Offender Management Bill

My Lords, I support the general intention of Amendment No. 33. I absolutely agree with new Section 8B, but I have a concern about new Section 8C. I accept the minimum standards for supervision as an idea but, when the qualifications for a prison officer are set, I am concerned that the qualifications and training of middle management are frequently missed. The performance of middle management is one of the weakest things in the conduct of imprisonment. Individual prisons sometimes train individuals, but for anyone who knows anything about leadership the worst place to practise leadership is among your friends. People should be moved somewhere to learn the trade. It would be sensible for the Prison Service to have central training—or at least a central training syllabus—with perhaps regional centres for middle managers. Untrained middle managers can undoubtedly undermine all the work done on the coal face with prison officers and prisoners. Therefore, in setting down a national framework, the professional qualifications must include the guidelines—the guidelines and training going back to the earlier amendments on training.