§ 3.21 p.m.
§ Lord ELTONMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the first Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the rules governing the confidentiality of information gathered by probation officers and other accredited agents of statutory welfare services and whether they are generally known to members of these services.
§ The MINISTER of STATE, HOME OFFICE (Lord Harris of Greenwich)My Lords, the Probation Rules 1965 contain provisions which limit access to probation officers' records. These rules do not touch on the circumstances in which information may be disclosed by probation officers, and it may be doubted whether this is a matter capable of detailed statutory regulations. There is, however, a general recognition in the probation and after-care service of the confidential nature of these records and of the broad circumstances in which they may properly be disclosed. Whether information should be given in a particular case must often be left to the judgment of the officer concerned after taking account of all the circumstances including his responsibility towards the client.
Where inquiries are being made concerning an alleged offence, the officer concerned would, no doubt, be advised by his or her senior officer, if necessary in the light of legal advice, as to the information which should be provided. In addition, if asked to give evidence in a case involving a criminal offence, a probation officer would be expected to conform with any directions of the court. As regards other social workers, there are no statutory rules.
§ Lord ELTONMy Lords, while thanking the noble Lord for his Answer, may I ask whether I am right in saying that it falls into two parts; that dealing with evidence and that dealing with other in- 456 formation? Does he agree that, where there is good reason for withholding evidence, it should be publicly known in order to avoid the embarrassment to probation officers or other workers, which I have specified in the Question, of appearing to be unwilling to co-operate with the courts?
§ Lord HARRIS of GREENWICHYes, my Lords, I believe that the noble Lord is concerned about a recent case. I think he recognises the difficulty arising with regard to the matter. The view of the Home Office is that this is essentially a matter for the probation officer and the Probation After-Care Committee concerned.
§ Lord HAILSHAM of SAINT MARYLEBONEMy Lords, in formulating instructions for officers in this difficult and potentially sensitive matter, is it not important that both the Judiciary and the Magistrates' Association should be kept in touch with what is being done?
§ Lord HARRIS of GREENWICHYes, my Lords, I am sure that I should not in any way differ from what the noble and learned Lord has said. The question arises from a specific case. It would not be appropriate to go into its details, and I know that the noble and learned Lord would not wish me to do so.
§ Lord ELTONMy Lords, may I therefore pursue the other half of the Answer about information on record? Would the noble Lord and his Department favour the release of relevant information, which may give warning of a predisposition to the non-accidental injury of children to some central corpus of information on the subject, which I think ought to be set up in the near future?
§ Lord HARRIS of GREENWICHMy Lords, I believe that this matter is best dealt with at local level, where there is a great deal of discussion of cases of the kind to which the noble Lord refered. It is not appropriate for anything to be done centrally. It is better left to action at local level with co-ordination between all the various services concerned.
§ Lord ELTONMy Lords, I should not wish to leave this point of centrality. Will the noble Lord look at the point more closely, bearing it in mind that families 457 in which these cases occur are often highly mobile, moving from one house to another and across local government area borders, and that something must be done to help them? This help cannot be given if they move into an area where they are not known.
§ Lord HARRIS of GREENWICHMy Lords, this matter has been engaging the attention of both the Home Office and the Department of Health and Social Security; it will continue to do so. We are well aware of the anxieties of the House and another place over the number of unfortunate cases which have happened in recent months. Certainly the matter is constantly before us, but I am not sure that the solution proffered by the noble Lord is necessarily the right way to handle this issue.