Offender Management Bill

I thank the noble Baroness for her compliment, which I take in the spirit in which I always take compliments from her, as they are so genuine and heartfelt. The amendments address a number of separate but related issues. It may therefore be helpful if I set out the background before I discuss the individual amendments in turn. When probation boards were first established under the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000, there was a requirement for boards to include a Crown Court judge appointed by the Lord Chancellor, four magistrates and two local authority councillors. The requirement for a Crown Court judge is in the 2000 Act; the requirement for magistrates and councillors was in secondary legislation. In November 2006 we amended the secondary legislation to remove the requirement for councillors and magistrates. We did so because 36 of the 42 probation boards had indicated that they required a reduced quorum to operate effectively. The previous arrangements would have prevented that taking place, as well as constricting our ability to recruit probation board members who suited the needs of their particular locality. It was for the same reason that, when we published our proposals for restructuring probation in November 2005, we made clear that we did not intend to apply any of these statutory requirements to the membership of probation trusts. As for the judges, we felt that since the new arrangements envisage greater diversity of providers of probation services, it would be inappropriate for the Lord Chancellor to appoint a Crown Court judge as a member for just one type of body. Consultees, including the judges themselves, accepted this. The rationale for magistrates and councillors was slightly different. We want the new probation trusts to be local bodies with a greater degree of independence from the centre. This means, as far as possible, letting them judge for themselves how they should be constituted according to their local circumstances and not being overly prescriptive from the centre. As now, members of probation trusts will be appointed by the Secretary of State, but chairs will be fully involved in the recruitment process. During the Bill’s passage through the other place considerable concern was expressed about the importance of the role of local councillors. On reflection, we conceded that councillors, as locally elected representatives, have an important and very specific role to play in ensuring that accountability. Amendment No. 63, tabled in my name, gives effect to that commitment. However, I emphasise that we have made that change because of the very specific role that councillors can play in ensuring local accountability. I pray in aid the new position that we have in CDRPs, the local strategic partnerships, et cetera, where that interplay will be important. Amendments Nos. 60 and 61, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay, seek to further restrict our ability to determine who is needed to deliver services most effectively in a given area. The amendments were discussed during Committee in the other place, but I am more than happy to set out again our thinking on these matters. As the noble Baroness explained, Amendment No. 60 proposes that the minimum number of members in a probation trust should be raised from four to five. Amendment No. 64 proposes that each probation trust be chaired by a High Court or Crown Court judge, that the extra member proposed by Amendment No. 60 be chosen from a list of four eminent professions, and that the membership of a trust is representative of the population of the area in which it carries out its functions. I hope that I have already addressed the proposed requirement for the chair of the probation trust to be a judge of the High Court or Crown Court. Even the judges who disagreed with our proposals agreed that it would be inappropriate for them to be a member of a trust, let alone the chairman. This is not something to which they have given their assent. I know from the past that the noble Baroness would be the last person to say that they should be obliged so to do. On the issue of prescribing a list of members, I of course accept that a member of the police authority or a qualified psychiatrist would bring extremely useful skills and influence to bear on running a probation trust. However, I think that we are all agreed that it is for the probation trust to determine the priorities in its area.