Clause 16 - Parenting contracts: local authorities and registered social landlords
Police and Justice Bill
2:30 pm
Hazel Blears (Minister of State (Policing, Security and Community Safety), Home Office; Salford, Labour)
This clause allows local authorities and registered social landlords to enter into parenting contracts. “Contract” is the important word. The contract is not a parenting order, but an entirely voluntary agreement between a local authority and the parents to have a contract setting out steps to be taken to support the parents in ensuring that their children do not get involved in antisocial behaviour. Amendment No. 50 would prevent local authorities from providing such support to prevent problems from escalating. A whole strand of our approach in the respect action plan was to do much more prevention, early intervention, and diversion, rather than wait until problems have got to such a pitch that ASBOs or dispersal orders—the harder set of powers—become necessary.
We want to ensure that support is offered at an early stage, both for the benefit of communities and for the sake of the families concerned. That is why we have made £52 million available through the respect action plan to support parenting interventions across the board. I should have thought that the hon. Gentleman and his party would have welcomed the Government’s approach. Our aim is to give support, and our proposals are supported by the Youth Justice Board. I know from the hon. Gentleman’s opening comments that his party has changed its policy and supports many of the measures that we have introduced to tackle antisocial behaviour, and I had hoped that, on this occasion, he would also want us to help children in that position; however, his amendment would undermine our policy.
Local authorities will be responsible for ensuring that careful assessments are made of children’s situations. Such assessments will examine the interaction of risk and protective factors in children’s lives. If they provide evidence that the children are likely to offend, the local authorities will first attempt to engage the parents on a voluntary basis to steer the children away from criminal or antisocial behaviour. We all know that involving parents at an early stage helps to prevent such behaviour from becoming entrenched. The statutory guidance that is published will reflect the importance of the assessment of need, so that an holistic approach is taken and underlying problems are addressed.