Offender Management Bill

I apologise that I was slightly late coming into the Chamber. I support the amendments, because I was a member of a board of visitors at a prison in the old days and have worked for the Police Complaints Authority. As the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, said, we expect custody officers to perform a very difficult task. The largest numberof complaints that I used to receive at the PCA concerned custody officers. They have a very delicate task. It is not disputed that training and, to an extent, the method of recruitment of custody officers would help to resolve this problem, but we are trying, inthe interests of children, to put into the Bill an amendment that would be a safeguard. I do not think that any person in their right mind could refuse to accept it. I hope that the Minister will take it back if he needs to and look at it seriously to see what he can come up with so that the interests of children are protected.