HC Deb 03 July 2002 vol 388 c426W
Mr. Hancock

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department by what criteria members of the public will be chosen for the strategic boards overseeing the multi-agency public protection panels; and if he will make a statement. [64589]

Hilary Benn

The multi-agency public protection arrangements exist to protect members of the public from potentially dangerous sexual and violent offenders in communities across England and Wales. I announced last week that the Government wanted members of the public to be represented in these arrangements.

Adverts will be appearing in the press in the five areas which will be piloting this scheme (west Midlands, south Wales, Cumbria, Durham and Surrey), asking for members of the public to apply to sit on the strategic boards scrutinising and managing this work in their areas.

Lay members will not be required to have formal educational qualifications but are expected to have:

  1. (i) an ability to understand complex information in written and numerical form;
  2. (ii) an interest in community and social issues with a track record of involvement in them;
  3. (iii) an ability to make appropriate decisions based on the available information;
  4. (iv) a capacity for emotional resilience, retaining sensitivity while dealing with tragic or painful situations. In particular, this includes an ability to understand the needs and feelings of victims of crime;
  5. (v) an ability to understand the complexity of human behaviour;
  6. (vi) good social skills and the ability to work effectively with people in groups and in formal meetings;
  7. (vii) an awareness of and commitment to equality and diversity;
  8. (viii) an ability to challenge constructively the views and assumptions of senior professionals; and
  9. (ix) an ability to maintain confidentiality appropriate to the circumstances and local protocols.

In each of the areas in which this development is being piloted, lay members will be recruited using these criteria through a formal assessment procedure designed and administered by an occupational psychologist. Elected representatives and relevant professionals are not eligible for selection. All candidates will be subject to the usual criminal history checks and anyone who has committed a sexual or a violent offence, or any other offence not spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 will also not be eligible. We hope to make the first appointments later in the summer.