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Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

moved Amendment No. 85: 85: After Clause 58, insert the following new Clause— ““Looked-after children in custody Assistance for looked-after children in custody After section 61A of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 (c. 53) insert— ““61B Assistance for looked-after children in custody (1) This section applies to— (a) a child looked after by a local authority who is taken into custody; (b) a child or young person being held in custody who was previously being looked after by a local authority; (c) a child or young person who has been released from custody but who was, prior to his or her detention, being looked after by a local authority; and (d) a child or young person— (i) who is of a description prescribed by regulations made by the appropriate national authority; and (ii) in relation to whom the regulations impose the duties in this section on a local authority. (2) It is the duty of the local authority— (a) to appoint a person who shall act as the caseworker to the person to whom this section applies; (b) to arrange for appropriate advice, support and assistance to be available to a person to whom this section applies. (3) The caseworker appointed under subsection (2) must, so far as is reasonably practicable, be a person who is acting as a caseworker for the relevant person prior to that person being taken into custody. (4) The caseworker shall have a duty, so far as is reasonably practicable— (a) to maintain an ongoing relationship with the young person in custody; and (b) to advise and assist him with a view to promoting his welfare. (5) The duty contained in subsection (4) shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, continue after the young person has left custody. (6) The duty contained in subsection (2)(b) only applies to a young person over 18 years of age if that person seeks the relevant advice, support or assistance. (7) The duties imposed by subsections (2), (4) and (5)— (a) are to be discharged in accordance with any regulations made for the purposes of this section by the appropriate national authority; (b) are subject to any requirement imposed by or under an enactment applicable to the place in which the person to whom this section applies is held in custody. (8) Regulations under this section for the purposes of subsection (7)(a) may, in particular, make provision about the frequency of visits by the caseworker to the young person in custody and upon his release from custody. (9) In choosing a caseworker the local authority must satisfy themselves that the person chosen has the necessary skills and experience to perform the functions of a caseworker under this section. (10) In this section— ““held in custody”” means held in detention by the police, prison service or other court authority and ““taken into custody”” and ““released from custody”” shall be construed accordingly; ““the appropriate national authority”” means— (a) in relation to England, the Secretary of State; and (b) in relation to Wales, the Welsh Ministers.”””” The noble Lord said: My Lords, I shall be brief. The amendment has been tabled to this Bill and to the Children and Young Persons Bill for very deliberate reasons. It seeks to add a requirement that social workers who are responsible for young people in the community stay as caseworkers with them for any period of custody to which they may be ordered. Currently, under the detention and training order regime, the consistency of supervision maintained throughout is critical at the vital stage when a person leaves custody and returns to the community. Therefore, it must make sense for the person who was previously responsible for the young person in the community to carry on with that responsibility when custody is over. Many noble Lords may wonder why it is necessary to put the requirement in the Bill because it ought to be happening already. Tragically, it is not—the amendment would not be necessary if it were. That is not to say that the practice happens nowhere: there are some very good caseworkers who make it their business to stay with their people when they go to custody. However, it is not a statutory requirement. The Department for Children, Schools and Families says that it will include the requirement in instructions, but, sadly, I do not feel that that is good enough. The statistics show that the children who are ordered into care are the most vulnerable within the young offender estate. Tragically, their reoffending rate is not helped because there is so little consistency in their treatment after release. They lack the parental support which others have. Therefore, I strongly feel that the requirement should be put into the Bill. It links with so much other legislation now being taken through your Lordships’ House—particularly the Children and Young Persons Bill—and therefore I beg to move.