§ Mr. Edward Lyonsasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to publish the Green Paper on young adult offenders.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesA consultation document entitled "Youth Custody and Supervision. A New Sentence "will be published today.
The Government propose in the document that for offenders between the ages of 17 and 21 the existing sentences of imprisonment, borstal training, and detention in a detention centre should be replaced by a single custodial sentence, of which supervision after release will be an integral part. The maximum length 311W of sentence in each case would be determined by the courts in the light of the seriousness of the offence and the circumstances of the offender, thus removing the sentencing restrictions currently imposed by section 3 of the Criminal Justice Act 1961 in respect of offenders in this age group. The establishment in which the sentence would be served would be determined according to the length of the sentence and the regime most suited to the offender's needs. The consultation document will be widely distributed and on sale to the public and the Government hope that all those with an interest in young adult offenders will take the opportunity of expressing their views on the proposed new sentence.
The proposals for young adult offenders have consequential implications for powers of the courts relating to juveniles inasmuch as these now include the use of borstal and detention centre. Possible solutions are briefly discussed in the consultation document, and will be the subject of separate consultation at a later date.