Earl of Listowel
Main Page: Earl of Listowel (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)Department Debates - View all Earl of Listowel's debates with the Ministry of Justice
(13 years, 1 month ago)
Lords ChamberI have not seen in detail the evidence given by my honourable friend. I suspect that almost in the order of things there are occasional irritations between a central and a local body. Throughout the life of the YJB, there have been various debates about where the onus of responsibility should lie. We believe that by slimming down the central role of the YJB, we can give youth offending teams more responsibility, in keeping with the Government’s localism policy. I will investigate whether the exact exchanges that Mr Blunt was referring to are available on the public record and what they contain, and if I can reveal them to my noble friend, I will.
My Lords, will the Minister thank the Secretary of State for the care with which he has listened to your Lordships’ concern across the House at this change? Does he know of any chief police officers who support the change? Does he understand my concern, as vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Looked After Children and Care Leavers, and as treasurer of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Children, that this will not only be less safe for the public but will be a step back for those children in the criminal justice system and will mean fewer children going on to make a better life for themselves having had a bad start?
I am well aware that the YJB is a much loved organisation and that a number of organisations have come to its aid. The noble Lord, Lord Warner, has voiced a number of concerns about this. We will return to this when the Public Bodies Bill returns to the House. I do not see that creating a new youth justice division within the MoJ, maintaining continuity and expertise, retaining the expertise of the staff who have worked on the Youth Justice Board, strengthening its focus on youth justice by establishing an advisory board on youth justice, and agreeing that Dame Sue Street, a non-executive director of the MoJ who has experience and knowledge of the youth justice system, should take a direct interest in youth justice matters, is in any way a retreat from the kind of commitments that the noble Lord wishes for.