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Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

moved Amendment No. 115AC: 115AC: Clause 139, page 100, line 35, at end insert— ““( ) Where the responsible authority makes a disclosure about any child or young person below the age of 18 under this section— (a) the case must be referred to the Local Safeguarding Children Board and the decision to disclose taken in conjunction with them, and (b) a management plan must be drawn up to include a risk assessment of the consequences of disclosure for the child and steps to address these.”” The noble Baroness said: My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord West of Spithead, for taking the time with his extensive Bill team to see me regarding this clause, meeting my concerns and elaborating further through providing examples of why the Government feel that the clauses are extremely important. The purpose of the amendment is to ensure that, when a responsible authority makes a disclosure about a child or young person under the age of 18, safeguards are built into it. I shall now try to work out how disclosure will apply in these cases. I understand that the Government have met the relevant charities involved with children and have tried to reassure them, but there are one or two areas of ambiguity and I would like the Minister to clarify where we stand. First, we understand that the Government are proposing that each local area be evaluated or assessed in relation to whether it is safe to manage the disclosure of information about children. Will the Minister accept that that must include independent scrutiny involving the respective charities that deal with the children? Secondly, when considering how to extend the scheme to those under 18, will the Government consult other stakeholders about the safeguards? Thirdly, will the regulations include a requirement for MAPPAs to consult the local safeguarding children boards before making any disclosure about someone aged under 18? The Minister has reassured me in writing and he recognises the need to ensure that factors associated with young offenders, particularly those demonstrating sexually harmful behaviour, are taken into consideration. He said that the Government were amending statutory guidance to ensure that those issues are taken into account by the relevant local MAPPA boards. This is an extremely important issue. We know that local safeguarding children boards are an important aspect under the new children’s service arrangements, and this is a positive move. It is important that children and young people who exhibit sexually harmful behaviour do not suffer from the consequences of adult-focused legislation and rules around disclosure which treat them as if they were adult sex offenders. They are not. The circumstances of their offending are very different. In terms of rehabilitation, there are far more positive ways that such offending can be dealt with if safeguards are met and disclosure rules are dealt with carefully, taking into account the people involved in those areas. I beg to move.