§ 74 Clause 44, page 35, line 9, after ' above,' insert 'on a male person'.
§ The Earl of MANSFIELDMy Lords, I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 73. The new Section 207(5) to the 1975 Act as contained in Clause 44 provides, in relation to the detention of young offenders, that where detention is imposed by way of sentence for a period of between 28 days and 4 months the court shall order that the detention be in a detention centre, except in specified circumstances. It has never been the Government's intention that girls should be sent to detention centres. No detention centre provision has ever been made for girls in Scotland. The Home Office once introduced a female detention centre, but it was closed after a study by the Advisory Council on the Penal System found the brisk régime unsuitable for girls. However it was 1799 brought to our attention that as drafted new Section 207(5) would apply to both female and male offenders; and this amendment is therefore necessary to restrict that provision to male offenders only. All female young offenders sentenced to detention will serve their sentences in young offenders' institutions (under new Section 207(5)(b)).
§ Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said amendment.—(The Earl of Mansfield.)
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.