§ Mr. BayleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about the juvenile criminal justice system. [2873]
§ Mr. MacleanThe Government have introduced a number of measures to improve the juvenile criminal justice system. These include strengthening the courts' powers for dealing with young offenders by increasing maximum sentence for youth custody for 15 to 17-year-olds, by introducing long periods of detention for 10 to 13-year-olds for serious offences and providing a new sentence for persistent 12 to 14-year-old offenders.
New standards have been introduced for the supervision of young offenders in the community, as well as new criteria for cautioning. Amendments to the Crime (Sentences) Bill will pave the way for extending electronic monitoring of curfew orders to 10 to 15-year-olds, and giving youth courts the discretion to allow identification of juveniles convicted of an offence.
In addition, the Government will be publishing shortly a Green Paper on preventing young people most at risk of offending from becoming involved in crime.