Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

I do not have any evidence to hand but I will certainly see whether I can find any and circulate it to all noble Lords. My response to my noble friend is that it is always tempting to take things away but the problem with that is that it gives wrong expectation. It would be wrong for me to do that. While of course I agree that age and maturity are important considerations, I am not sure that I am in any position to say that they are more important than any other factors which call to be considered by the courts. In essence, I believe that the courts at the moment have sufficient discretion, particularly if it is backed up by the kind of assessments that would have to be made by youth offending teams.