Offender Management Bill

If there was any suggestion to the contrary by the noble Baroness, Lady Howarth—there probably was not—I wish to say that I understand very well and appreciate, better than most possibly, the role and value of volunteers and support officers in various respects. I have done this all my life, working with and training people in such positions. What prompted this amendment is something just referred to by the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay: the silence of the Bill on the supreme importance of professional qualifications and training. We should never seek to diminish the fundamental influence they have throughout the system, and they should never be allowed to slip.