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Police and Justice Bill

I, too, welcome the Minister to the Dispatch Box. In tabling new clause 1, my hon. Friend the Member for Castle Point (Bob Spink) has done the House a considerable service, as he has raised an extremely important issue that causes people anxiety. The granting of cautions for serious offences is bound to cause public disquiet. The circumstances surrounding recent cases tend to relate to serious allegations of sexual misconduct against children or others which, however, are very old—sometimes those allegations were made 20 to 25 years previously. The Crown Prosecution Service may have considerable anxieties about whether a conviction can be secured, whether the evidence can be put together, and whether a trial will be a difficult undertaking in the circumstances. I entirely accept that one must bear that in mind, so I have some sympathy with the problems faced by the police and the Crown Prosecution Service.