Protection of Freedoms Bill

My Lords, I am glad to have the opportunity to build on the comments I made during Second Reading, which highlighted the efforts made by sports bodies to provide the safest possible environment for young people to enjoy sporting activity. As I said at Second Reading, the sport and recreation sector has voiced the concern that many individuals who have regular and close contact with children will not be regulated due to their being supervised by regulated individuals. The Bill’s criterion of ““supervision”” is considered by many to be a concern in relation to sport. The amendment aims to rectify this by being an exception for sport and recreational activities, thereby allowing the governing bodies to manage their risks as they deem appropriate in the context of their own activity. Sport and recreation are delivered in a wide range of environments—in sports halls, swimming pools, football pitches, on a river or, if one is so disposed, even on the side of a mountain. These are all situations in which governing bodies have to protect their young participants, yet within all these environments the nature of interaction between participants differs greatly, as does the nature of supervision. At present governing bodies are trusted to make their own assessments of risk and implement safeguards accordingly. I think that this is a balance they currently get right. In fact, the spirit of this amendment is consistent with the position adopted by the Government. From conversations with various governing bodies, not least the England and Wales Cricket Board, of which I am a board member, it is clear that they are both willing and able to continue to take responsibility as the Minister has described. The sentiment is also expressed in the amendment tabled by my noble friend Lady Walmsley, which I also support. There is a second and more pressing point to make on the subject of supervision in the Bill, which is that it contradicts the experience of the sports governing bodies to assume that the danger presented by an individual correlates with the degree to which they are supervised. The individuals that we seek to protect against are manipulative and calculating. They will undoubtedly seek to occupy those roles which are unregulated, and we must therefore ensure that the scope of regulated activity captures everyone who has the ability to develop a relationship of trust with a child. Therefore, I would welcome comments from the Minister about what the ““supervision”” criterion means for sport in practice, and I would welcome the Government’s commitment to provide guidance on this issue. Sport and recreation organisations believe that an individual who has the ability to develop a relationship of trust with a child should be regulated, regardless of supervision. During the Committee stage in the other place, my honourable friend Lynne Featherstone stated that the Government would introduce guidance on the definition of ““supervision””. She said: "““We will publish draft guidance well before Royal Assent, which will go into more detail, with case studies on supervision. The real point is that we do not want either extreme—neither a manager who pops in only once a day, nor a supervisor who is never out of the room””.—[Official Report, Commons, Protection of Freedoms Bill Committee, 3/5/11; col. 547.]" Lynne Featherstone also stated during the Bill’s passage in the other place that the employer or organisation concerned should take responsibility for managing risks: "““We are trying to say to the employer or the organisation that they have the joint responsibility in not just their procedures, but the judgment of what supervision is and what the risks are””.—[Official Report, Commons, Protection of Freedoms Bill Committee, 3/5/11; col. 541.]" I tabled this amendment to seek assurances that the guidance will address the specific concerns of the sport sector, which has its own unique scenarios to grapple with. On the cricket field, a regulated coach in a supervising role may be training batsmen at one end of the ground, whereas in the far distance the assistant coach, unregulated, will spend time focusing on other areas of the game. Similarly in football, the regulated coach may be attending to an injury at one end of the pitch, while miles away on pitch 72 on Wandsworth Common, the unregulated assistant continues to oversee the game in progress. Similarly, at a swimming pool, a regulated supervisor can see everything happening but cannot hear the conversation between the unregulated assistant coach and the swimmer at the other end of the pool. In all these examples, all the sports individuals occupy the same open space. Everything that happens will be in line of sight of the supervising regulated coach, but his or her attention could be directed elsewhere. I humbly ask that the Minister continues to engage with the sport and recreation sector to develop clear guidance that reflects the day-to-day realities of the sport environment. I thank him most generously for twice meeting us and allowing us to meet, with his officials, representatives of the major governing bodies to seek additional clarification. May the sport and recreation sector be consulted on supervising guidance, and guidance be provided that is specific to that sector, which in many cases owes its existence to the tens of thousands of volunteers and voluntary administrators who run and co-ordinate the sport.