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Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

My Lords, I thank noble Lords who have supported the broad thrust of the thinking behind this amendment. It is clear that there is growing concern over the increase in custodial rates and the poor outcomes associated with young people being held in custody. During the debate on the previous amendment tabled by the noble Lords, Lord Henley and Lord Kingsland, on which we divided, the Minister mentioned the Carter review and reminded us that there was a genuine attempt by the Government to reduce numbers in custody. Philosophically, we can go down this road where we all acknowledge that custody does not work for everyone. We particularly recognise that in the case of young people. Throughout the weeks that the Bill has been in this House, we have recognised that custody is often deleterious and that people who are locked up as young people or children are more likely to end up in custody as adults. During the debate on the previous amendment, the Minister reiterated that there was a genuine attempt to bring down numbers, yet it is now four years since a consultation paper, the responses to it and the Government’s promise that we would look at this. For a young person who was 17 then and who was incarcerated, it has been a very long four years—25 per cent of their life—of waiting. That part of the person’s life has gone, damaged as it is. There are numerous cases—6,561 is not an insignificant amount—of people who are still treated in that manner. We have our international commitments, for which we have fine words, but there is little point in signing up to international conventions if we are not really going to take them seriously and incorporate them into law. The Minister’s emollient words are there for the record and I have absolutely no doubt that he is completely sincere, but this is, I am afraid, a counsel of despair. We are still where we are and, I say with all due respect to those fine words, we do not have any commitment to look at this in the round within a certain timeframe and to bring in measures. That is why I was keen to table even a limited amendment that addressed this. I thought that it was better to move forward in a very limited way than to go beyond this into policing and other areas. However, we are where we are, and given the extremely long list of business ahead of us this evening, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.