Bambos Charalambous
Main Page: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)Select Committee on Justice
Bambos Charalambous Excerpts(5 years, 10 months ago)
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Robert Neill
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for those comments. I am not sure how far the roll-out has gone so far, but we certainly believe that the move in Scotland is in the right direction, and that is evidenced by the situation in many other jurisdictions, where there has been the same effect. I would not want to be held to specific numbers, but I think that the direction of travel to which the hon. Gentleman refers would be absolutely right. I do not think that there are basic, underlying causes that make the English more intrinsically criminal than the Scots, or more prone to reoffending than the Scots, the Germans, the Dutch or our other neighbours—it is tempting fate to say that to the hon. Gentleman, but with a middle name of MacGillivray, perhaps I can say it. I do not think that is the case, so I think we should pursue this proposal. The key bit, I think, is systemic failures, rather than underlying social causes.
Bambos Charalambous (Enfield, Southgate) (Lab)
I very much welcome the report, and particularly the recommendations in paragraphs 100, 102 and 106, which relate to the voluntary sector. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that there needs to be much greater voluntary sector involvement in the rehabilitation of offenders, because those organisations are best placed to reach offenders and address issues relating to their offending, and that CRCs must do more to increase the employment and engagement of the voluntary sector in this sphere?
Robert Neill
The hon. Gentleman, whose work on the Select Committee is much appreciated, is absolutely right. There are examples of good work being done in the system. In the north-east in particular, there are some areas where the voluntary sector has worked well, taking a leading role within CRCs, but they are the exception to the rule. That is why we think that the new system must have specific targets for the voluntary sector, and means of getting it into the system. I know from my experience over the years that the voluntary sector is much more flexible. It is much more able to calibrate to the local social, economic, job-market and housing-market needs, which are all-important in rehabilitation, and is able to build up links at local level with the relevant agencies, in a way that so far has tended to be lacking in the very large and sometimes remote organisations. The hon. Gentleman is totally right.