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Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

The noble Baroness introduces the question of machismo and ““up-tariffing””. I assure her that the fact that we are debating youth conditional cautions is a counter-argument to that. As she will know, this has received considerable support from many of the key stakeholders, and it is intended as an out-of-court disposal aimed at reducing the increasing number of young offenders taken to court for relatively low-level offences. It is therefore very consistent with the kind of arguments that we have had on youth justice on all four days in Committee. We have carefully considered whether we have the age range right. As the noble Baroness has inferred from the debate in another place, there are some very important considerations to this. The Government have no objection in principle to applying the cautions to the entire 10 to 17 age range. Our preference has been for a staged approach, but for that staged approach to be through primary legislation. As she suggested, and as the Standing Committee for Youth Justice acknowledged in its remarks about the use of the code, there probably are different challenges for the people in the younger age groups than for 16 and 17 year-olds. Some of the issues might include parent liability and responsibilities, the need for parents and carers to be present at the time of consideration and delivery, and some of the administrative procedures that might need to be involved. The Government will need to consult on some of those matters and on the appropriate level and extent of the conditions that are set out and that might take account of the younger age. We will, for instance, debate the maximum 20 hours per week when we come to another amendment. There may be different considerations for 16 and 17 year-olds than for 10 and 11 year-olds. As has been suggested, however, I have sympathy for the general principle, and I intend to bring suitable amendments on Report to deal with the issue, although we still think there needs to be a staged approach to implementation. I hope that she will consider that we have responded positively to what she proposes.