I agree with my hon. Friend that it is important to keep existing staff informed about what is going on. We are trying very hard to do that. If there are specific issues in her area, I am happy to look at them. We are keen to ensure that staff are informed. If she will forgive me, I will come back a little later to the pace of the changes that we are making, which has been a substantial issue this afternoon.
Before I do that, I want to make a couple more points about the background to this point, and the issue of further parliamentary approval for what we are suggesting. I have already made the point that section 3(2) of the Offender Management Act 2007 states:
“The Secretary of State may make contractual or other arrangements with any other person for the making of the probation provision.”
In Committee, the Opposition were unable to dispute that the power that they legislated for is clear and unambiguous. The phrase
“contractual or other arrangements with any other person”
does not mean solely with probation trusts or trusts commissioning other providers, or solely with the public sector.