Offender Management Bill

For the avoidance of confusion—I would not want to confuse the House in the presence of such an eminent lawyer as the hon. and learned Gentleman—the Government seek to agree with Lords amendment No. 14, which is in relation to clause 5. In relation to clause 33, however, the Government seek to disagree with Lords amendments Nos. 35 and 36. I have tabled Government amendment (a), which would provide for the negative rather than the affirmative procedure. I have moved some way towards the position of the other place. With that clarification, and with my apologies to the House for the confusion at the beginning of the debate, I believe that the hon. and learned Gentleman will, on reflection, see that the Government are trying to support the objective of the other place. We are simply changing from the affirmative to the negative procedure, because, given that there are 40-plus trusts, it would cause some difficulty were the affirmative procedure used each time the matter came before the House.