Offender Management Bill

moved Amendment No. 22: 22: Clause 2, page 2, line 37, at end insert— ““( ) In carrying out his functions under this Act the Secretary of State shall— (a) if he is not sworn of section 6A of the Promissory Oaths Act 1868 (c. 72) act in every respect as if he had sworn and was bound by the oath set out in section 6A(2) of that Act; (b) undertake no action to advantage the probation services by transferring, or threatening the transfer of, resources from those necessary for upholding the independence and effective functioning of the judiciary; (c) in reaching his judgment on the appropriateness of his actions under paragraphs (a) and (b) above, consult the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales as President of the Courts of England and Wales and lay before both Houses of Parliament any representation from the Lord Chief Justice that he is not conforming with his duty under this section.”” The noble Baroness said: The amendment goes in a slightly different direction from that taken in the debates that we have just had about the provision of services per se. The Government’s plans for contestability in the Bill, and their creation of the centralised NOMS/ ROMS bureaucracy, have significant budgetary consequences. The transfer of these functions from the Home Office to the Lord Chancellor creates new tensions in the budget of the Ministry of Justice. We fear that effective management of the extensive bureaucracy created by the Government to run the centralised contestability system would endangerthe delivery of budgets to those who really make the difference—not, of course, the ROMS managers but the probation service providers on the ground. Costs may burgeon to pay for the centralised system. Our concern is that the transfer of the management of offenders to the Ministry of Justice could lead to funds being redirected from existing spending requirements in the old DCA to the needs of the NOMS/ROMS model and more generally to the running of the prisons. The amendment would ensure that the Lord Chancellor in the newly created Ministry of Justice did not allocate his budget in such a way as to remove from the court system the funds that are required for upholding the independence and effective function of the judiciary and the magistrates. This matter has been touched on twice very recently, the first time on 26 April, in a statement in this House on the creation of the Ministry of Justice. At that stage, the noble and learned Lord, Lord Woolf, put the matter clearly when he asked, "““is the noble and learned Lord aware—as I am sure he is—of the concerns of the judge in charge of the Central London County Court as to the lack of resources? As I understood it, the statement that he made was certainly not only in relation to maintenance; he referred to a crisis in the civil justice system””." The noble and learned Lord the Lord Chancellor rather batted that away, but did not address the central objection. He said that, "““judgments have to be made as to where you have to spend your resources to ensure that there is a legitimate and fair justice system””.—[Official Report, 26/4/07; cols. 769-70.]" How exactly will that be done, particularly given that the prison and probation services have been transferred to the Ministry of Justice? In the same debate, the noble Lord, Lord Thomas of Gresford, reminded the House that the revised oath for Lord Chancellor in the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 reads as follows: "““I … do swear that in the office of Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain I will respect the rule of law, defend the independence of the judiciary and discharge my duty to ensure the provision of resources for the efficient and effective support of the courts for which I am responsible””." The noble Lord, Lord Thomas of Gresford, then asked whether the noble and learned Lord the Lord Chancellor was, "““prepared to give us an assurance that the resources for the courts will be ring-fenced and that the resources available to the judiciary and court system will not be reduced by the demands of the prison population””.—[Official Report, 26/4/07; col. 767.]" The noble and learned Lord the Lord Chancellor refused to give that assurance, so understandably my noble friend Lord Kingsland took up the cudgels in a further statement on 9 May, at col. 1454. I shall not repeat what he said, as the Committee may read those words. He reinforced the argument put by the noble Lord, Lord Thomas of Gresford, by asking how we could be sure that the money will be ring-fenced to ensure that judicial independence remains and the demands of prison and probation do not drive the policy governing judicial independence. I note, of course, that the Judicial Executive Board and the Judges’ Council endorsed the position that the noble and learned Lord the Lord Chief Justice and other members of the judiciary have taken to date, and expressed their support for the continuing efforts to reach agreement. Last week, on 16 May, the noble and learned Lord the Lord Chief Justice issued a press statement saying that there had been a meeting between the Judicial Executive Board and the Judges’ Council to consider the present state of the working group discussions between members of the judiciary and senior Ministry of Justice officials on the constitutional safeguards to protect the independence of the judiciary and the proper administration of justice. The noble and learned Lord the Lord Chief Justice had to report to the meeting that no agreement had been reached with the noble and learned Lord the Lord Chancellor. I therefore thought it right that we should table this amendment, particularly in light of the fact that the noble and learned Lord the Lord Chief Justice is due to appear tomorrow before the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee of another place and that he will present a full report on the current position to Parliament. That report will address the whole issue of judicial independence, which is the background to the amendment. Will the Minister tell the Committee exactly what sums her right honourable friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who is soon to be Prime Minister, is transferring from the Home Office budget to the Ministry of Justice budget to cover the cost of NOMS and ROMS? How much has already gone since the Ministry of Justice took over these powers, and how much will be transferred in the rest of the financial year? Will the Government reconsider their position on ring-fencing so that we can be assured that there will be sufficient resources to uphold the independence and effective functioning of the judiciary? I beg to move.