Offender Management Bill

My Lords, I must rise to support the amendment. There is nothing more dreadful to a philosopher than to hear people say, ““It’s just a word””. The word’s connotation is enormously important. The main point made by my noble friend Lord Ramsbotham is that there is an important distinction between issuing an order that someone be punished and ensuring that that punishment is properly carried out. The one is the role only of the courts; the other is a crucial element in the role of the probation officer. To overlook the ceremonial aspect of the word ““punish””—or ““make an order””—is to confuse the role of the probation officer with that of the judge, magistrate or court as a whole, who have the authority to issue a punishment. The probation officer, on the other hand, is being given the authority to ensure that that punishment is carried out. We need to bear that distinction in mind. It is enormously important both for the probation officer himself, as my noble friend Lady Stern has said, and for the criminal that they should understand the difference between the official issuing of the order and the person who is, perhaps to the sorrow of the criminal, ensuring that that order is carried out. That is a huge difference. Although the amendment obviously turns on one word, it is very important indeed.