§ Mr. MichaelI beg to move amendment No. 92, in page 50, line 16, leave out paragraph (a).
The amendment would delete paragraph (a), which amends the Powers of Criminal Courts Act 1973. That paragraph removes the obligation to provide "sufficient probation officers" and in its place it substitutes the words,
such number of probation officers as may be agreed between them and the responsible authority to be a sufficient number of such officers".If the Bill goes through as it stands, it will require the probation committee and the local authority to come to an agreement on the number of probation officers needed——
§ Mr. John GreenwayOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I know that we all have difficulty following the order of amendments when dealing with such a technical——
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I know what the hon. Gentleman is about to say. I have just been told that the hon. Gentleman's amendment was accepted. I was going to put it at the end of this debate, but since the hon. Gentleman has raised the matter now, I shall put the amendment formally with my apologies.