Offender Management Bill

My Lords, I was not going to speak but one must try to put the comments in context, with the honourable exception of those made by the noble Baroness, Lady Howarth. This Government introduced a proper new qualification for probation officers and rapidly increased the resources made available to the Probation Service. Listening to some of the debates on this Bill, one would believe that this had not happened. This is a sensible reform which is long overdue in this public service. This approach has been used in other public services. It has been used in social services for more than 20 years. That comes out of the same training base as the Probation Service. We need to move in this area. If I have a criticism of the Government, it would be to ask them why we did not do this sooner, not that we are rushing our fences. The Secretary of State for Justice has made it clear that he will take this forward in a measured way. It seems to me that he is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t. His assurance that he is taking this forward in a measured way is interpreted by some Members of your Lordships' House as meaning that he does not know what he is doing. A sensible reassurance has been given. These amendments and changes in public services are long overdue. We should wish the Bill God-speed and move on.