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Bridgend Probation Service (Voluntary Sector)

I start by congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Bridgend (Mrs. Moon) on securing the debate, and on the way in which she put the case for Sandville. Before I move on to my speech, I want to say that the moving letters that my hon. Friend read out and the sentiments that they included showed us all the importance of the debate this morning, even given the fact that there are few of us in the Chamber. When ex-offenders who have been put in places such as Sandville—no doubt this could be replicated across the country with other such centres—talk about the fact that they would have been anti-establishment and would have poured scorn on efforts that were made to rehabilitate them and to help stop them re-offending, when they talk about the way that those centres have helped them to develop self-worth and self-esteem, and about seeing light at the end of the tunnel, it shows the importance of the establishments that are represented by Sandville. It shows the need for us to get that right so that more people can address their offending and hopefully, on leaving, be rehabilitated and become full and worthwhile members of the community. I liked the way that my hon. Friend used the word ““love”” about the way in which the centre operated. It is an underused and often misused word, but any establishment with such love and care is often the type of establishment—whether it is a school, a hospital or a centre such as Sandville—that delivers something worthwhile for the people who are there. As I said, I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate. It highlights not only the specific issue of the Sandville self-help centre but more general questions on the role of the third sector in the National Offender Management Service, the reduction of re-offending and the protection of the public. The Government are committed to engaging with the third sector in order to improve public services. For NOMS, the opportunities for the third sector were outlined in a public value partnerships document, published in August. That committed NOMS to a greater working partnership with the third sector, and it specifically committed the probation service to sub-contracting 10 per cent. of front-line services to the third and private sectors by the end of 2007-08. Such sub-contracting, and the roll-out of end-to-end offender management, will ensure that re-offending is further reduced and that public protection is increased. For example, only offenders who presented a low risk of harm or who show a low likelihood of reconviction will be allowed to work with children or vulnerable adults; and even though low risk offenders may be allocated to work in such settings, they should never be involved in the direct personal care of children or vulnerable adults and should not be left in sole charge of them. As my hon. Friend said, public protection is obviously a very important aspect of that work. My hon. Friend described the valuable work undertaken by the Sandville self-help centre. I join her in paying tribute to its work, and the leadership of Sister Gwyneth Poacher. Sandville’s principle concern is to support the chronically and terminally ill and their families. In doing so, it has played an important part in rehabilitating offenders. As my hon. Friend is aware, offenders have been placed there as volunteers under the pre-release scheme and undertake unpaid work. At first sight, it is not clear why that arrangement should not continue. It was clearly beneficial for offenders, the centre and the wider community. Although there were no doubts about the benefits that the centre brought about, questions were raised about public protection. That led to the events that concern my hon. Friend. On 11 November 2005, South Wales probation service attended a multi-agency information-sharing meeting organised by Bridgend county borough council in order to raise awareness among the caring community about a number of serious concerns to do with current practices at Sandville self-help centre. The concerns raised were the lack of screening of volunteers and of Criminal Records Bureau checks, and the fact that the centre did not meet the regulations for providing personal care.