Offender Management Bill
9:00 am
Gerry Sutcliffe (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Home Office; Bradford South, Labour)
I beg to move,
That—
(1) the Committee shall (in addition to its first meeting at 9.00 a.m. on Thursday 11th January) meet—
(a) at 2.00 p.m. on Thursday 11th January;
(b) at 10.30 a.m. and 4.30 p.m. on Tuesday 16th January;
(c) at 9.00 a.m. and 2.00 p.m. on Thursday 18th January;
(d) at 10.30 a.m. and 4.30 p.m. on Tuesday 23rd January;
(e) at 9.00 a.m. and 2.00 p.m. on Thursday 25th January;
(2) the proceedings shall be taken in the following order: Clauses 1 to 4; Schedule 1; Clauses 5 to 7; Schedule 2; Clauses 8 to 31; Schedules 3 to 5; Clauses 32 to 34; new Clauses, new Schedules, remaining proceedings on the Bill;
(3) the proceedings shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion at 4.00 p.m. on Thursday 25th January.
Good morning to you, Mr. Atkinson, and to the members of the Committee. I am delighted to be serving under your esteemed chairmanship and I look forward to the good-natured and effective way in which you will steer us through our deliberations, along with your co-Chairman, Mr. Bayley. I am in no doubt that we will have constructive debates on the key issues and I welcome the detailed scrutiny that we shall give the Bill.
I welcome the hon. and learned Member for Harborough and look forward to his valuable contributions. On Second Reading he said that he would chivvy the Government along, so we look forward to that. I also welcome the hon. Member for Cheadle, who will speak from the Liberal Democrat Benches, and all members of the Committee. I hope that they will agree that the programme motion gives us the proper time to enable scrutiny of this small but significant Bill and an opportunity to ease in the newly revised legislative procedures for Committee stages, which will affect the Bills introduced in the new year.
I am sure that we agree that probation is a crucial service, vital for public protection. I salute the hard work, dedication and professionalism of probation staff around the country. Much progress has been made in the past few years, but we cannot afford to shy away from the fact that we have still not managed to make a sufficient impact on the most crucial outcome: reducing reoffending. We now need to harness all the resources at our disposal to ensure that those who have the right skills and expertise, whether they are in the public, private or voluntary sector, can contribute to the management of offenders.
We remain committed to a strong public sector probation service, but it is clear that the public sector cannot and should not do all that needs to be done on its own. By removing current statutory restrictions, the Bill will give all sectors the freedom to innovate in partnership. Part 1 will place on the Secretary of State statutory duties to make arrangements with others for the provision of probation services and to create probation trusts as the public sector providers, with which he will make contracts. It will also require him to consult on how he proposes to commission probation services. The consultation will be conducted regionally and result in the delivery of services better targeted to meet the specific needs of local communities and the sentencing requirements of local courts.
Part 2 will improve offender management by strengthening the offence of bringing contraband into prison and removing some of the inconsistencies between the powers of staff in public and private prisons. Part 3 will make various technical amendments to improve delivery in the youth justice sector.
I know that there are contentious matters in the Bill, and I look forward to the opportunity to explain more fully its purpose and details. I will listen carefully to hon. Members throughout our deliberations, and if improvements can be made we will consider them. I know that the issues are detailed but I welcome the opportunity for a constructive debate that the programme motion gives us.