Policing and Crime Bill

I thank my noble friend for that response. I listened carefully to what he said but I am not sure that he is fully sighted on the problem in view of what he said about being surprised at the poor take-up by local authorities. I found the earlier part of his response rather bewildering, because it seems that the Government are going round the houses in a haphazard way to meet what my amendment would meet in a direct way. I cannot understand why these abstruse arrangements are being entered into—they are extremely difficult to follow—when a straightforward approach would have met the issue. I hear what my noble friend says. I am mindful of the fact that the single target for the police is now confidence; this is all that they are being measured on. It seems totally unfair that when they are being measured on this single overall target we are not giving them all the opportunities and facilities to deliver on it. It is important for the public to see what the police are doing and how they are doing it. If we are not going to bind all the partners in, it will put an unfair burden on the police. I urge the Minister to look at the matter again. I am grateful for what my noble friend said. I hope that it will be possible to move in the direction that he has indicated and to help the police by doing something along the lines of my amendment. At this stage of the proceedings, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment 18 withdrawn. Amendment 19 Moved by