Briefing for the House of Lords Report Stage debate

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UNISON – HoL Briefing – Offender Rehabilitation Bill

Briefing for the House of Lords Report Stage debate of the Offender Rehabilitation Bill [HL] 2013-14

Please find attached a briefing from UNISON ahead of the Report Stage debate of the Offender Rehabilitation Bill [HL] 2013-14 in the House of Lords on Monday 24th June.

 

UNISON is the largest public sector trade union in the UK representing around 1.4 million members, of which 4,500 work for the 35 Probation Trusts in England and Wales.  This briefing sets out the key concerns that our members have about the Offender Rehabilitation Bill [HL] 2013-14 as currently drafted, including:

·         A lack of clarity and content within the Bill on the Government’s key proposals to reform the structure and function of the Probation Service – This has severely hampered parliamentary scrutiny of these wide-ranging proposals;

·         The payment-by-results model is completely untested in the probation service, which is unique from all other public services;

·         Probation Trusts and Local Authorities will be prohibited from bidding for contracts to provide probation services

We very much hope that you will be able to support our alternative vision for the Probation Service and campaign to “Keep Probation Public – Keep Probation Local”. For your information I have attached to this email a copy of our recently published joint report, with local government think-tank LGiU, outlining our alternative vision for the future of the probation service.

We are anticipating amendments to be tabled at Report Stage that will provoke debate on the issues raised in this briefing. If you share our members’ concerns, we would be grateful if you could raise these issues with the Government on the floor of the House.