§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what reviews his Department has396W carried out of the maximum sentence of custody which can be imposed by (i) a magistrates' court and (ii) a youth court. [40185]
§ Mr. MichaelThe Magistrates' Association has proposed a change in the sentencing powers of magistrates' courts to allow them to impose up to 12 months' imprisonment, instead of the current six months' maximum. We are considering whether there are some circumstances in which such a change might be appropriate, but any change of this type would need very careful consideration of its effect on the prison population and on the rest of the criminal justice system.
We have set out our proposals for imposing custody on juveniles in Chapter 6 of the White Paper 'No More Excuses—A New Approach to Tackling Youth Crime in England and Wales' published in November last year. We intend to replace the existing custodial sentences of Detention in a Young Offenders Institution (15–17 year olds) and the Secure Training Order with a new Detention and Training Order. The Detention and Training Order will be available to all criminal courts on a similar basis and sentences of up to two years will be possible; half the term of the Order will normally be spent in custody while the remainder will be spent in the community under supervision. The Detention and Training Order is being introduced in the Crime and Disorder Bill.