Clause 23
9:45 am
Tony McNulty (Minister of State (Employment and Welfare Reform; Minister for London), Department for Work and Pensions; Harrow East, Labour)
The hon. Gentleman raises some fair points, with which I have some sympathy, but his amendment highlights the dangers of trying to write commercial contracts into a Bill. Not least because he has used “shall” rather than “may,” he is saying that under the clause any contract, regardless of its content, should include
“the level of training required to meet the needs of claimants”
with mental health or drug dependency problems and all the other things he mentions. He is saying that every single contract made under powers allowed in the clause must specify the level of training for all those various areas, regardless of whether it is appropriate.
The hon. Gentleman is right to draw attention to the need for providers to have appropriately trained staff, where it is deemed necessary to deliver the contract effectively. That will be adequately covered in the contracts, which will stipulate that the providers should not discriminate against any customer on the grounds of disability, whatever it is. We will ask bidders to describe any relevant skills that they have to enable them to address the specific needs of and barriers faced by their customers. We will ask about the specific information on the roles relating to, and the qualifications and experience required for, each post that are needed to deliver the provision, given the nature of the contract and the focus on the client group.
The procurement process will have requirements within terms and conditions of contracts for contractors to satisfy themselves that their employees are suitable in all respects to deliver the programme. I can assure the hon. Gentleman that the vulnerable groups mentioned will all be given adequate protection. The contractors’ employees will possess the relevant skills, training and experience to enable them to deliver the provision effectively and address the specific needs of their customers and the barriers to work that they face.
When we use the powers in clause 23 to contract out functions, we will take steps to ensure that contractual employees are properly trained and equipped to deliver the programme.
It is quite right and proper that the perfectly reasonable concerns that we have discussed are matters for a specific contract, that it is for a specific provider to deliver a specific service and that such things should not be set out in the Bill. In that context, and having taken on board the hon. Gentleman’s concerns, I ask him to withdraw the amendment for the reasons that I have outlined.