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Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

moved Amendment No. 79A: 79A: Clause 48, page 35, line 34, leave out ““offenders aged 16 and 17”” and insert ““children and young persons”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, we come to youth conditional cautions. During Committee stage I indicated that we were carefully considering the issue of the current restriction on the use of youth conditional cautions to 16 and 17 year-olds. We have now had the opportunity to reflect on the arguments made by noble Lords. We have been persuaded by them and we have therefore tabled government amendments designed to remove the age restriction, so that this out-of-court disposal will be available to all young people. I hope that the House will welcome this move. I also hope that the House will acknowledge that the Government’s approach to a staged implementation is the most appropriate course to take. Initially, we intend to introduce youth conditional cautions for 16 to 17 year-olds. There is no question that applying youth conditional cautions for 10 to 15 year-olds will give rise to a different set of challenges, so we wish to learn from the application of this new out of court disposal to the higher age range and consult widely before extending the Bill’s provisions to the 10 to 15 age group. I would just add that, in accordance with the recommendation of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee, we are providing in the amendments grouped with this amendment that the first time a code of practice for youth conditional cautions is made. It would be subject to the affirmative, rather than the negative, resolution procedure. I hope that the House will support this group of amendments. I beg to move.