Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

Before the noble Lord sits down, and not wishing to prolong the debate much further, could tell us how he reacts to the intervention by the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner? She pointed out that in all other areas where we deal with children, it is completely obvious that we consider how old they are before we decide what to do. We also make some sort of assessment of how they have developed, whether they are very young for their age, or even whether they have not developed as they should. Then we make our decisions on the basis of having that information. If we did not do that when they went to the doctor, or the hospital, or the school, we would think that something was extraordinarily wrong. Why, as soon as they get into the court and into the youth justice system, do we stop all that and see only before us the criminal? Is that desirable and does it give us a good outcome? The point the noble Baroness made was an extremely important one and I am hoping that we do not let it just fall, but that we take it more seriously.