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I have personally believed for a long time that “responsible authorities” should be restricted to local councils and local police commanders, although I know that some of my noble colleagues may disagree with me on that. It was groundbreaking enough in the 1998 Act to place a joint responsibility on two statutory authorities and expect them to work together—especially when, in some instances, they did not have a great deal of experience of doing so. To try to place a joint responsibility on four, five or six statutory authorities is not workable. If you make it clear that the local council chief executive and police commanders are the responsible officials for delivering the crime and disorder reduction partnership and that the strategy is agreed by the broader group of partners, that is the sensible way forward.
Many of the functions currently conferred on responsible authorities are really appropriate only to bodies actually involved in delivering community safety, while the responsibility for ensuring that community safety strategies are adequately reflected in the plans of the partner organisations is clearly more appropriately a responsibility of the partners to the strategic safety partnership. I accept that, as a result, there may be many consequential amendments to be made to the Crime and Disorder Act, but I am sure that Home Office officials will be delighted to help my noble friend in finding them. But clarity
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Baroness Harris of Richmond: I support all these amendments and will speak in particular to Amendment No. 103, Amendment No. 114 and Amendment No. 121.
It is absolutely right that every crime and disorder committee shall include at least one member nominated by the police authority responsible in that area for maintaining the police force in the area of the local authority. I very much support Amendment No. 103.
On Amendment No. 114, police authorities must have a right to sit on the committees scrutinising crime and disorder issues as they are the bodies that hold the police to account on behalf of local communities, as the noble Baroness, Lady Henig, said. The Government have said that that will be prescribed in secondary legislation. We believe that it needs to be guaranteed in primary legislation because of the importance of the function and the possibility that the committees could be used by local authorities to hold the police, particularly BCU commanders, rather than the CDRP as a whole, to account. That could put conflicting demands on local police, undermine the role of the police authority in setting local priorities and interfere with the managerial accountability between BCU commanders and chief officers.
Amendment No. 121 would remove the ability of the Secretary of State to confer by regulations particular functions on particular responsible authorities in relation to the formulation and implementation of CDRP strategies. The whole point of the CDRP is that it has a partnership approach that engages all the responsible authorities in a joint exercise to address community safety issues. The noble Lord, Lord Harris, put that clearly in context. To confer particular functions on one or two of the partners would go against the partnership principle. Not only would it open up the possibility of a hierarchy of more or less important responsible authorities, which would mitigate against the concept of partnership, but it risks detracting from the original purpose for which these partnerships were brought together—better to join up community safety issues.
In addition, we have concerns that if the paragraph gives local authorities a primary role, it will be used to try to hold the police to account rather than the partnership as a whole. The police are accountable to police authorities and we would not wish to see that eroded or have conflicting or inappropriate priorities foisted by one partner on other partners because they have not been given a particular responsibility for formulating strategy, although they may have a responsibility for implementing it.
Provisions that allow the Secretary of State to confer functions on a committee, or on a particular member or officer of the responsible authorities, are
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Viscount Bridgeman: The aim behind these various amendments, as noble Lords have pointed out, is predominantly to raise concerns from the Association of Police Authorities regarding how the role of local authority scrutiny committees with responsibility to look at the crime and disorder reduction partnerships will interface with other responsible authorities, such as the police and the BCUs. The comments on this from the noble Lord, Lord Harris of Haringey, are very pertinent.
The amendments also address the age-old argument about placing detail in the Bill rather than in secondary legislation, to which the noble Baroness, Lady Harris, has already referred, as has the noble Lord, Lord Harris of Haringey, in another context in this amendment. That is an argument we have made throughout Part 1.
I do not want to reiterate all the points so carefully articulated by your Lordships, but I would like to speak in support of Amendment No. 103, to which my noble friend Lady Anelay has added her name. I agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Harris of Richmond: I do not see why the Government cannot express in the Bill that members of other representative authorities should be included in the local authority scrutiny committees, especially as the Home Office has argued that this is to be the case in practice. Including such representatives can only aid a joined-up approach to tackling local problems and help share information and understanding. I will be most interested in the Minister’s view of how this mechanism will work with the current lines of accountability.
