Local Probation Boards (Appointment and Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Regulations 2006

rose to move, That this House regrets the proposals set out in theLocal Probation Boards (Appointment and Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006/2664) and calls upon Her Majesty’s Government to withdraw the statutory instrument and to enable consideration of the proposals contained in it by each House of Parliament in the context of primary legislation on the management of offenders [46th Report from the Merits Committee]. The noble Baroness said: My Lords, I do not support the proposals that the Government have set out in the local probation boards SI. It would be better for our criminal justice system if the Government withdrew them today so that both Houses can debate them constructively and effectively within the context of our forthcoming scrutiny of the Management of Offenders and Sentencing Bill. These regulations are due to come into force on1 November—well, they have. That shows a measure of the problem for this House in scrutinising legislation and negative instruments when they are already law. They will significantly change the membership and governance of the 42 local probation boards in England and Wales. Yet when the Explanatory Memorandum to the statutory instrument was first published, it was opaque to the extent that it was misleading. That was poor practice. The report of the Merits of Statutory Instruments Committee states that the memorandum gave no adequate explanation for the changes or how they would affect the rehabilitation of offenders and the service provided to the community. The committee therefore asked for better information. It is only as a result of their work that we have been provided with the supplementary information given by the Home Office to the committee. As a result of scrutinising that, I still do not believe that the Home Office has yet made a case for the regulations before us today. The boards are a comparatively recent innovation, established by the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000. Yet the Government now wish to rip them up and start again, without even carrying out any evaluation of the existing governance, as far as I can see. If they have, where is it? Why has Parliament not been allowed to see it? In addition, there has been no formal public consultation exercise. Why? Because the Home Office says, "““we did not consider that one was required for this Statutory Instrument””." The Home Office was wrong. They should have carried out an effective consultation on what constitutes a significant policy change. Why make these changes now? If the Government intend to abolish the boards anyway as part of the National Offender Management Service Bill reorganisation, why not wait until that has been properly scrutinised by Parliament. What are they afraid of that makes them act with this haste? At present, each probation board has up to15 members comprising a chair, the chief officer, a judge appointed by the Lord Chancellor, and 12 other members, of whom four, where practicable, should be magistrates and two elected members of a local authority. The quorum is seven. They were created to provide local accountability through the agreementof strategic objectives and the monitoring of performance. The regulations make three main changes, all of which are unnecessary and will damage the quality of work carried out by the boards. First, the quorum will be reduced to five, allowing smaller boards to beput in place. Since 2001, probation has beenmoving towards increased local involvement with communities and the boards have drawn membership from a wide cross section of the population. That has been beneficial. Therefore, it is obvious that if the Government now reduce that representation that must have a negative effect on the level and scope of local involvement. The Government say that the new boards will be seen as businesses. What exactly do they meanby this? Many current members have extensive experience in private sector business, but they recognise that while they must run their services in a business-like fashion, when it comes to running a justice agency, many decisions are simply not primarily business decisions. Secondly, it is intended that it will no longer be necessary for four members to be magistrates. But the primary customer of the service is the local courts, so that is also a retrograde step. Magistrates sentence on behalf of very local populations. I note that the Magistrates' Association is opposed to that change. I have read the letter that John Thornhill, chairman of the Judicial Policy and Practice Committee, sentto Richard Cullen at the National Probation Directorate. Mr Thornhill wrote: "““we are all dismayed at the suggested changes to the SI and bewildered at the suggestion within the context of stressing how much magistrate membership of Probation Boards is welcomed and valued””." Thirdly, it is intended that two local authority members will no longer be necessary. Partnerships with the local police and local authority are at the heart of modern probation practice. It is increasingly necessary for close liaison, joint funding and joint planning through local area agreements. So it is not surprising that that change is opposed by the Local Government Association. Councillor Hazel Harding, chair of the LGA Safer Communities Board, wrote to Mr Cullen to express its opposition to it. She points out: "““Councillor members of Probation Boards are essential because they provide local accountability and strengthen partnership working, as well as bringing a range of skills from their experiences as councillors and their diverse professional backgrounds...Removing the requirement for councillor representation on local Probation Boards runs contrary to the recognition given by other parts of the HO of the need for local political leadership on crime and disorder matters””." We have just witnessed that very focus from the Home Office in our discussion of the Police and Justice Bill, which has now successfully gone through this House. There, the Government drew back from some changes. They have reinstated magistrates of right on police authorities and at the request of the Association of Police Authorities, retained the authority of police authorities to make their own appointments. So there is recognition in other parts of the Home Office of the value of magistrates, local authorities and local councillors, yet here, we see the reverse happening. The regulations will weaken local involvement in criminal justice, begin the process of centralising probation governance on Whitehall and remove the critical local partners on whom effective work with offenders depends. It will do all that even before Parliament has the chance to consider the proposals in the NOMS Bill—a rather inelegant title—which we expect to be published by the end of this month. It is wrong of the Government to take action to pre-empt that debate. The Government should think again. They should withdraw the order, engage in proper consultation, and listen to the views of Parliament when we debate the legislation—in November, December, or whenever it reaches Parliament. Then and only then should they bring forward proposals to alter the structure and character of probation boards. I beg to move. Moved, That this House regrets the proposals set out in the Local Probation Boards (Appointment and Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006/2664) and calls upon Her Majesty’s Government to withdraw the statutory instrument and to enable consideration of the proposals contained in it by each House of Parliament in the context of primary legislation on the management of offenders [46th Report from the Merits Committee].—(Baroness Anelay of St Johns.)