Police and Justice Bill

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for her thoughtful reply. I agree that we are as one on the importance of sustaining and maintaining families together at home. It is a matter of how you achieve that objective and from where the emphasis comes. I endorse the principle of inter-agency working and the more that we can do that, the better. The important part of my argument is in relation to where the authority comes from, and professionally qualified people should take on that role, using the work of the housing officers and so on. I shall watch with keen interest how this issue develops over the next few months, because I am yet to be convinced that there is not something a bit wrong with the current situation. Time will tell. In the mean time, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Clause 24 [Parenting orders: local authorities and registered social landlords]: [Amendments Nos. 7 to 13 not moved.] Clause 25 [Contracting out of local authority functions with regard to parenting contracts and parenting orders]: