Offender Management Bill

moved Amendment No. 67: 67: Clause 6, page 5, line 7, after ““person”” insert ““or institution”” The noble Lord said: I shall also speak to Amendments Nos. 68 and 87 and, if I may, add a word on the amendment standing in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Howe, Amendment No. 85. The purpose of the amendments is to follow through some of the points made in our debate on Second Reading. We have covered some of the ground already in Committee. I remain convinced that the point about ““person or institution”” in Amendment No. 67 is very important. It is very confusing for many of those outside, with whom the Government seek co-operation in the fulfilment of probation services in the future, to talk about deals with individuals—by referring to a person where, in almost every instance, it will be with an institution. That needs to be made clear in the Bill because in such institutions, as I said previously in our deliberations, there is collective responsibility legally and morally. For example, in the voluntary sector, the Charity Commission requires every individual trustee to regard themselves as individually responsible, together with holding collective responsibility. It is important to reflect that in the Bill, especially as it is a Bill that comes from the Home Office. Amendment No. 68 is crucial. We have been talking an awful lot about the business and administration arrangements for the future—the structures that will be in place—but the success of the whole operation will depend on the calibre and the quality of the people who are serving within it. If we do not have people of the right calibre, it could all prove positively damaging. If I may say so in parenthesis, that is why there is latent anxiety about the range of organisations with which co-operation will be possible. Some will take the business of calibre, qualifications and experience—one of the amendments refers to experience of personnel—much more seriously than others. We have already seen that in the sphere of organisations now working in the penal sector. If that is to be done, we must recognise that it is a very exacting task to be involved in probation work, especially in rehabilitation. It is not something that you can just pick up and do. Interpersonal skills are crucial. As I said in our Second Reading debate, an understanding of evidence-based knowledge, critical judgment and other elements are crucial to success. I have had the good fortune to do a bit of professional work with one university involved in such preparation for the health service and for police careers. A number of universities and centres of higher education now seek to make, are making or are capable of making a contribution. They need to be able to plan ahead with certainty. They cannot just pick up serious work in this sphere at the drop of a hat and then discard it. They must have the facilities, the resources and their own academic teams in place to undertake the work properly. That is brought out in the amendment standing in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Howe. My basic message is that if we will the end, we must will the means. We must say something about the means and the responsibility of the Secretary of State to ensure that the means are available in the Bill. That involves means in terms of people and their standard, as I said, but it is also means in terms of the facilities to enable people to reach the right degree of understanding, sensitivity and professionalism to undertake the work properly. The amendments are designed to fulfil the task of ensuring that the Secretary of State sees it as a main responsibility to ensure that the means are available. I beg to move.