Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Kingsland, for outlining his amendments so clearly. I shall deal first with Amendment No. 2, which follows closely an amendment debated in Committee in another place. We believe that adequate provision is already made in the Bill and in existing law for reparation by the offender. It is our view and, I think, will be that of the Committee generally, that young people who have offended should accept responsibility for their actions. As part of this, where possible and depending on the nature and circumstances of the offence, the offender should be required to do something practical in reparation that will benefit the victim or alternatively the community as a whole. Offenders can be required to do things such as cleaning up graffiti, repairing community facilities or conservation work. Making reparation to the victim of a crime is a central part of the youth justice system because it can assist with the rehabilitation of the offender and help the victim. That is precisely why we have made provision for reparation in the requirements of the youth rehabilitation order. Paragraph 8(2) of Schedule 1 to the Bill provides that as part of an activity requirement, a specified activity, "““may consist of an activity … whose purpose is that of reparation, such as an activity involving contact between an offender and persons affected””," by the crime. Indeed, the Committee will have noticed the similarity between the words in paragraph 8(2) of Schedule 1 and the amendments tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Kingsland. But what of the suggestion that reparation cannot be made available with other requirements? First, an activity requirement will always form part of the youth rehabilitation order, with intensive supervision and surveillance. It could feature as part of a programme requirement or, in the broader sense, take the form of an unpaid work requirement. Secondly, if reparation was wanted in addition to some other requirement, the court could impose an activity requirement the sole purpose of which is reparation. Let me explain why we propose to retain the reparation order as a separate sentence beneath the youth rehabilitation order. It is to give the courts flexibility so that they do not have to resort to a youth rehabilitation order simply to ensure that reparation is made. During oral evidence to the Public Bill Committee in the other place, both the Youth Justice Board and the Children’s Society strongly supported retaining the reparation order as a separate sentence. The chief executive of the Youth Justice Board told the committee that, "““there is value in having reparation in its own right””.—[Official Report, Commons, Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill Committee, 18/10/07; col. 109.]" A reparation order provides a separate sentence below the youth rehabilitation order in the sentencing hierarchy. Like reparation as part of a youth rehabilitation order, it is designed to reinforce personal responsibility and learning about the consequences of the damage the offender has caused to the individual and the community. We believe that the reparation order can be effective in preventing the escalation of offending behaviour before there is a need for the court to consider a youth rehabilitation order and, as such, should be retained as a free-standing disposal in its own right. I remind the Committee of what I am sure it knows well, that it can typically be combined with a fine. As the amendments are drafted, the new reparation requirement would duplicate the provisions for reparation already built into the youth rehabilitation order, and I have referred to the part of Schedule 1 in which this appears. The amendments are not necessary in our view and do not go as far as the provisions already in the Bill. They risk causing some confusion to the courts, to the supervising authorities and, crucially, to the young person who is to be sentenced. For those reasons, I invite the noble Lord to withdraw the amendment. On the noble Lord’s other amendments, reparation is a form of restorative justice. The youth rehabilitation order includes provision for reparation and therefore covers those amendments.