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Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

The recollection of my noble friend Lord Onslow about the short, sharp shock detention centres is relevant because they seemed a good idea at the time. However, they were disappointing because they did not recognise the more sophisticated demands that were presented by the problems of the young people who were in them. I was trying to serve Lord Whitelaw at that time and I remember going to one of the four experimental detention centres at Send in Surrey. I was received there with great enthusiasm and listened to what was said by the very splendid chairman of what I think was called the local liaison committee. She said, ““We are so proud of our young men here. You can tell the difference. When they next appear in court they stand to attention and call the magistrate ‘sir’””. I had to agree that that was a start. However, I am afraid that it did not get much beyond that.