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Offender Management Bill

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention; I was about to acknowledge that point, and to say that it had given me confidence about the proposals in the Bill. Regulation and inspection will play a critical part in the monitoring of the new providers entering the field following this Bill. It is equally clear that contract specifications will have to set out the tasks, training, outcomes and partnership expectations for the new providers and I am especially pleased to have had those reassurances. I had been concerned by statements in the briefings that hon. Members have received from NAPO, in particular its fears about clause 8 and that the inspectorate for the probation market, if implemented, will become overly bureaucratic and will find its job extremely difficult when trying to inspect multiple suppliers. However, the inspection of multiple suppliers is a task carried out successfully by the Commission for Social Care Inspection and by the Care Standards Inspectorate for Wales every day. I fail to see why the inspectorate for the probation market should not also be able to carry out that task. We need to have a rigorous system for the registration of, and contracting with, providers seeking to move into this area. We also need systems to monitor, inspect and remove failing providers, operating to clearly established standards and outcomes.