Ladies and gentlemen,
it is a great pleasure for me to be with you today. I know that many of you have travelled quite a distance to attend this conference at Millbank Towers. I see there are delegates here from my Advisory Committees in areas as far apart as Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Somerset and Glamorgan. I would also like to extend a particular welcome to those of you from the Duchy of Lancaster. This is the first time that delegates from different Advisory Committees have had the opportunity to meet and exchange ideas, particularly with their counterparts in the Duchy.
During the course of the day you will be discussing proposals for developing the National Strategy for the Recruitment of Lay Magistrates, which I am pleased to announce is being launched today.
Some may ask why we need a recruitment strategy. To fully appreciate that, one has to understand how we arrived at this juncture. The strategy was originally commissioned in response to the report 'Criminal Justice - The Way Ahead' which highlighted the need for an integrated, corporate recruitment strategy to promote diversity on the bench and replace the piecemeal recruitment methods in place.
You will, of course, be well aware that I rely on the good work of my Advisory Committees throughout the country to recruit magistrates. Each Advisory Committee is responsible for trying to achieve a balance on their respective benches in terms of gender, ethnic background, occupation and social diversity from those candidates they recommend for appointment. And it is reassuring to see that people still place a high value on becoming magistrates and are keen to involve themselves in local justice. Last year, 4,753 people applied to be magistrates and 1,410 were subsequently appointed.
However, getting people to apply isn't the main problem. Our real concerns centre on how to attract candidates from under-represented groups. We have a continuing problem reaching younger applicants, blue-collar workers, the self-employed and those from minority ethnic communities. Last year less than 700 of the 4,753 applicants were from the under 40 age group and only 447 applications were from minority ethnic candidates.
One of the main difficulties in recruiting from minority ethnic communities lies in the generally held, but erroneous view that to become a magistrate you have to be white, middle-class and professional . This is a preconception that we have to challenge to encourage applications from all sections of society.
The strategy will re-examine our approach to recruitment of people from ethnic minorities. We have made a good start with the Magistrates Shadowing Scheme, which aims to encourage more people from ethnic minorities to learn about life as a magistrate. The project, run by Operation Black Vote (OBV), with support from my Department was piloted in seven areas, with 47 individuals shadowing 94 Magistrates.
This programme has proved so popular that 21 regions applied for entry into Phase 2. And I understand that OBV has received very many applications, not only to job shadow magistrates, but also for more information on how to become a magistrate. In May of this year we saw the first appointment of a magistrate who had progressed through this scheme and I hope that she will prove to be the first of many.
This afternoon you are due to receive a visit from Simon Woolley, the national co-ordinator of OBV, who will expand on this theme.
We have taken other affirmative action to kick-start the strategy. The Home Office's Active Community Unit has been contacted to develop a joint approach to encourage under-represented groups and younger people to engage with the criminal justice system by applying to become magistrates. We have also reached an agreement with the Independent Monitoring Boards (formerly known as the Board of Prison Visitors) that will see unsuccessful applicants for the magistracy being recommended to them as potential visitors. In return, experienced visitors leaving their service will be encouraged to apply to become magistrates.
The strategy will also focus on the recruitment of younger people and particularly those in employment. At present 80% of the magistracy is aged over 50. And whilst those magistrates do an excellent job we still need to find ways of encouraging younger applicants to achieve our aim of having a diverse bench. A bench, which is a microcosm of the community, it serves.
Employers need to play their part by agreeing to release staff who wish to serve as magistrates. But how can they be convinced that it is good for their business to do so? Businesses must be persuaded to change their conventional outlook on their investment in the local community. There are other benefits beyond simple commercial concerns to be gained by giving business focus a social perspective. Benefits such as achieving a higher public profile from supporting the local criminal justice system. Or from the development of employee's individual competences, such as teamwork, communication skills, diversity awareness and decision making. All these skills are gained during training as a magistrate and they are transferable to the workplace.
I am pleased to say that many leading businesses already support our aims. For example, British Airways state that many of their staff have embraced their corporate value to be a 'good neighbour' by becoming magistrates. And the airline has acknowledged "the positive impact that such stimulating voluntary activity has on morale." Boots, British Telecom, Tesco and Marks & Spencer have made similar statements. But I think our aspirations are summed up neatly by the vehicle manufacturer, Vauxhall, who have said, "We have always believed in the importance of being a good corporate citizen, helping to improve our local communities. Magistrates play a key role in the delivery of thriving, safer communities. By supporting an employee becoming involved in this way there is a benefit for all. For our employees this means developing new skills, and levels of understanding; for the company we reap the benefits of their wider experience, as well as cementing our position at the heart of the community."
The strategy will incorporate a re-evaluation of the community relations and educational initiatives of the benches with the intention of better informing the public of their work. This will also raise awareness of the benefits of joining the magistracy. Additionally, it will institute a review of the ways in which the terms and conditions of service of a magistrate might be made more attractive and manageable. For example, by re-examining how financial loss allowances are dealt with and by working with courts to establish more flexible sitting patterns.
Central to achieving our objectives is the development of a joined up approach to managing the whole strategy with our stakeholders, including the Magistrates' Association, who you will hear from shortly, the Magistrates' Courts Committees, Advisory Committees, and the Duchy of Lancaster's Office. This will become particularly important as other programmes aimed at improving the effectiveness of the criminal justice system begin to take effect.
I am thinking in particular of the Criminal Justice Bill, which will introduce extended sentencing powers for magistrates, and the "Narrowing the Justice Gap" initiative where the Government has set a target to bring 1.2 million offences to justice by 2005-06. Together these proposals will significantly increase workload in both the magistrate's court and the Crown Court. To ensure that magistrates' courts can deliver the target for offences brought to justice we will need to recruit an estimated 3,000 new magistrates between 2003 - 2006.
Clearly, without this new integrated strategy, which will be the catalyst that enables us to develop changes to the way in which we advance our recruitment and retention policies, we will struggle to attract sufficient suitable candidates to the magistracy.
A project board has been established to manage the strategy. Decisions you make here today will go back to that board and may be key to enhancing its development over the forthcoming three years.
So, to recap, the strategy will consolidate, on a national scale, best recruitment practice from the regions. It will target employers, younger people and other under-represented groups who have in the past been difficult to reach. It will also build upon the encouraging recruitment trends that have emerged over recent years. In 2002/2003, for example, the proportion of new appointments drawn from ethnic minority communities rose to 8.2% - up from, 6.5% in 1997, and only 5% in 1994.
We have a long way to go, but I am sure that together we can make the strategy a success. I hope that you have a productive and enjoyable day and, once more, thank you for taking the time to be here.