Schedule 1
Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill
5:45 pm
Edward Garnier (Shadow Minister, Justice; Harborough, Conservative)
Now we are getting back to the meat of the discussion. In paragraph 18 of schedule 1, which is married to the paragraph that the hon. Gentleman is seeking to amend, sub-paragraph (6) states:
“This paragraph does not affect the power of a local authority to place with a local authority foster parent an offender in respect of whom a local authority residence requirement is imposed.”
I know that we discussed this issue with the Minister a moment ago when debating the other group, but it is important that if the fostering requirement is to work, the fosterer should be a human being or a human family, not a local government institution. Otherwise, the whole point is lost. The expression “a local authority foster parent” may be well known in the social service and family court worlds. It may be defined later in the Bill—I should have checked—but it is important that paragraph 18(6) refers to human beings.
The only other comment that I make in relation to paragraph 18 relates to sub-paragraph (7). That requires the Secretary of State to certify that there is a fostering family or a fostering system available in the area of the local authority that is to place the offender. That brings me back to the York university evaluation and the pilot scheme that the Minister told us about not so long ago. The Bill, all being well, is likely to complete its passage through Parliament some time after Easter and will presumably receive Royal Assent in the early summer. However, as we know, Bills do not come into force on the day of Royal Assent nowadays. They come into force in various sections or at a date to be appointed by the Secretary of State.
I suggest gently to the Government that the date to be appointed should be after the evaluation of the York university pilot scheme because if this system—or this disposal, to use a hideous expression—is put on the statute book and made available to the courts before it is ready, we will just get into a muddle. I would rather that we did this slowly and sensibly than speedily and less sensibly, albeit that Governments are often tempted to do and say things in order to get a headline.