Police and Justice Bill

moved Amendment No. 129B: Page 19, line 27, at end insert- ““(8) A person is eligible to be the responsible officer in relation to a parenting order under this section only if he is- (a) an officer of the local authority which applied for the order, or (b) a person nominated by that authority or by a person or body requested by the authority to make a nomination. A person may not be nominated under paragraph (b) without his consent.”” The noble Lord said: New sections 26A and 26B in Clause 22 will extend to local authorities and registered social landlords the power to apply for parenting orders. Parenting orders should not be considered in isolation and are only one part of the process of assisting parents whose children are engaging in anti-social behaviour. We know that most parents accept help voluntarily and orders in this context are only for those who are reluctant to get help or deny that they or their children have problems. As part of the Respect programme of work there will be some £52 million of new funding to start a national programme of change in the way in which public services respond to parents. It is anticipated that this additional provision will come from both local authorities and a wide range of specialist agencies. The Government recognise that it is vital that parenting programmes provided as part of the requirements of a parenting order are of a high quality and are administered by practitioners with specialist skills. We have also taken on board the views expressed by those involved and practitioners who are concerned about ensuring the suitability of registered social landlords to discharge their functions in relation to these orders. Re-examination of the effectiveness of these provisions has highlighted the need to clarify who can be specified in an order as the officer responsible for supervising the order. The Government have therefore tabled these amendments to allow for a wider range of specialists to become involved in the support offered to parents when a local authority or registered social landlord applies for a parenting order. The amendments to new Section 26A will allow local authorities to extend their partnership working arrangements and either themselves nominate persons from specialist agencies to become responsible officers or ask those agencies to nominate such persons when an application to a court is made. They recognise that there is a wide range of specialist bodies already working with local authorities and provide an opportunity for local authorities to use and widen their pool of these valuable resources. Similarly, the amendments to new Section 26B will afford greater flexibility to registered social landlords. They will allow for an official of a registered social landlord to be eligible to undertake the role of responsible officer. But the registered social landlord may well want to nominate another person from a specialist agency or body who is better placed and has the requisite specialist skills in areas of parenting support, and the amendments will enable the registered social landlord to do this. It is, of course, vital that a multi-agency approach is taken when applying for a parenting order and so the amendments emphasise that a registered social landlord must consult the local authority and other appropriate agencies before nominating a responsible officer. Again, this will encourage deeper partnership working among front-line agencies and ensure that support to the parents takes into account any broader and wider factors. In both cases neither local authorities nor registered social landlords will be able to nominate persons to be responsible officers without their consent. The amendments to Schedule 15 reflect these technical changes and are mainly consequential in nature. I beg to move. On Question, amendment agreed to. [Amendments Nos. 129C and 130 not moved.]