Offender Management Bill

My Lords, I hope that the noble Lord, Lord Laming, for whom I have unbridled respect, will forgive me for the observation that it is perhaps precisely because of what they have seen happening to the ethos of the public service and to the culture of service that a lot of anxiety has been felt among dedicated probation workers. In a debate of this kind, it is important to recognise that structures are almost always inanimate. Of themselves, they achieve nothing. The clarity of the objectives for which they exist, the values which underpin them, the competence of those who staff them, together with their motivation, morale and commitment and, crucially, the quality of leadership are the essential elements for success. Most of us have experienced situations in which structure is not ideal yet great things are accomplished and, conversely, situations with theoretically perfected structures where very little is achieved. The ideal is always to have a strong and healthy human dynamic coupled with the best possible structure. The comments of the right reverend Prelate rang true to me. There are many good and sensible intentions to applaud in the Bill—there is widespread recognition of that. But it is essential to remember that the improvements we seek will never be all that they might be without that essential positive and engaged human dynamic. The observations of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Woolf, and of the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, deserve very careful consideration in that context. What is the objective? Reoffending remains disturbingly high with, as we hear repeatedly, 67 per cent of those who leave prison reconvicted within two years. But is cutting reoffending enough? That 67 per cent presents not only the economic and social challenge of the cost inherent in still more crime, and the suffering of victims, but the human tragedy and waste of offenders whose lives are self-evidently stunted and inadequate. My noble friend Lord Filkin effectively made that point. Rehabilitation—enabling offenders to become positive, fully contributing members of society—must surely be the over-riding purpose. It has to be central to the whole penal system. This means that whatever the primitive sensationalism of the worst elements in the media, Parliament must in this legislation make it clear beyond doubt that while the public have obviously to be protected, and security has to be effective, the biggest challenge of all is an unwavering commitment to rehabilitation. It is against that goal that all the provisions of the Bill should be assessed. Rehabilitation is a highly exacting task. It is also expensive. For those who undertake it, the importance of thorough, in-depth professional preparation cannot be overemphasised. Evidence-based knowledge, critical judgment and interpersonal skills are all priorities. Universities and other institutions, which will be expected to provide for all this, should be able to plan ahead with confidence. They need to be sure of the necessary financial and human resources. Proper and adequate academic and support arrangements have to be in place. I should make it clear that I speak as somebody who does a certain amount of professional work with the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences at De Montfort University, a faculty which is very much involved in exactly these spheres. Like other universities and similar institutions, it is doing interesting work in the preparation for and development of police careers and, similarly, National Health Service careers. I believe the lessons to be learned from this kind of work, wherever it is taking place, are highly relevant. While value for money must always be ensured, great care, imagination and sensitivity will be required in the relationship. Last year I completed some nine years as honorary president of the YMCA in England. It was a stimulating learning experience for me; I became especially interested in the work with young offenders. Increasingly it seemed to me that, with the life experience—often a nightmare—of many offenders, it would have been a miracle had they not ended up in serious trouble. An understanding of this is essential to dealing effectively with the causes of crime. In the YMCA, we had as one of our volunteers a retired former chief constable. Once, when talking with a tough offender who was about to be released, the young man began to weep. The former chief constable asked why. The young man explained that he was frightened by what he might well encounter outside the prison. He told how this was the first time in his life that he had ever begun to feel a sense of security and of personal significance and responsibility, and the first time that he had ever begun to feel that people cared about him as an individual. The jungle ahead was a bleak prospect. Of course, the YMCA, like other excellent organisations providing this sort of service, saw its role as continuing to work with him after release—as it were, to take his hand and walk with him through rehabilitation and to be available should crises develop. There are rich resources of relevant insight and experience in such organisations. It is altogether good to see the Government wanting to draw on them, but it will be essential to use imagination and flexibility in the relationship so that it is a rewarding, co-operating, two-way relationship in which real dialogue and mutual evaluation and strengthening takes place. Any inadvertent tendency towards a merely contractual delivery role on the part of NGOs, expecting them to perform by strict inflexible criteria, would be a tragic waste of what they have to offer with all their motivation and understanding. I recall one young offender institution where the NGO had been awarded a specialist contract to get offenders into jobs. Performance was measured in terms of the success rate in that alone. The NGO team was troubled: there were offenders with whom it might spend a more than average time in counselling, and for whom a move straight into a job would be inappropriate and probably counterproductive because much more had to be done in preparing them for work. The team received absolutely no recognition for such an approach and recognised that, in a competitive market, it could be penalised against competitor agencies. As with universities, value for money is essential. But what is value? There will have to be sensitive flexibility if the real benefits of working with the not-for-profit sector are to be realised and if some of the best contributions are not to be squeezed out by the more—dare I say it—opportunistic organisations. Rehabilitation is not a conveyor-belt process. By definition, it has to be appropriate to particular individuals and their needs. Reference has been made to Scotland, where it has been understood that crime and rehabilitation have a complex connection to local neighbourhoods and communities. Real solutions have to take this into account. That is why, in the future provision for accountability, it will be necessary to make sure that any theoretical benefits from regional rationalisation are not at the expense of meaningful, more local engagement. Local councillors and authorities, voluntary groups, police and magistrates—indeed, local media—have a key part to play. They are critical to a productive two-way shared responsibility. The heart and muscle of civil society are not always regional; they are frequently far more local than that. The noble Lord, Lord Wallace of Saltaire, alluded to this very relevantly. Pragmatism should be central to the form of future accountability structures. I have spoken of the significance of the human dynamic. Part of this is the calibre of leadership, and that leadership must be there in the operational front line where it matters and not just at more remote management levels. We must beware of a simplistic view that the better, more qualified people should be targeted only at the most serious cases. Experience and skills applied in time at the earlier stages of anti-social behaviour may save limitless time and expense in future. Similarly, as the YMCA example that I gave indicated, the personal continuing relationships with the offender are crucially necessary. I am always struck that the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, with all his experience, repeatedly makes that point. I have one last observation. The Probation Service has come in for a lot of flak from the media and others in recent years. Much of that generalised flak has been totally unjustified. I am one of those who believes that we have an invaluable resource in the dedicated and tireless work of the overwhelming majority of probation staff. That needs to be said loudly and clearly. In many ways they are role models for a decent, civilised society. I, like others, have been saddened to see inevitable demoralisation in their ranks as controversy and uncertainty have haunted their future. That is why we must ensure that this Bill gets it right. Wider social ownership of the responsibility for rehabilitation is an altogether good thing. Co-operation and partnership with civil society and the private sector are central to that. But co-operation, let alone the introduction of the market, must always be because, in any particular circumstances, this will provide qualitative additionality as well as value for money. Co-operation and the market must never be allowed to become dogmatic ends in themselves. My noble friend Lord Borrie referred to reports in today’s Guardian. Recent experience in privatised prisons underlines the importance of accountability and the avoidance of any ideology of privatisation.