I understand the principle behind the Government’s proposal. It is a call for action. Scrutiny committees have the potential to be a very valuable forum. One can argue that on the one hand the Government are merging bodies involved in crime and disorder to try and reduce the pressure on them, yet on the other they are setting up new committees involved in the exact same area, albeit in a different way. There are clearly some outstanding concerns that need to be addressed before we can be confident that the workings of different organisational relationships have been thoroughly thought through.
Lord Bassam of Brighton: I am grateful to the contributors to this debate for the constructive way they have engaged with the issues and the focus that has been placed on the accountability and management of important partnerships involved in crime and disorder.
The review of the partnership provisions of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 that has been undertaken during the past year or so stresses the importance of including members from the police authority on the overview and scrutiny committee when it is looking at crime and disorder matters and
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The Secretary of State continues to offer assurances that we still believe it appropriate to include the police authority on the overview and scrutiny committee functions, and the regulation-making power in Clause 18 allows for that flexibility. We are consulting practitioners around the country on exactly how best to exercise that power, and most importantly that will include police authority members. However, I understand the sensitivity of the issue against the background of current discussions about the size and composition of police authorities.
It is also important to highlight that the composition of such committees should continue to reflect the current and future structure of community safety delivery. The power in the Bill will allow that to happen. The power is subject to the affirmative resolution process, and we can fairly argue that Parliament will have an opportunity to both monitor and scrutinise its use and effectiveness.
Amendment No. 114 is a consequential amendment to ensure that, if police authorities are added to the membership of the crime and disorder committee by Amendment No. 103, the same applies to those overview and scrutiny committees set up in areas not operating under executive arrangements. However, as previously stated, we have taken the power to specify who should be co-opted to sit on those committees, and for that reason we do not require it to be set out in primary legislation. It is worth underlining the point by saying we will also have a power to provide that they may be given voting rights.
Amendment No. 117 would alter the structure of crime and disorder reduction partnerships by reducing the number of responsible authorities from five to two. This amendment would make the police and the local authority responsible and accountable for the development and delivery of all aspects of the partnership strategy. In our view this narrowing of membership would come at a time when, as a consequence of good partnership working and recent strategy changes, the CDRP remit has expanded to cover crime and disorder, substance misuse, anti-social behaviour and behaviour adversely affecting the environment. I would have thought, given their experience, that my noble friends Lord Harris and Lady Henig, and the noble Baroness, Lady Harris of Richmond, understanding as they do the value of good partnership working, would see the benefit of having this broader partnership membership.
We acknowledge the important role that the police and the local authority undertake. Perhaps one might describe them as leading players in taking forward the CDRP’s work. However, we think the remaining responsible authorities continue to play an equally critical role in the work of partnerships. This amendment would be a step backwards in terms of joined-up local delivery, and we do not think it would necessarily assist in tackling important community safety issues at the local level.
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CDRPs are founded on the principle that tackling crime and disorder is not just a job for the police. I am sure that that is a view all your Lordships share. To tackle the root causes of crime, a wider range of agencies must be involved. The partnership approach, as taken forward by CDRPs at the local level, has achieved sustained reductions in crime across the country, and we think this amendment might undermine or threaten some of that good work.
Lord Harris of Haringey: I am not sure I fully understand the thrust of my noble friend’s argument. In many local areas there is a sense of partnership fatigue, with bodies that are required to sit on local partnerships because of legislation passed by your Lordships and another place at various times, or because of circulars that say you cannot spend money on particular things without a partnership committee.
