---

Offender Management Bill

My Lords, I shall be brief on this matter. The Government have certainly moved on this issue. We accept the technical change in counsel’s language and the duty placed on the Secretary of State. We have raised this issue in the past and I raise it again because it is so important that there are proper standards when producing reports of this nature. I remember in earlier days, when sentencing reports from the Probation Service were examined, we found that there was a degree of racial bias and racial stereotyping, which did a considerable amount of damage to the minority communities in this country. We suddenly saw that people had been sentenced more harshly than would normally be the case. I hope that those factors have been taken into account when we talk about national standards, particularly in looking at the final outcome of sentences. The noble Baroness, Lady Anelay, knows that she has had our support in the past and although there will be no further movement on this amendment, I hope that the Government will take account of the issue.