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Offender Management Bill

I support this probing amendment. It is interesting that, historically, 16 to 18 year-olds in youth custody have done much better in terms of investment, support and provision. The 18 to 21 year-olds have got the thin end of the wedge. From the attention that has been paid to the younger members of the prison estate, we know that about a third of 17 year-olds are recognised as being vulnerable. There is not much difference between a 17 and an 18 year-old. We can bet our bottom dollar that many of those young people—who may wish to put themselves across as tough men and would always deny that they could be categorised as children although they are barely young people—are in great need. We believe that it is entirely inappropriate for them to be incarcerated with adults.