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Offender Management Bill

Before the Minister responds to my noble friend’s comments, I hope I may be helpful. This is an adjunct to my noble friend’s concerns. In her helpful reply, the Minister talked about NVQ level 4. That is welcome and reassuring, but elsewhere there is a general concern that national vocational qualifications, welcome in themselves, tend to deal only with the ““how”” of things, not the ““why””. They do not have a theoretical basis. Perhaps there is not entirely agreement on that. But when one thinks how important reflection is to being successful in this area, I hope the Minister might think about perhaps being more ambitious and introducing a theoretical qualification as well as a vocational one. In Scotland, for instance, the staff in children’s homes are expected to have, as here, NVQ level 3 in childcare. However, they are also expected to have an HNC, so they have both a theoretical and a practical understanding of what to do. The Minister might think about that.