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Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

My Lords, it is relevant to point out what the Magistrates' Association has said about this proposal in Clause 10. It has said: "““We believe that research into SSOs””—" suspended sentence orders—““made since April 2005””, when they were conferred to this extent on magistrates, "““has not been sufficiently robust yet to show that it is SSOs that have, or will have, a significant impact on the prison population. On the contrary, it may well be that an SSO impacts less on the prison and probation services and resources than either an immediate custodial sentence or a high level community order with a greater number of requirements””." In the course of these debates we have all expressed our admiration for the magistrates and our belief in the importance of not fettering unnecessarily the discretion of the judiciary—to use a phrase used only an hour ago by the Minister. Surely it is very important to remember that the Magistrates’ Association has said: "““We can see no logical or good reason for this proposal””." Surely that must cause the Government to think again.