Trying to draw a distinction between those that have the primary responsibility for service delivery in this area—it will remain the local authority and the police service—and those other authorities that have a peripheral, though important, role is surely essential. The amendment gives clarity to what people are there for, which is why it is expressed in those terms. That does not stop the partnership, in terms of the people involved primarily in drug rehabilitation, being present for discussions specifically associated with that, but it clarifies who is part of the strategic discussion and of the service delivery discussion. As I understood it, that was the objective of the Home Office’s policy.
I am also conscious that there is a lot of discussion about the nature of local partnerships, and the relationship between all these things and the local strategic partnership. Again, the clarity of thinking across government departments about this is not as good as it might be. At least, if it is clear to someone, it is not clear to me. I would be grateful if my noble friend could give us a little more on why he thinks the proposals in the amendments I have put forward will make things worse rather than better. Surely clarity will have been given to the roles involved.
Lord Bassam of Brighton: I see my noble friend’s intervention as helpful. I know we share the same objective in the end: to ensure that partnerships work well. I understand the point about partnership fatigue, not least because, like him, I have felt somewhat overburdened by the commitment to different partnerships in the past. Partnerships are not just important but highly significant. The danger of going for the two-partner approach—which is effectively what the amendment would achieve—is that those others who are important and, I argue, integral to valuable partnership working at a local level will feel downgraded and not as valued as they formerly were. I have acknowledged that one would expect local authorities with their professionalism, and police authorities with their professionalism and expertise in dealing with strategic matters, to play a leading role. There is no suggestion that that would be in any way downgraded in partnership working. There is added value in bringing others in and making
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Amendment No. 118 looks at the process of separating out the strategic responsibilities of the crime and disorder reduction partnerships from those relating to operational delivery. We see the group composition recommendation as an endorsement of the recommendation outlined in the crime and disorder review, which also proposes the need to separate the operational and strategic obligations of the partnership to facilitate delivery, so we recognise the terms and parameters of this debate. We are fulfilling our commitment to consult CDRP responsible authorities and other stakeholders on how such a proposed separation of strategic and operational functions could be established and implemented. It would be counterproductive to enforce a definitive structure in primary legislation until that consultation process has been completed. There is still something to be learned from that. For that reason we propose taking a power in new Section 6 of the Crime and Disorder Act to use secondary legislation to bring about change in the most effective way. We want to listen to the voices that need to be heard throughout the consultation and learn from their important messages.
Amendments Nos. 119 to 126 are clearly very important. The Bill already incorporates provisions that will provide for the inclusion, removal and review through secondary legislation of those persons or bodies listed as the responsible authorities for the CDRP, though subject to the duty to consider crime and disorder in their work, and those deemed relevant authorities for the purposes of information-sharing under Section 115 of the Crime and Disorder Act.
Amendments Nos. 119, 123 and 125 add no new support to those provisions and would duplicate requirements already outlined in the Bill. Amendments Nos. 120, 124 and 126 propose to remove the clause that would allow the Secretary of State to alter or remove those persons or bodies listed under the categories mentioned previously. The proposal to take the power to alter the list of authorities under these categories arose from the findings of the CDA review, and reflects the opinion of a great number of stakeholders who saw the need for the Government to be able to alter those lists without recourse to primary legislation. We in turn are keen to reduce bureaucracy. That is why we want to take a power to alter these lists by means of secondary rather than primary legislation. There may be occasions when this is needed in the future and secondary legislation represents a much simpler and faster way of achieving the same result. It will also allow us to react to the rapidly changing nature of the wider partnership landscape. The power is subject to the affirmative resolution procedure and the Committee will have an opportunity to monitor and scrutinise its use.
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I turn to Amendment No. 121. It was highlighted through the CDA review that not all partners play an active role in the CDRP and more specifically in the development and implementation of the crime and disorder strategy. New Section 6(3)(c) in Schedule 7 was drafted to ensure that all responsible authority members of the partnership are encouraged to play an equal role in crime and disorder partnership work, and not to give any one partner primacy. In addition, this clause is key to delivering the strategic operational split of the crime and disorder reduction partnerships’ work as set out in the Crime and Disorder Act review.
