Offender Management Bill

moved Amendment No. 51: 51: Clause 4, page 4, line 9, at end insert ““; and (c) relates to the supervision and rehabilitation of people charged with or convicted of offences”” The noble Baroness said: It is clear that the Government have agreed that the writing of court reports, advice to the court on risk assessment and general advice to assist in sentencing will not be contracted out to other providers but restricted to the Probation Service or another public body. They have also confirmed that ongoing advice in the course of reviews and so on will be restricted in the same way. That supervision of offenders, or core management, represents the ongoing work of probation, is inextricably tied into the process of reviews and advice to the courts and is therefore properly restricted in the same way. However, it would be helpful if the Minister could confirm this, following the brief debate on the subject on the previous day in Committee. In particular, it would be helpful to have clarity over the limited timescale attached to the exemption of core management, which seems to be confined to three years. It is unclear why this work has not equally been permanently restricted, or what the logic or argument is for the choice of that particular period. Is it possibly designed to test how well the Probation Service performs, or against some other criteria? We would be grateful for clarification. The arguments for the exemption of supervision in the community under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 are strong, as we have already argued. More than 130,000 people are on orders and 47,000 are supervised under the MAPPA arrangements, being the highest risk and most potentially difficult to manage—30,000 are on orders requiring them to attend an intensive group. The concerns are that these groups must be small to be effective, which does not lie easily with concerns about profitability in private sector organisations. The MAPPA arrangements, involving long established co-operation with the police, will not be sustainable under multiple supervision or the introduction of private sector companies, as argued elsewhere. The risk of information being compromised or data not being shared is very real, as, therefore, is that of standards being reduced. We would hope to see a significant expansion in unpaid work, which involved 55,430 people and 4.6 million hours of work last year, if community sentences are to be developed more widely, as we agree should be the way forward. But this must involve significantly greater investment, in time and manpower as well as money, if it is to become a meaningful reality. Will that be the case? The Government must put their money where their policy is in this crucial area. However, there is particular concern over the 35 per cent of individual placements, such as work in charity shops, churches or supporting adults with learning difficulties, which are particularly heavy on staffing costs. They are particularly appropriate for women, as I found in the early days of community service, when we had a couple of girls in the visitors’ centre I helped to found at Pentonville. It was a rewarding and personal experience for all concerned. Rehabilitation was part of the planning and experience. For a private sector organisation, however, it would be difficult to justify on grounds of profitability. At present, 45 per cent of unpaid work is supplied by the voluntary sector, 38 per cent by local authorities and 12 per cent by faith groups. If unpaid work is contracted out under NOMS to the private sector, where there may be scope, this particular and important aspect must not be jeopardised or the individual placements put at risk. Unpaid work should, in general, be an integral part of the local community, where there is also accountability and where local private companies can be involved. I hope that the Minister can reassure us that individual placements, which are important to many, will not be contracted out in the same way. I beg to move.