Offender Management Bill

My Lords, I declare an interestas chief executive of Turning Point, an organisation that provides services to many ex-offenders. I cannot support the amendments. They have a slight whiff of ““if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”” about them, but we have agreed that the system is broken and needs fixing in some fundamental ways. The point was made at Second Reading—and I think I made it—that it is not about localism or big government. The solution is not either/or but and/and. We cannot have a mixed economy unless that balance is correct. I do not accept that localism will produce the intended consequences that have been set out in the amendment. My organisation, along with many others in the voluntary and third sector, would be concerned if the amendment were to be accepted, as the noble Lord, Lord Warner, has pointed out. The amendments include a presumption infavour of the public sector which, coming from the Conservative Benches, surprises me. Probation boards and trusts would have no incentive to approach other providers, which is a critical part of the shift—the changing culture—that is required to get the mixed economy necessary to change a system which needs some support. There is a lack of clarity about the circumstances that are referred to when sufficient provision bythe probation services is not being made. In what circumstances would it be appropriate for the Secretary of State to intervene? I am also concerned that it would be difficult for very local probation boards or trusts to think strategically. This point has already been made but there are examples that I may highlight later about innovative specialist services, particularly those provided by the third sector, which often go beyond what the noble Lord, Lord Wallace, referred to as local. We come back to the point about referring to the third and voluntary sector as though it exists only locally. It can exist locally and nationally, as my organisation can testify. These specialist services often need to be delivered on a more regional basis and we need to allow for that. They could be delivered on a regional, or in some cases, national level. In this debate, there has often been a tendency to talk as if what matters is the sector that an organisation comes from. People have enthused about the private sector and public sector ethos and mentioned the third sector and the voluntary sector in terms of our ability to engage with service users. While there may be some evidence to support some of the characteristics present in those sectors, such an approach is far too simplistic. Each sector is very diverse with organisations demonstrating good and bad practice. Commissioners need to have the strength and freedom to commission services from the right provider for the job, no matter what sector they come from. Any presumption in favour of one sector limits that freedom, which would therefore mean that the best service for the offender and the public is not necessarily being commissioned. Public services are just that: services for the public. What matters is getting the best service to reduce reoffending not which sector provides it. Often, the right approach is to work in partnership across the sectors to make the most of all the talents. In case there is any doubt about where I stand on this, I want to place on record my respect for the excellent work undertaken by probation officers who work for the Probation Service, many of whom already work in partnership with my own staff at Turning Point and other organisations throughout the third and voluntary sector providing substance misuse services as part of community sentences in places such as Somerset and Sheffield. I understand that some concerns have been raised about the ability of the third sector and voluntary sector to deliver what is required of it. I want to finish with some examples so that we can move on from the issue of the third sector and voluntary sector as part of a mixed economy. They show what is already being achieved by my own organisation and others from the voluntary sector that are working in partnership with probation services throughout the country to deliver substance misuse treatment as part of sentences. My own organisation is working in partnership with Serco and the Rainer Foundation to deliver employment support for offenders in the south-east. The charity Nacro is providing basic skills training alongside Sussex Probation. The organisation Pecan’s Workout project is also providing an employment service for ex-offenders throughout the country where innovative commissioners have worked with the third sector and voluntary organisations that have stepped up to the plate and which recognise the need to reduce recidivism and turn around a system that is not working for the public. Unfortunately, the way in which services are currently structured means that the third sector has often played a rather limited role in the provision of probation services. The amendments would retain those limits rather than allowing commissioners the freedom to get the best service for the offender and the community. The third sector is not asking for special treatment. Third sector organisations should have to prove alongside other organisations that they can do the job as should statutory and independent providers. Nevertheless, to get the best and most innovative services, commissioners need to look at every sector, and all providers should have the opportunity to demonstrate what they can do to improve the system.