Offender Management Bill

My Lords, I have listened to the discussion with great interest. The amendment has been discussed largely as though Clause 2(4) is a brief for probation officers. It is not. The wording of the Bill—I hesitate to say so after a very eminent retired Law Lord has spoken—indicates, as I think the noble Lord, Lord Warner, said, that this is a list of what the Secretary of State must have regard to when implementing the earlier part of Clause 2. He has to see to it that the arrangements that he makes for the Probation Service enable the proper punishment of offenders. That does not mean that probation officers are the punishers, but the arrangements in the clause add up to, among other things, the proper punishment of offenders. I shall listen to the reply to the Front Bench very carefully. I hope that when the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, replies, he will justify what he said in that context—it is about the aims of the Secretary of State in implementing Clause 2, if I understand the clause correctly.