Offender Management Bill

I apologise for not being present at the beginning of this debate and for missing this riveting discussion on two Committee days. I feel rather as though I am diving into a very deep end. I have questions about the amendment. I understand the heart of it and the need to ensure quality of services. However, I do not understand why that quality can be provided by only one sector. I was the deputy chair of the National Care Standards Commission. When we were looking at elderly persons’ homes it was clear to me that the difficulties faced by local authorities in service delivery were just as great as those faced by the private and voluntary sectors. Those difficulties were the reason that local authorities closed homes long before the private sector did so. As the noble Lord, Lord Warner, pointed out, we can all trade those sorts of stories. However, that is not the issue. The issue is about quality and levels of resource and the authority to ensure those. Like the noble Lord, Lord Warner, I am afraid that I have real anxieties about managing through statute. I have criticised this Government on a number of occasions for doing just that—trying to micromanage through statute. I think that is what this measure would do. I may have missed something and I should be grateful if someone can help me, but I do not understand what the measure means. Does it mean that we assess quality only when this provision is undertaken by the voluntary or private sectors? I would take offence at that. We have to provide a level playing field for all contracts, whether undertaken by the public, private or not-for-profit sector. I do not understand the situation regarding minimum targets but I understand the heart of the matter. I declare an interest as the deputy chair of the Lucy Faithfull Foundation. The Home Office owes us a great deal of money, so I know all about the difficulties of commissioning and it not happening on time. Therefore, I have a vested interest, if you like. It is inappropriate not to recognise that when you set a contract, you set it with a budget. I am sure that Members on the Front Bench opposite support that strongly. You have to assess what you want to achieve for the budget that can be given. We in the Lucy Faithfull Foundation were recently told that, due to the delays caused by the Bill, our contract for probation services could not be renegotiated so we would have to renegotiate what we could give for the contract. That seems a sound and sane way forward in agreeing contracts, but it is all management; it is all to do with day-to-day business on the ground. I would find it difficult to support the amendment for the very reasons that the noble Lord, Lord Warner, eruditely outlined: this is to do with how you make the service run, not the strategic context in which the legislation is set.