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Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

No, I will not. We have to question whether it is value for money to lock up young people if the result is that they offend more than they would have done if they had been dealt with by other means. That is why a great number of people believe that a proper custody threshold for young offenders is appropriate. We used to have it, it was abolished, and it is time that we reintroduced it. That would be consistent with the Government's policies—not just their policies introduced through the Ministry of Justice, but the policies represented by the Home Office strategy paper and the children's plan. The Minister told us in Committee that he is working closely with children's Ministers in order to formulate a revision of the strategy for dealing with young offenders. I hope that part of that strategy will be the sort of proposal that I have put before the House today. This is an extremely important matter for many people, both inside and outside the House. If the opportunity arises later, I intend to test the opinion of the House on new clause 42.