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Prisons: Howard League Commission

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Carlile of Berriew, on initiating this debate as president of the Howard League for Penal Reform and on the report, which was supported by the Howard League. It is extremely valuable and worthy of a discussion at least as long as the one we will have. I shall deal with the point mentioned in paragraph 1.14. The page is headed "Wales" and has a green paragraph about Wales, but I do not see much connection between that paragraph and what happens later. It may be a compliment to the president to do it that way, but I am not sure. The point is about the terrific increase there has been in the number of 10 to 14 year-old children in custody in the period studied: 1996 to 2006. There has been a 550 per cent increase in the number of children in custody in that time. That is a very sad and extraordinary situation and, like the report as a whole, it requires urgent attention from Her Majesty's Government. The independent president of the commission was the president of Barnardo’s during part of her time at the commission. I am a member of Barnardo’s, and my wife was on the council for a considerable number of years, although she retired a considerable number of years ago. I take an interest in what Barnardo’s says. As your Lordships will know, the chief executive of Barnardo’s is Martin Narey. He was a senior official at the Home Office, and therefore speaks with a great deal of authority. Over the period referred to, the number of 10 to 14 year-olds in custody increased by 550 per cent. The principal reason for that is that the detention order, which was introduced in the Bill of, I think, 2000, has greatly opened the possibility of custody for young children and not for serious offences only. For example, you can find yourself in custody for failing to turn up at the times fixed by the board for interviews. The cost of keeping a young person of this order in custody rises up to about £185,780 per annum. As someone remarked, you could have a student at Eton College for six years for that amount, and I humbly believe that, notwithstanding the criticisms that have been made of that venerable institution, the benefits of being there are probably rather greater than those of being in Her Majesty’s custody for a year. The answer to this question is quite difficult, but the majority of young people in this position have been in the care of the local authority or under the charge of the social services, so people who have already been failed by the system are being failed again, at great cost to the nation. The sooner this stops, the better.