Committee stage in the Commons
- Speaker
Mr. Nicholas BrownIndependent- Quote
- To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research was (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated by his Department in developing the business case that underpins the changes outlined in the Offender Management Bill.
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- Speaker
Mr. SutcliffeLabour- Quote
- Lord Carter conducted an extensive review of the correctional services in England and Wales. The review found considerable progress in the management of offenders but also found an urgent need for the different parts of the criminal justice system to work closer together, in particular the prison and probation services. In his December 2003 report—Managing Offenders, Reducing Crime—he made a number of recommendations including that more effective service delivery could be achieved through greater use of competition from private and voluntary providers, and through a separation of the line-management of public sector providers and the commissioning of services. Since the Government accepted the findings of Lord Carter in January 2004, we have continued to consult with stakeholders, both formally and informally, in developing the policy and this process continues as the Offender Management Bill goes through Parliament.
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- Speaker
Mark PritchardConservative- Quote
- To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to give local probation trusts commissioning powers under the new Offender Management Bill.
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- Speaker
- Mr. SutcliffeLabour
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- The Offender Management Bill gives to the Secretary of State the statutory duty to make arrangements to provide probation services, so enabling him to commission services from providers in the public, charitable, voluntary and private sectors. The Bill also establishes probation trusts, as the public sector providers with whom he may make such arrangements. It is not envisaged that the Secretary of State will hold all contracts directly. The Bill also provides for probation trusts and other providers to enter into sub-contracts for services. This will be a key means of ensuring partnership working and the proper involvement of providers at the local level; potential providers will be expected to demonstrate these links when submitting bids. NOMS commissioning processes, while upholding the principle of fair competition, will seek to reduce barriers to further partnership working and encouraging new providers, by minimising the overall cost and complexity of tendering, using fit for purpose pre-qualification regimes that are proportionate to the likely contract value, term and risk; and streamlining monitoring, regulatory and reporting requirements.
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