Offender Management Bill

moved Amendment No. 112A: 112A: After Clause 23, insert the following new Clause— ““Independent Monitoring Boards (1) The boards appointed under section 6 of the PrisonAct 1952 (c. 52) (boards of visitors) are renamed as Independent Monitoring Boards. (2) Accordingly, in section 6 of that Act— (a) for the sidenote there is substituted ““Independent Monitoring Boards””; (b) in subsection (2)— (i) for ““boards of visitors”” there is substituted ““group of independent monitors””; and (ii) the words from ““of whom”” to the end shall cease to have effect; (c) after subsection (2) there is inserted— ““(2A) The groups so appointed are to be known as Independent Monitoring Boards.””; (d) in subsection (3) for ““boards of visitors”” and ““a board of visitors”” there is substituted respectively ““Independent Monitoring Boards”” and ““an Independent Monitoring Board””. (3) In section 19 of that Act (right of justices to visit prison), in subsection (3) for ““visiting committee or the board of visitors”” there is substituted ““Independent Monitoring Board””. (4) In Part 2 of Schedule 1A to the Race Relations Act 1976 (c. 74) (public bodies and other persons subject to general statutory duty), there is inserted, in the appropriate place under the heading ““Other Bodies Etc.””, the following entry—““An Independent Monitoring Board appointed under section 6(2) of the Prison Act 1952.””. (5) In section 50 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (c. 18) (right to time off for public duties)— (a) in subsection (2)(d), for ““a board of prison visitors”” there is substituted ““an Independent Monitoring Board for a prison””; and (b) in subsection (7)(a), for the words from the beginningto ““of visitors”” there is substituted ““Independent Monitoring Board”” means a board””. (6) In section 99 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 (c. 6) (conversion of sentence of detention or custody to sentence of imprisonment), in subsection (1)(b) for ““boards of visitors”” there is substituted ““Independent Monitoring Board””. (7) In Part 6 of Schedule 1 to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (c. 36) (public authorities: other public bodies and offices) there is inserted, in the appropriate place, the following entry— ““Any Independent Monitoring Board established under section 6(2) of the Prison Act 1952.”””” The noble Baroness said: This new clause is really a tidying-up matter, and I hope the Government will accept it in that spirit. It is straightforward and aims to give effect to recommendations coming out of the review into boards of visitors by Sir Peter Lloyd that were accepted by the Government. I declare an interest as president of the Association of Members of Independent Monitoring Boards. One of the recommendations to come out of the review was that the title ““board of visitors”” should be changed to ““independent monitoring board””. That was partly because confusion had arisen regularly between the roles of boards of visitors and prison visitors, but, more importantly, it was to reflect the proper role and functions of those bodies—they do not just visit. First, it aimed to emphasise the independence of the boards to make it clear that they were independent of the Prison Service and, indeed, of the Government. It was also important that they should be known and seen as ““monitors”” rather than ““visitors””, as monitoring is their proper function. The amendments also give effect to the recommendation in the Lloyd review to remove the requirement that two members of the board are magistrates. That might have been appropriate in years gone by, when boards of visitors had an adjudicatory function in relation to prisoners’ breaches of discipline, but that has not been the case for at least 15 years. It is therefore no longer necessary to have magistrates on boards as a legal requirement, although of course many of them are on boards and they bring a great deal to the work. I am sure the Government support the work of independent monitoring boards, and I hope they will also support this tidying-up amendment. I beg to move.