Clause 30
Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill
7:30 pm
Maria Eagle (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Ministry of Justice; Liverpool, Garston, Labour)
Clause 30 details the eligible complaints that the new commissioner might consider. The amendments change the method for excluding complaints about health matters and remove from the commissioner’s remit health care provided directly by a service. The purpose of the amendments is to reduce duplication and prevent overlap at the margins between the roles of existing commissioners and ombudsmen and the new commissioner for offender management and prisons.
The purpose of the exclusion in amendment No. 286 is to achieve the correct fit with the remit of the parliamentary commissioner and the health service commissioner responsible for dealing with complaints from prisoners and the public about health care matters. There is a clear advantage in the expertise of investigation and effectiveness of recommendations, and it is desirable that it reinforces the position of the prisoner as a service recipient on the same basis as any other citizen. We do not want the new commissioner simply to investigate any complaint from a prisoner if it is more sensible for the complaint to be dealt with by the parliamentary commissioner or the health service commissioner. To add such matters to the new commissioner’s remit could lead to duplication, confusion and rather invidious competition between the commissioners and the ombudsmen.