Lord Harris of Haringey: I am grateful to my noble friend for giving way yet again. He has just talked about equal partners. Will he run past me again why the fire authority is an equal partner of the police in local crime and disorder? The fire authority has an important and valuable role in dealing with arson and offering fire safety advice and so on, but sometimes its involvement in matters other than flippantly offering to turn hoses on people who are causing disorder is fairly difficult to follow. What I am trying to get at—this comes back to my noble friend’s masterful dismissal of the amendments that I spoke to a moment ago—is that you cannot really claim that these partners are equal. They have a different level of involvement in these issues. Somehow we need to recognise that without pretending that they will all have a legitimate equal commitment in these areas.
Lord Bassam of Brighton: I understand the point that the noble Lord makes. He and I are equally Members of your Lordships’ House but I am sure that he makes a greater contribution than I do. I see the membership in that light. I am grateful to him for reminding me of the importance of the matter. We are consulting on the detail behind the implementation of the policy and will aim to use this power to reflect the best way forward as set out by stakeholders.
Amendment No. 122 redefines what is meant by implementation and excludes the process of the CDRP monitoring and reviewing its strategy. The Crime and Disorder Act review 2006 highlighted the good practice being undertaken around the country where CDRPs were reviewing their strategies annually to reflect changing trends and circumstances. As a consequence the review findings concluded that there was substantial benefit in the review process, as it assisted CDRPs to continue to reflect on their achievements and establish new objectives to continue to support the reduction of crime and anti-social behaviour in their respective areas. We are aware of the burden that this might cause and the need to focus on delivery, so are consulting stakeholders over the summer on a range of issues, including how best to implement this finding through the Bill. As a result of the review, partnerships will also be required to undertake strategic intelligence assessments. It is vitally important that a provision exists that requires CDRPs to review and monitor their strategies to reflect any changes in local crime and disorder patterns and issues that these assessments might raise. In addition, the process of regularly reviewing the strategies is key to supporting CDRPs in identifying
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I am conscious that I have taken some time in replying but the value of the amendments is such that they require and merit very careful consideration. I appreciated the constructive comments made by Members of the Committee on the different amendments in this short debate.
Baroness Henig: My noble friend has gone, as ever, some way to meet my concerns without fully meeting some of the fundamental objectives which lie behind my amendment, particularly the significance of local accountability of policing and the importance of underlining that, as policing is not like any other service. My earlier amendments were designed to underline that, as it is so important. However, in view of the time, I do not want to labour this any further. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Lord Evans of Temple Guiting: I beg to move that the House do now resume. In moving this Motion, I suggest that the Committee begin again not before 2.40 pm.
Moved accordingly, and, on Question, Motion agreed to.
Medical Act 1983 (Amendment) and Miscellaneous Amendments Order 2006
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The Minister of State, Department of Health (Lord Warner) rose to move, That the draft order laid before the House on 19 June be approved [31st Report from the Joint Committee].
The noble Lord said: My Lords, this is an order about patients: they are at the heart of our changes to the regulation of medical practitioners and other health professionals. The order will improve the way in which the General Medical Council protects patients, first, by simplifying the registration structure and removing discrimination against suitably qualified overseas medical graduates. Secondly, it revises the training requirements for newly qualified medical practitioners with provisional registration. Thirdly, it clarifies arrangements for the temporary registration of visiting eminent specialists and other overseas practitioners visiting the United Kingdom for a special purpose—for example, embassy doctors. Fourthly, it requires new registrants to demonstrate at the point of registration that their fitness to practise is not impaired. It also takes steps to ensure that practitioners cannot derive any unintended benefit by virtue of their name being suspended from the medical register. It introduces compulsory indemnity insurance cover for practising medical practitioners, and it requires newly qualified or restored practitioners to work in an approved practice setting.
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