Offender Management Bill

I support the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay. I am lost in admiration for the way in which she has weaved in and out between these various clauses and amendments. I am not sure that I have followed her exactly, so I shall follow my own notes. These amendments, which relate to the requirement on the Secretary of State to consult the judiciary, local authorities, providers of probation services, the voluntary sector and probation trusts could not be disagreed with, and parallel our earlier discussion on the duty to co-operate between all agencies. All possible efforts must be made for a coherent, absolutely clearly understood system for all concerned to be in place, so it is axiomatic that consultation should be a legal duty for the Secretary of State. Publishing plans is equally essential. It sets the framework and all concerned should know where they stand, although I understand that we will return to that matter with a further amendment from the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay. However, it still begs the question of where decisions on commissioning are carried out. Our position is that this is far more effectively, appropriately and properly carried out at a local level, where needs, provision and appropriateness are understood. That is where the links between local authorities, voluntary agencies and private provision are known and understood. For the Secretary of State to have any understanding, he will of necessity be relying on the ROMs for all information and be delegating down to that level. But given the size of the areas for which ROMs are responsible, they in turn will of necessity have to have recourse to those local agencies, for it will be totally impossible for a ROM to have the knowledge necessary to make proper, intelligent decisions, even if the commissioning process is passed back up the line again. Does the Minister acknowledge that this is the reality? Consultation between all levels is of course essential but, in the end, the decisions will have to come from where it is meaningful. In drawing up plans, the Secretary of State would ignore local knowledge and advice at his peril. His ultimate duty is to report to Parliament following the consultation process, which is also where the test of the effectiveness of the lines of communication will lie. It is also at that level that the consultations with the sentencers and others must occur, as we have already discussed. We support the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay, on her amendments in this group.