measure of broader scrutiny of estates and housing under their responsibility, with a view to trying to contain antisocial behaviour. I have seen that done well in my constituency. But, as my hon. Friend also said, they can always call on the expertise of other agencies such as local authorities to impose parenting contracts at that time. They do not need the responsibility themselves. Nevertheless, I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.