§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement On the proposed use of instant cautions and multi-agency panels for dealing with juveniles in the Metropolitan police district.
§ Mr. Giles ShawThe Metropolitan police introduced an early cautioning scheme for juveniles on 1 November. Where the offence is not serious, most first time juvenile offenders are eligible for an instant caution, which will be administered at the police station and without reference to the juvenile bureau. Other cases are still referred to the Metropolitan police's juvenile bureau for further consideration.
The Metropolitan police are also considering the introduction of multi-agency juvenile panels on an experimental basis in four districts. Cases of juvenile offenders would be referred to a juvenile panel if the juvenile bureau considered that prosecution was appropriate. The panel would either support prosecution or recommend a caution combined with some form of supervised activity. The viability of such schemes will clearly depend on all the agencies involved as well as the police.