§ Mr. Simsasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if it is proposed to make any changes in respect of the present powers of the courts relating to the issue of unruly certificates.
§ Mr. MellorMy right hon. and learned Friend proposes to make an order defining more restrictively than does the Certificates of Unruly Character (Conditions) Order 1977 the circumstances in which a 15 or 16-year-old boy may be remanded to a prison department establishment. In particular, he proposes that the power should be confined to cases where the boy has been charged with murder, attempted murder, rape, or certain other equally serious offences. He is also considering whether there are other ways in which the range of cases where remand to a prison department establishment is possible might be reduced to the minimum.