s 7 National standards for the management of offenders
(1) The Secretary of State shall continue to publish national standards for the management of offenders. (2) The national standards may in particular include standards relating to the management of offenders held in custody. (3) In exercising his powers under section 3(2), the Secretary of State shall have regard to the need to secure, so far as practicable, that the arrangements in force from time to time provide for the national standards to have the same effect in relation to every provider of probation services carrying out the activities to which the standards apply.