Police and Justice Bill

moved Amendment No. 83: Page 4, line 8, at end insert- ““( ) Training for Community Support Officers must include training on the common core of skills and knowledge for the children's workforce developed by the Department for Education and Skills.”” The noble Viscount said: This probing amendment in the names of my noble friend Lady Anelay and myself follows on nicely from the debate on the potential new powers that CSOs may be given under this clause. Amendment No. 83 inserts a new subsection after subsection (6) to make it certain that CSOs receive adequate and appropriate training in working with children and young people. The Standing Committee on Youth Justice—SCYJ—and APPG on Children have expressed the view that the standard set of powers for CSOs introduced by Clause 5 must be accompanied by statutory requirements for training in order for these powers to be implemented appropriately. I am sure that all your Lordships believe this is essential to ensure the safety and well-being of children and young people who come into contact with CSOs. A recent Home Office evaluation of CSOs identified that they spend a lot of their time working with children and young people, dealing in particular with anti-social behaviour and ““youth nuisance”” on a regular basis. Indeed, as I highlighted in the previous debate, some areas designate their CSOs solely to carry out this role. The survey reported that dealing with youth disorder/nuisance was one of the tasks they most frequently carried out, with over half saying they did it daily and 81 per cent at least weekly. The report also identifies the important role that CSOs can play in getting to know and engaging local children and young people, introducing diversionary activities in the community and ensuring that the voices of under-18s are included in the discussions and debates about anti-social behaviour in the community. It is clear that CSOs in their daily work are highly likely to be working with children and young people. However, there are concerns among many children's groups that CSOs may not possess the appropriate skills and knowledge to communicate and work effectively with children and young people. As such, we believe that there is a strong argument that the safeguarding duty set out in Section 11 of the Children Act 2004 should be extended to cover CSOs explicitly. Section 11 of the Children Act 2004 places a duty on key persons and bodies to make arrangements to ensure that in discharging their functions, they have regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. The police are one of the key bodies covered by this duty, and the guidance on Section 11 states that in order to meet the requirements of this duty, among other things, the police should ensure senior management commitment and accountability; have clear statements of responsibility; ensure that police officers and police staff at all levels are aware of their statutory requirements to protect and safeguard the welfare of children; and ensure that appropriate training, processes and procedures are in place to enable all staff to be best able to support the aims and objectives of the Children Act 2004. While it may be implicit in the guidance that the Section 11 duty falls on ““police and police staff””, I hope that the Minister can provide a clear statement and assurance that CSOs are included under the Section 11 safeguarding duty. The national evaluation report highlighted that many CSOs themselves have expressed concerns about the training they had received and many felt that it inadequately prepared them for their role, and they wanted more practically based teaching methods. Only 38 per cent of CSOs felt that their initial training had prepared them well enough to do their job and 59 per cent of CSOs felt they had encountered situations they did not feel properly trained to deal with. So there have been numerous research studies that have identified difficulties in the relationship between the police and young people. Research by the Home Office with Docking, and Bradley in 1998, identified that young people feel intimidated, disrespected and stereotyped by the police and that the police lacked sympathy and understanding towards them. Research by the Children's Society identified that police are often lacking in the skills needed to communicate effectively with black young people in particular. In interviews with young people about their experiences of stop and search, many expressed a lack of trust in policing generally and specifically they paint a picture of conflict and confrontation in their daily dealings. Some also reported being frightened by such encounters. The consequence of this is that many young people often lack confidence in the police and some report that they have largely withdrawn from any voluntary involvement with them. With the proposed increasing role and functions of CSOs, there is a danger that the same problems will arise, worsening the overall relationship between young people and those responsible for promoting community safety. In order to avoid this situation and to ensure the successful implementation of this clause, resources will need to be made available to ensure that CSOs receive adequate and appropriate training about how to work effectively, safely and appropriately with children and young people. Reverting to the remarks made in connection with the previous amendment, it is so important that the initial success of CSOs is safeguarded in that respect. It has been suggested that the best way to achieve this would be to make it a statutory requirement for CSOs to be trained on the Common Core of Skills and Knowledge for the Children's Workforce developed by the DfES. As your Lordships know, this sets out the basic skills and knowledge needed by people, including volunteers, whose work brings them into regular contact with children, young people and families. As part of its Every Child Matters children's workforce development programme, the DfES has recommended that all relevant practitioners should undertake the Common Core of Skills and Knowledge, which consists of improving skills in the following six areas: effective communication and engagement with children; young people and families; child and young person development; safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child; supporting transitions; and multi-agency working and sharing information. In Committee in the other place, the Minister gave an assurance that CSOs will, "““receive proper and adequate training to deal with young people””.—[Official Report, Commons Standing Committee D, 21/3/06; col. 126.]" However, she did not specify what this training would involve. I hope the Minister can confirm that this training will at the very least adhere to the Common Core of Skills and Knowledge for the Children's Workforce, thereby enabling CSOs to be more equipped to communicate and work positively with the children and young people they come into contact with. In doing so, I hope that she can also clarify whether in line with Section 11 of the Children Act CSOs will receive training in child protection, safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. I beg to move.