Offender Management Bill

Before, as I anticipate, the noble Baroness, Lady Linklater, moves to withdraw the amendment, perhaps I may say that the Minister has assisted me today and achieved some further clarity. However, there is still illogicality in her position in regard to Amendment No. 51A. She appears to be arguing that the amendment relates to the same kind of work as is covered by Clause 4 but that it is not going to be given the same legislative protection under this Bill as the other work in Clause 4 because it may be covered by other protections elsewhere. I have some unease about the logicality of the Government’s position, but that is for others to argue. I am interested in the manner in which the Minister argued in defence of Clause 4. As I understood it, she said that those matters in Clause 4 would be exposed to contestability as and when private companies and voluntary organisations demonstrated their ability to take on that work. We all agree that that is the only reason why there should be an opening of the gates, but the gates, surely, should be opened wide only if those bodies can demonstrate that there is no conflict of interest. The Minister went on to say that it is not the Government’s intention that there should be a conflict of interest. Is she saying that in the future when contracts are awarded once Clause 4 protection has gone—or before that for advising the Parole Board because that is of more immediate interest—no contract will be issued where the person bidding for the contract to provide advice has within their business portfolio any other business that might benefit from the provision of probation services that might be taken up as a result of that advice being given to the Parole Board?