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Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

My Lords, it is quite unnecessary for me to add anything to what the noble and learned Lord, Lord Lloyd of Berwick, has said, but I cannot resist it. We learn from the world of education that examinations have become increasingly a matter of ticking boxes, or not allowing answers to be given in free style. This clause is a product of that kind of culture. It requires the judges to tick boxes when reviewing the ingredients for a sentence. Those ingredients are infinitely variable from case to case and do not lend themselves sensibly to the exercise of ticking boxes. When the Minister winds up, which he will do in about 30 seconds so far as I am concerned, I hope he will identify the deficiency in the current practice of the judges that in the minds of the Government make this clause necessary.